Pick up questions about a SD 403 (presumely)

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3rdstone

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A few years ago I made a great package deal which included a Tokai Super Edition from the mid 80's, a nice B&CH strat (sold now) and a Peavey 120W head. According to the catalogs I'm quite certain the Tokai would be a SD403 from like -85-86. It's completely all black with HSS pups setting.

Like the red one here, but all black:



I realised that this Tokai strat wasn't completly original. The tuners were changed etc. I didn't mind that much, I was just glad to make a great deal with two nice strats (including an 80's Tokai, always a win, right?) and a very fun Peavey 120w amplifier that now resides with a 4x12 cabinet in my brothers music room which we very much enjoy at our spontaneous jams at parties.

Anyways, regarding the SD403 I recently checked under the hood for the first time to check out the pups. The HB says Rocksong, which of course points to a Tonerider Rocksong.

However, my real question is:

What would the two singlecoils be? Are they original? There's a thin stripe at the right side of the pups which I've never seen on Tokai pups before, hence my question. IMHO they sound really good, but I'm still curious.



 
Hi 3rdstone

I have the same guitar with red body and all black neck
And I have exactly the same single coils. Same bar magnets . Same blue / black Wires . And same line on the bar magnets. Humbucker on mine looks slightly Different and has white cloth wire sleeve not black like yours.

Hope this helps . Love mine by the way sanded the black off the back of
Neck and headstock and refinished with tru oil . When sanded neck heel code
Was revealed which matched body code.

Enjoy . Looks like you have cracking 80s tokai

Matt
 
Many thanks for your reply, msmartin.

Well, then I can conclude that those single coils with the same coloured wired as yours seems to be original. Since my humbucker is changed to a Tonerider Rocksong, those wires would differ from yours.

However, it's a great guitar (like, it's a Tokai from the 80's, hello..?), and I can imagine sanding and oiling the neck would even improve the playabality on these. It's a bit funny that the neck is quite a bit rounder than my classic Goldstar with a supposed mid 60's profile, while this feels more "modern 80s rock all black and HSS configuration." I've been thinking at puttting on fatter strings on this one, and tune it down and use it as my Black Sabbath axe at gigs and parties.

BTW: At the neck heel the old worn sticker says '40': Is it the same figure on your strat?
 
Hi 3rdstone ,

Super editions don't follow the normal specs of classic strats my neck profile is
Much flatter than my goldstar has fatter frets and jack on the bottom.

Some have 22 frets , come with different pick up configurations , some have
One tone control instead of two , some have FR type tremolo.

Just depends what works for you.
 
Late answer, sorry msmartin.

Yeah, I've noticed too that the SE models varied a lot over the years. I was actually close once to buy a typical early Charvel/Jackson/Kramer SE strat, with FR type tremolo, "hockey blade-headstock" and a flat, quite thin and wide neck. The price was great, but it was of course already sold just before I contacted seller though. :cry:

I just think it's interesting that my SE, that has the looks (and sounds with the HSS pups setting) of the 80's still has a neck that's closer to a classic 50s model. But that's kinda the charm with these odder Tokai models.

The Tokai Custom Edition guitars and basses also offer some quite interesting models, and of course as usual, great quality.
 
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