New, cheaper Tokai Japan PRS copies?!

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ArthurS

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I just spotted this auction (link) on eBay, which is for a supposedly Made in Japan PRS copy. Now I know Tokai has some Korean PRS models in the $500 range that are supposedly really nice, and there are also two MIJ models (LR30 and LR40) that cost over $2000.

The interesting thing is that this auction is for a 'PR-85Q', that looks a lot like the LR40 in the link above, but only costs $699. At first I thought it was a Korean model, since I couldn't spot a serial number and it has a truss-rod cover with three screws, but the aforementioned LR40 also has the three-screw truss-rod cover. Furthermore, this particular guitar doesn't have the lines of text on the back of the headstock that most Korean models seem to have ("Made Under License etc").

Here's a picture:

93_1_s.JPG


Does anybody have any idea on what we have here? A new Japanese model or Korean after all?
 
Where did you find the picture? I went through the factory site but couldn't find anything.

Ned
 
The picture comes from the auction for the guitar. I couldn't find it on the Tokai website either.

Here are some more pictures:







You can click on the pictures to view the full-size images. The seller, by the way, is a Japanese guy that sells loads of new MIJ Tokais. By the looks of it, this guitar is brand new as well - the pickups still have the protective plastic on them. I think I'll drop mr seikosuru2003 a line to ask for some more details.

Edit: I just noticed, the same seller now has some more auctions up, selling the same model in different colors:

6b_1_s.JPG


7c_1_s.JPG


And he also has another one with a blue flamed top and a blue back. You can check the auctions here, here and here.
 
loverockerUK said:
My gut feel is that at $699, they are either at the top end of the be Korean-made stuff, or an amazing MIJ bargain. But "Japan Domestic Model" is just a bit more vague than "Made in Japan" to me ;)
Click to expand...
The auction title says 'MIJ for Japan', but he doesn't repeat this in the auction. From what I gather, this is a trustworthy seller so I've dropped him an e-mail to ask for some more details. I'll post it here when/if he replies.

It would make sense to me, though, that this is in fact a Made in Japan model. Tokai can make Love Rocks for as little as $550 for the LS70 and $699 for the LS85Q, so why wouldn't they be able to make a PRS body shape for the same amount? :)
 
this popped up last week on the Japanese web.
http://www.digimart.net/gk_detail.do?instrument_id=DS00017098
 
Update! I just got back an e-mail from the seller of the guitars. He said the ones that were up for sale for $699 are definitely Made in Japan. The scale, according to him, is 'just like the PRS'. If this is in fact the case, that would mean 25" (I assumed Tokai had decided to just go with 25,5" or 24,75", but apparently they tooled up for 25").

Finally, he said that he hadn't seen any Japanese guitars with a tremolo yet. The only PRS-copies with a whammy bar he had sold until now were Made in Korea ('months ago').

They still look like interesting guitars to me, even thought they don't seem to be as 'accurate' as Tokai's Les Paul copies.
 

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