Strange S/N at a "Tokai"

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togps

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If I would like to fake a Tokai, I would stamp the S/N in the correct angle and look for the correct figures of digits at least. :evil:
This is never a Tokai!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tokai-Love-Rock-Goldtop-with-Voodoo-P-90s-P90_W0QQitemZ7395187914QQcategoryZ2384QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

c6_3.JPG
 
Headstock shape is wrong and the turners not original.Ironies of life,if someone had told a Tokai would be faked he'll be taken as a crazy man and now.... :evil:
 
Hang on fellas....

If I'm not mistaken, that inked serial number is from one of the Korean 2001 Limited Edition goldtops - the three screw trussrod cover said MM2001 and they were sold by Mikes Music in Toronto (hence the MM).

This one looks like the truss rod cover was swapped out - still 3 screws though.

One of the other Limited Edition models was a sunburst and had a similar stamped SS# on it reading 201959.

The Limited Edition models are described in the dating section of the forum. Great guitars - Korean made to Japanese specs....
 
Good catch, Marcus! I guess the rather bad pictures of the body contribute to that "fake" impression, too. And I always wonder what is wrong with this greenish Korean made Tokai logo, I guess it's not mother-of-pearl. Wasn't that Limited Edition supposed to have a mahogany neck, too (can't tell from that pictures)?

cf_12.JPG


By the way, "201958" for a Goldtop with P-90 pickups having a stop tailpiece would be completely wrong, because those Gibson originals ended in 1956.
 
I think the 2001 Limited Editions did have mahogany necks but the headstock and neck insets were mother of toilet seat instead of pearl. I had one of the goldtops for a while and I thought it was a great guitar. I sold it to trade up to a brand new Japanese goldtop - an LS80 - back in 2003.

Yeah, the Limited Edition serial numbers are oddities - the 201959 sunburst is a dead ringer to a 59 reissue. But the 201958 number on the goldtop didn't make sense.
 
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