What got you into MIJ guitars ?

Life has altered for me the last several years.I still enjoy getting the latest issue of "Vintage Guitar" in the mail.I read it over pretty good,but it does not thrill me quiet as much as it used to..I end up checking Ebay out for what vintage Tokai's,Obg's ,Greco's ect...are selling for.(the Vintage Guitar Price Guide is not very accurate as far as vintage Tokai's and Orville by Gibson are concerned) Then I cruise over to Villager's site and drool for awhile...anyway,I was wondering what got ya'll folks into these instruments? Maybe you might take the time to share your stories..I am an older guy (58)and been around a few vintage guitar shops,been to alot of the Dallas Guitar Shows for about 10 yrs...anyway I had struck a deal with a shop on GBASE over about a week to buy a player grade 1976 Gibson T-Bird.Called the shop,talked to one of the "owners" struck a deal on the bass mid-week and we agreed on the payment to be sent that Friday.So I called them back as I was fixing to send payment and the guy said his "senior pardner" had nixed the deal and if I wanted it I had to go along with a different deal.I was quiet unhappy.Me and the senior pardner exchanged several "testy" e-mails and my thinking was if I had spent a week working a deal out with a co-owner and the co-owner agreed,then...a deal is a deal..Well,I went back to GBASE and could not find another in my budget,BUT a guy in New Jersey had a Greco T-Bird that looked similar to a Gibson that Entwistle had modified..SO,I bought it.Really liked it.It felt like the real deal.It was Fugi made...and now I have greco's,Tokai,Orvilles and Orville by Gibson's in my collection. There has been about 8 vintage MIJ guitars..And if I close my eyes they feel like the USA vintage stuff that I have owned and got to play at shops and guitar shows..Good,good stuff ,alot of fun and way better than current USA production stuff.Rivaling if not better in many cases than Custom Shop reissues .IMO

As a kid I wanted a Gibson LP, but couldn?t afford one. I stopped playing guitar when I got drafted for military service, got married after discharge, bought a house, worked long and hard to pay the bills(no time to play guitar). A few years ago I got back into guitar playing, went looking for a Gibson LP, because I could afford one. I came across TF while I was gathering info on the traditional ?50s neck(I never heard of Tokai before). I?m a Japanese car brand mechanic for more than 25 years, you don?t have to convince me on the reliability, quality and manufacturing process that a Japanese company can produce. The decision to buy a Japanese guitar was easily made.
So I got into MIJ (Tokai?s) thanks to the TF its members and by chance.

By default is a good term.If those guys had not been jerking me around on that T-Bird,I might have not bought the Greco..I think I owe them a backhanded thank you.

Flat out $ for $.... better choice... Gi@s&n :lol:

I just had enough of buying lemons from Fender USA and Gibson.

I bought an MIJ anniversary Strat and from then on sold my other Fenders - then mail ordered a Gibson LP Standard that was a true abomination. I sold it and went to a shop to pick another one. On the wall they has a Tokai LS150F on clearance deal - tried it, tried a LP standard, tried a LP R9 then walked away very happily with the Tokai.

I still own it today and it is the finest LP I have ever played alongside my LC85 which I sold on this forum...I still miss this one. One thing I did was to swap pickups, not because the MKIIs were bad but I was looking for more bite.

I am still on the hunt to get a Gibson LP - call me nuts...but I will try any guitar against my LS150 and it will have to be better or as good for me to get the debit card out. So far no luck! :lol:

I already knew of the quality of the MIJ Fenders, and after discovering TokaiRegistry.com, I researched the LS145S goldtops, bought one, and it has been a first-rate player for me. Since, I've acquired several more MIJs. This was also several years ago when the dollar-to-yen rate was significantly better.

the price and quality of gibsons got me into MIJ

A friend and I compared a Gibson custom shop '58 and a '79 LS80.The LS80 was the better sounding guitar.Recently compared a Gibson R8 to the LS80 and the salesman gave the LS80 a slight edge over the Gibson...