Korean-made Tokai quality?

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Motorhead1968

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I'm new to the forum and know little about Tokais other than that I have heard the Japanese-made Tokais are legendary for their sound and build quality.

But what about the Korean-made ones. There is a MIK Love Rock for sale near me, but I don't know if it is worth investigating. Do they sound good? Are they built well? How is the fit and finish?

Thanks

SR
 
Does Tokai do MICs? How do you know what's what? By serial number, I would guess, but is there a serial number guide available on here or somewhere?
 
Hi Motorhead,

Welcome to the Tokai Forum.

There was a grey area in 2005-06 when Tokai transitioned from Korean to Chinese export model production,
but from 1995 to early 2005 at least, authorized Korean models didn't have serial #'s.
Chinese models used letter prefixes in serial #'s from most factories and serial #'s are silk screened instead of stamped (or inked earlier on) as on Japan models.
The biggest compromises in build quality with Korean examples was the use of scarfed neck joints and the use of non mahogany tone woods for the most part. Chinese models don't use mahogany either. The one exception to this is the modern Contemporary series, which have mahogany construction.

Chinese Traditional ALS + ALC export models were easy to spot on eBay at least, because they tended to list under $495, but now an eBay store in Japan is listing their ALS export inventory for $1000+ USD each :eek: ... which will ultimately further tarnish Tokai's reputation outside of Japan.

You might find this thread helpful :
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=20753
 
Thanks, Reborn Old.

There are a few Tokais available near me, and I am interested in owning one as they sound like a lot of guitar for the money, but I am wary because I have ZERO experience with them. While appreciate and respect anyone who wants to respond here, statements like "MIKs are arguably better than MICs" are hard for me to evaluate. That's like saying that Hyundais are better than Kias. What does it matter if they both suck?

Are Korean Tokais built well? Do they sound as good as the Japanese models? Or was this just a cost-cutting measure by Tokai that resulted in instruments with poorer sound and lower-quality workmanship. From what I've seen, Korean-made guitars can really be hit or miss. Anyone with experience with Korean Tokais, please chime in.

Motorhead 1968
 
If you have a $500 - $700 budget, I would personally shop for a Japan made 1982 Greco EG-500 or EGC-500 model.
Lower Greco models aren't quite as good.

If you have just a few hundred to spend, then a MIJ Burny or MIC Tokai might be OK.
 
Here is the one that I was semi-interested in. Again, not knowing the quality level of the guitar itself makes it hard to know whether or not this is a good price, assuming that everything is working and there is no invisible damage.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/msg/4609496619.html
 
I have a 2006 MIK standard and a 2012 MIC custom. The pots and pickups on the MIK were muddy junk, and the tuners didn't, so I replaced them. Now it plays quite well. The MIC I got recently through Guitar West (he got a big shipment in, I don't know how) and the binding borders and side dots are sloppier, but nice action and a good player with better electronics than my MIK. I think as time marches on the quality of MIC guitars overall is improving.
 

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