Need Help To Identify Strats Style Tokai w Weird Headstock!!

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jinshan7

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Location
Malaysia
I got this guitar while ago but i cant seem to find any information about it..

the problem is the weird lookin headstock which has the 7okai and a Golden Era word on it.. i haven seen it in any Tokai related website..

even the model name "Golden Era" is never heard of..

Its made in japan.. its says under the bridge block..

It also has a no. 45 pressed into the last fret..
I think the serial no is 0003264 but its not on the registry dating page..

ive open the pickguard and it has a alpabet U under each pickups.. does that mean anything?

here are some pics..

P1150815.jpg

P1150829.jpg

P1150819.jpg

P1150830.jpg

P1150827.jpg

P1150824.jpg

P1150826.jpg
 
Now that is unusual! From the early 7okai script, and the 45 stamped into the fretboard, it looks pre 1980 to me. U stamped pickups were standard on both Springys and Goldstars (I think).

But why they would change the headstock shape before all the lawsuit stuff started, I really don't know. Hopefully someone else will know, but I think you have a fairly rare Tokai there.

What's it like?

Mike
 
its sounds close to a fender.. sustain is great.. im guessin its because of the wood they use.. i checked out with some guitar tech in my area and he says these tokai guitars would sounds close to a fender mim.. neck is pretty comfortable.. love the vintage look.. however.. the frets are worn off.. thinkin of refretting them.. but does it lower its value.. im worried.. any suggestions for refurbishin?
 
MiM? Hmmm, I would have expected better than that, but then I'm not a fan of the Mexican Fenders. It's more likely to compare with a Japanese Fender, I would have thought.

Difficult to say what the value is until a few more people say if they have seen one before, but I guess it depends what you want it for. If you want to sell it for a profit, often original is best. However, if you want to keep it and play it, fret work is often needed on a well played 30 year old guitar, and yours looks well played! :lol:

I had to have a fret re-profile done on my 1980 Springy. Eventually, if I use it a lot, it will need a re-fret too.

The value is basically what someone is prepared to pay for it. Personally, I would do the very minimum necessary to keep it playable. Maybe check with another guitar tech to see if it's possible to stone and re-profile the original frets. But if it needs new frets, stick to the same type as it has now, and make sure it's done by someone who knows what they're doing.

And if you do change any parts, make sure you keep the originals in case you sell it later. The various bits are probably 30 years old, so look after them!
 
thx a lot for the help dude.. sigh still wondering what model is this guitar though..

i have a fender mij.. and the pups sucked big time.. i dont noe whether is stock.. it was given to me.. haha.. i shouldnt complain anyway..

u have any1 who noes anything bout this guitar?? it would be a great help to me.. im dead curious to noe more about this guitar..

one last question.. does ur springy has low frets or high frets..
this tokais frets is too low for my liking..
 
Springys, Goldstars etc have small vintage-type frets, as they are copies of pre 1965 Fenders (the golden era of Fenders). Gibsons have bigger frets.

You can re-fret a Fender type guitar with bigger frets, but personally I wouldn't - a Strat with jumbo frets feels wrong to me, and is likely to affect it's re-sale value, unless you're lucky to find a buyer who likes big frets! But if you're going to keep it, you could choose bigger frets, if you're sure that's what you want.

I'm not a big fan of a lot of Japanese pickups either - I changed the ones on my MIJ Tele. But Tokai pickups seem to me to be better than most. It's all a matter of opinion though.
 
That is probably exactly the same guitar as the Hondo Professional strat that Tokai made. The headstock has also been used on other Tokai's like the MAT for example. Hondo also used the headstock on their korean made Hondo II strats, they were obviously not as good as the early Hondo's made by Tokai.

Mike
 
hey javelin70, thx for the info.. so just wondering.. is this guitar any good? why did tokai use this headstock design? so it isnt a strat replica but a hondo replica? are the pups any good?
 
Most Advanced Technology models, kid of super strat Tokai version mid 80?s made. Superstrats were on fashion by that time.Some models had carbon fiber necks and bodies.My Tokai pending to try.....

http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/vol12p5.jpg
http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/vol12p6.jpg
http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/vol12p7.jpg
 
erm.. so my guitar isnt a real tokai? i mean.. its by hondo but manufactured by tokai? its weird.. sigh.. is it any good compared to the tokai produced strats? i cant compare cause i dont have the real tokai fender replicas.. and if its worth something.. i wouldnt mind spendin some cash to refurbish it.. thx for the help..
 
jinshan7 said:
erm.. so my guitar isnt a real tokai? i mean.. its by hondo but manufactured by tokai? its weird.. sigh.. is it any good compared to the tokai produced strats? i cant compare cause i dont have the real tokai fender replicas.. and if its worth something.. i wouldnt mind spendin some cash to refurbish it.. thx for the help..

No no, of course it's a real Tokai. It's just that it seems to be almost identical to the Hondo Professional. The Hondo strat has all the markings we recognize as Tokai. My guess is that they produced both models at the same time. Tokai also made a few other models for Hondo.

As I mentioned, the headstock has also been used on other Tokai models.

I would say that the Golden Era model is more rare than the other Tokai strats.

Mike
 
Tokai made guitars for other brands too, including Fernandes and more recently Fender Japan. But nobody else made Tokais, at least in Japan. More recent Korean & Chinese Tokais are made by outside manufacturers for Tokai, but all the old Japanese guitars were made by Tokai. Obviously some were better than others, but Tokai quality is generally good, sometimes very good.

This chart might help to explain, though it doesn't mention Hondo:

http://www.music-trade.co.jp/etc.html

Thanks to JohnA for the link.
 
there is not alot out there on that type of headstock, but the info that i found states that it is an early tokai from the 80's. Homdo also used that headstock that i believe tokai sold them.. not sure though...
 
thx a lot guys.. greatly appreciate it.. anyway is it worth refurbishing? for my own use.. and are the pups any good? the have an alphabet U stamped on the back of it..
 
jinshan7 said:
thx a lot guys.. greatly appreciate it.. anyway is it worth refurbishing? for my own use.. and are the pups any good? the have an alphabet U stamped on the back of it..

Definitely worth keeping! I like the U pickups, My TST-50 Goldstar Sound has those pickups and they sound great in my opinion. I've replaced the bridge pu for a hotrail because of the music I play. I'm keeping the original bridge pu though in case I want to put it back in the guitar in the future.

Mike
 
thx dude.. at least i noe now they're genuine pups.. yup, i think i'll save up some cash and refurbish it for personal use.. no plans to sell it.. can never get these guitars anywhere else ever.. ahaha.. :D
 

Latest posts

Back
Top