Golden Era Strat Help

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Filmpest

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Hi,
This is a Tokai that I found at a garage sale for a pretty good price, but can't find any hard information on it. Please help a brother out!
It's got an interesting heastock that I can't find on Tokai catalogs, and it says "Golden Era" written next to the spaghetti looking Tokai logo. I heard that this may be called Olympic White. The serial # is 0011153, which might designate it as a 1980 make. The pickups have grey bobbins, which I heard may be Seymour Duncan's. Any help is greatly appreciated as to its value, or if anything I wrote above is in fact true.
Thank you!

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/u...TokaiGoldenEra0011153Body.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/u...GoldenEra0011153NeckPlate.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/u...GoldenEra0011153Headstock.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0[/url]
 
Hi, this is a weird one. Body looks right however headstock is wrong. The Tokai logo is the same as the large headstock silverstars. If you could take a photo of the rout cavity there should be some code letters in there like 3=7 OW X. This would signify Olympic White. What do the saddles say and pick up photos of the base would help. The neck plate looks right too but it could, I stress could be an elaborate hoax. The Tokai logo would elevate the price compared to other copy brands.

Are you in Ohio?
 
This guitar has the same headstock shape as the guitars made by Tokai for St Louis Music a.k.a Hondo.Gabe.
 
Hi,
Thanks for the replies so far! I am not in Ohio, but in California. Here are some more pictures to help us get through this. This guitar plays sweet, but had to take the strings off again, and tear it apart to get these pictures. It's a keeper, but would love to know if it's worth anything.

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/user/Filmpest/media/Tokai Golden Era/PickupControlsRear.jpg.html

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/user/Filmpest/media/Tokai Golden Era/HeadstockNew.jpg.html?sort=3

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/u...i Golden Era/TrussRodHole.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/u...olden Era/TopPickupCavity.jpg.html?sort=3&o=3

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/u...kai Golden Era/PickupRear.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7

http://s1353.beta.photobucket.com/u...kai Golden Era/RearCavity.jpg.html?sort=3&o=9

The numbers in the pickup cavity says something like 7=? it is not very visible, and pretty smeared, I think the other ink blotch looks like "O8" or "OB" or "OS'. The number on the bottom of the neck says 7=2. Neck pocket clearly says 45. The tremolo block has the string spacers that are all stamped Tokai, and the bottom of the trem block say Made In Japan. Hopefully this will help you. Thank you!
 
Excellent, the brass screening plate is tokai, the B stamp on the back of the scratchplate is Tokai and the 7=2 again Tokai. Can't quite read the bridge saddles but it look great. Pity about the headstock design but if it plays great its a keeper as you say. Congratulations . Difficult to put a value on it as this is the first one ive seen.
 
What's a pity about the headstock? Just that it's unrecognizable with other ones? Are the pickups the Seymour Duncan Grey Bottoms I've heard about? Any idea about the year maybe? Oh, and it had picks in it for Gene Leis, who was a jazz guitar player. I wonder if he owned it?
 
Pick ups are Tokai... you'll find a lot of info searching on this forum about "U"single coils
that headstock is very weird 'cause it isn't the standard production design (nor the decal)... probably Brokentoes is in the right direction ...
 
Filmpest, my comment about the headstock was only based on my personal taste for the 'original' '60's' design. I don't like the modified AST design either even though the guitars are the same apart from that. Why don't you email the Jazz guitarist to see if he did own it. You may get some info about where it was bought?
 
@bluseyrat- thank you for the advise on the pickups. I'm new to this decoding guitar stuff, and didn't even think about looking for a letter and figuring out what it means. Who is Brokentoes? A user I should talk to?

@iainblack- I got what you mean now. It would have been nice to have that Fender looking headstock too. I looked up the guitar player...he's dead.
 
@bluseyrat - It's alright man. Everything is good.

@iainblack - I already tried that too. But it looks like he had his own line of practice amps, which makes me think he probably had picks as one of his products and some student just happen to have them and put them in this guitar case.

I've seen this headstock n other guitars by Tokai, but none with the Golden Era writing on them. Oh well, this search has hit a deadend. Thanks for everyones help.
 
Do you have any pictures or model names of those Tokai guitars with the same headstock? I know there is the Hondo link but not sure if I have seen any other models
 
http://s698.beta.photobucket.com/user/nanson_2009/library/
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14828&highlight=hondo
Gabe. 8)
 
I have this exact same guitar. I bought it in 1982 at a used guitar shop in Austin, TX.

There is little to no information out there about them other than what I've seen in this forum. I'd be interested to find out more, if anyone knows when it was manufactured and how many were made. The guys at Guitar Center went crazy when I showed it to them.
 

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