Peter Mac
Well-known member
I started working on guitars in 1978 rebuilding and setting up professionals guitars for a Company. I worked on, disassembled and reassembled and customised Fenders and Gibsons from 1950 up.
In 1984 I was offered the position of Guitar Technician for Tokai Music Aust. and what I saw floored me.
Firstly, let me state that Tokais are not copies, they are REPLICAS. This is why there is no coherant serial numbering - because they are replicating the various year Fenders
so by knowing your Fenders, you can find what year your Tokai is replicating. As far as I can ascertain, ALL Tokais were made in Japan until at least 1990, this includes the AST, ATE and ALS series.
The best way to date your guitar is by the headstock shape and logo. I am working with Ned to find if the neck stamp gives this away.
Model by model , there were many variations to the Tokai range from 1980 to 1990, including some original designs and experimenting with different body materials. I have owned and played the M2002 Graphite strat and it was a fuckin' awesome guitar - Joe Walsh thought so too.
Ever wondered why dot-neck ES-335's were so popular? They were made with a solid beam of maple from neck heel to strap button. This was stopped in 1962 when the block inlays were introduced and affected the tone and sound of the guitar. All of the Tokai ES-335 were true to the dot-neck construction by putting the solid beam in the body. Gibson re-started doing it in 1986. Makes ya wonder, don't it!
In 1984 I was offered the position of Guitar Technician for Tokai Music Aust. and what I saw floored me.
Firstly, let me state that Tokais are not copies, they are REPLICAS. This is why there is no coherant serial numbering - because they are replicating the various year Fenders
so by knowing your Fenders, you can find what year your Tokai is replicating. As far as I can ascertain, ALL Tokais were made in Japan until at least 1990, this includes the AST, ATE and ALS series.
The best way to date your guitar is by the headstock shape and logo. I am working with Ned to find if the neck stamp gives this away.
Model by model , there were many variations to the Tokai range from 1980 to 1990, including some original designs and experimenting with different body materials. I have owned and played the M2002 Graphite strat and it was a fuckin' awesome guitar - Joe Walsh thought so too.
Ever wondered why dot-neck ES-335's were so popular? They were made with a solid beam of maple from neck heel to strap button. This was stopped in 1962 when the block inlays were introduced and affected the tone and sound of the guitar. All of the Tokai ES-335 were true to the dot-neck construction by putting the solid beam in the body. Gibson re-started doing it in 1986. Makes ya wonder, don't it!