1986 Custom Editions with no Humbuckers?

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nrand

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Hi all and Merry Christmas!
I had been looking for a decent 'Strat'-like copy and won one of these today on ebay for $305.00. ebay item number 320633390808

I had checked the catalogues and found only pictures of one example which showed Humbuckers in the bridge position. I tried to view the jpg upload of the 86 catalogue and it appears that three different pickup configurations were available from the factory, including 3 the same; SDS Drive 1 - the covers say White 1 - DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan?.

The guitar I bought seemed ok, at least the neck seemed original to the body and it is in good shape except a cigarette burn, needing a good clean up I think. Most of the gold plating on the tuners has worn off but it all seems to match - the only question I have about originality is the bridge pickup and therefore the pickguard.

Are there any other owners of these who have experiences to share?

here are a few urls I found as examples:
http://koti.welho.com/pmanns/salu/Instruments.html - bottom of page

http://www.pirk.estranky.cz/clanky/tokai-strat-_55-custom-edition-mij.html

http://www.mijguitar.com/used-tokai-tokai-custom-edition-315811205/

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/zrx400e10/e/39c1e75c0bb49580e37a0edb6580bf85


Thanks
 
Hi, there -

There do seem to have been a number of Custom Edition and Super Edition runs that didn't make it into the catalogues. It looks like they were very limited runs, so it can be hard to track down someone with exactly the same guitar.

As you've found a number of photos of custom editions with no humbuckers, it seems reasonable that yours could be authentic and original. I'd recommend removing the scratchplate and posting pictures of what you find in the body cavity, the back of the pickups and the wiring. That should get some more answers as well. The end of the neck, where it joins the body, should also have a code on it. If that matches the code in the body - assuming there is one visible - that would practically guarantee that the body and neck came together.

All the best,

CW
 
I wonder if anyone has a higher resolution copy of the catalogue pages?
As best as I can read it I am pretty sure the Custom Editions were available in three models:
SD 653 [shown] with 2X SDS and 1 SDB pup
SD 652 - with two SDB's
&
SD 651 - with three SDS's - this is what mine and others like it probably are.

A clearer picture would verify this.

In any case I plan to take it apart and clean it when it arrives and I'll check then.
I'll post some pix the seller sent me once I get them up on Photobucket
100_0020.jpg

100_0014.jpg

Thanks below!
 
Can anyone tell me about the tremolo arms on these? This comes minus the arm.
 
Bump
The guitar arrived yesterday in better than expected shape. One of the tremolo saddles is a replacement, steel rather than gold. Does anyone have knowledge of the source of these original tremolo units??

The sound is great, although it needs a setup and a bit of a clean. I will take the pick-guard off and see whats underneath in the next week or so.

TokaiStrat_2.jpg
 
As Tokai tended to use Gotoh hardware, I'd hazard a guess that it is a Gotoh licensed tremolo unit?

Looks pretty much like this one and parts are available:

http://www.fake58.co.uk/Locking%20Tremolos.htm

good luck

Barks
 
Once I put my reading glasses on it was obvious. Its an Ayers Rocker V
Licensed Under FLOYD ROSE Pats.

I have found heaps of Gold FR saddles but none with the black inserts yet.
 
I noticed some issues with the sound after my last post and opened the hood - I won't name the seller as we are lets say 'discussing' this at present.
Apart from the disconnected tone control, which was not stated in the ebay listing, I have concerns over the body routing which does not seem to suit the pickup configuration at all.
The seller claims these were sometimes routed this way, but I have not seen this before.
Another minor issue is that most rear plates I have seen on Tokais are six holed rather than slotted, although these are easily changed, so am feeing pretty uncomfortable about the whole arrangement.
Can any others share pictures and or descriptions of theirs for comparisons.

TokaiStrat_4.jpg

TokaiStrat_7.jpg

100_0015.jpg
 

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