My first Tokai..many QC issues *High Resolution pics page 2*

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supreme

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I posted this on another forum and decided to post it here too. I don't know if I can post it here because it is negative, if not delete mods.

I got a new Tokai LC70-80, a white LP Custom replica about 1 and a half weeks ago. It sounds very nice, in fact as good as a USA Gibson.....but that is where things end. I know that should be enough but this guitar has many unacceptable issues. A list:

- binding is not properly done on some areas, there is a visible gap that you can feel with your fingers (remember it's a white guitar so you see a dark line), especially cutaway, bottom body and neck.
- fretmarkers visible on a few frets, where the machine was pushed in. The highest frets also stick out, so you feel them scratching your fingers when you play there.
- there are marks in the white finish, 1 yellow (1 cm) and 1 dark grey (4 cm). Also many little black dots.
- D-string tuner skips and cannot be tuned whatever you do, every few minutes it detunes. Yes, I tried new strings, stretching, nut lube etc.
- the most annoying issue....... at moderate action the frets clatter non-stop, so not low action, medium. A few notes stop ringing after a few seconds too. This is just ruining the playing experience altogether, especially because I am used to playing a bit lower action than this but then it becomes unplayable.
- the strap button was put in with a lot of force because it took of the surrounding finish and now the wood is visible.
- the plastic coverings on the back do not fit, rather the wood has been cut out roughly, so not smooth but with sharp angles.

I will have a digital cam tomorrow, pics will follow.

The English store that I got it new from pretends they don't know me now, but I still try. What I want to know is, why did Tokai let this guitar leave their factory? Where is their quality control while they promise it is better than Gibson's, while it on this particular guitar is worse than any Gibson I tried? I am pissed of with my first Tokai.

Does anyone know how I can contact Tokai (preferably someone who has a bit of power), I want to contact them personally.
 
it happens... did you buy before you try?

anyways, I wouldn't say your bad experience is with tokai properly speaking, I would say your bad experience is with the store you bought it from... tokai also make mistakes, however they stand by their products, so all you have to do is choose a honest dealer, you weren't lucky with the one you chose though...


hope all works out
 
Cheers Deadman, I emailed him.

bruno, on one hand it is the shop yes, but....who built the guitar and let it leave the factory with these unacceptable issues? My bad experience is with the guitar that is now sitting in the corner of a room and I refuse to touch.
 
Man i am SO sorry to hear about these issues.

I would be very interested to know about the shop though.

As others said, talk to bob@ tokai uk
 
math, I am giving the shop one last chance to acknowledge, correct, whatever before I give out their info. I sent them a last email today.

They are on ebay too, so I will post a very long negative comment, and then post the info of their shop on ALL forums that I visit....as a first step.

The more I look at the guitar, the more I want to break the **** thing.
 
Hi supreme,

I understand that you're pissed by your first experience with Tokai!

It is inexcusable to have let go out the guitar in a such bad condition! :evil:

But ... **** happens - unfortunately it was your turn now! :cry:

But it does happen also - I want to tell you although it doesn't really help at the moment - with guitars with the big "G".

Yesterday, on my visit to the LP-forum, I read a thread of a guy who made a similar experience with a G ...-shop. They had sold him a high end "Cloud9" and this guitar was unplayable! Issues, issues, warped neck and so on ... He was beside himself with rage!
I beg you, please, although you're very angry, don't make the forum members responsible for that ... They/We gave advice to the best of all conscience ... not more, not less!
... not all Tokais are in such a bad shape than your's. Mine is 21 years old and made her long way from Japan to Europe - nothing evil happened!

I'm sure - things will change to the better for you!

Roger
 
like tudor said thinks will work out, even tokai make mistakes from time to time, if it hadn't been you, it would be some one else with that guitar...

Could you answer some of the questions made:

-did you try before buying?
-what is the store


thanks and hope all works out
 
Supreme i feel you man.

Just let us now (or via pm) because many of us are in the UK, so if the shop has such a bad attitude, we should better know beforehand.
 
supreme said:
... I will have a digital cam tomorrow, pics will follow.

Folks, I am very, very sceptic. So I am waiting with a huge interest for the pics.
supreme, may we expect detailed pics with serial number?
 
togps said:
supreme said:
... I will have a digital cam tomorrow, pics will follow.

Folks, I am very, very sceptic. So I am waiting with a huge interest for the pics.


As Ive already said in the "Tokai Vs G..." thread ive just bought a lefthanded ES120 and the build quality,set up, fretting, playability ect is astounding. If my guitar is anything to by, something VERY wrong must have happend at Tokai's quality control
 
tudor said:
Hi supreme,

I understand that you're pissed by your first experience with Tokai!

It is inexcusable to have let go out the guitar in a such bad condition! :evil:

But ... ^&*( happens - unfortunately it was your turn now! :cry:

But it does happen also - I want to tell you although it doesn't really help at the moment - with guitars with the big "G".

Yesterday, on my visit to the LP-forum, I read a thread of a guy who made a similar experience with a G ...-shop. They had sold him a high end "Cloud9" and this guitar was unplayable! Issues, issues, warped neck and so on ... He was beside himself with rage!
I beg you, please, although you're very angry, don't make the forum members responsible for that ... They/We gave advice to the best of all conscience ... not more, not less!
... not all Tokais are in such a bad shape than your's. Mine is 21 years old and made her long way from Japan to Europe - nothing evil happened!

I'm sure - things will change to the better for you!

Roger

Cheers Roger, I know Gibson has many issues too, just didn't expect them from Tokai.

bruno said:
-did you try before buying?
-what is the store

- The guitar is from England, I live in the Netherlands, so no testing, however talked on the phone a few times, emailed a lot etc etc, he sounded reliable. I would have spotted these things in an instant and avoided the guitar like the plague.

- Finally today I got a reply from the shop after the rather blunt email I sent yesterday (he used as an excuse that he was away for a week so didn't see my emails....) and he said he would look into it. But I don't trust it so I sent the info to Bob Murdoch at Tokai Guitars UK after he asked for it in his email reply. He will directly contact the shop and see what they can do about it. I will see what happens now and decide then to give out the shop info. Maybe he genuinly was away for a week and didn't see my emails.....maybe not.

togps said:
Folks, I am very, very sceptic. So I am waiting with a huge interest for the pics.
supreme, may we expect detailed pics with serial number?

I am not lying.

The digital cam will be here in a few hours (from a friend) and I will post HUGE detailed pics of all the issues tonight/in the evening, including the 2-3 issues I didn't mention in the first post. Serial will be visible and I will write down your nick on a paper in the same shot, ok?. No offense but you sound like a Gibson fan would sound after saying there are issues with a Gibson. Yep, I am easily irritable at the moment.....getting a crap guitar and then someone implying I am lying about it.
 
that must be so frustrating getting a bad guitar... sorry to hear!!!

i think we're all sane people here , i'm sure we dont complain over nothing... hope you get to the bottom of it!

whats your preferable outcome to this whole mess if u dont mind sharing??? i'd demand a cash refund for sure...
 
OrvilleBoy said:
that must be so frustrating getting a bad guitar... sorry to hear!!!

i think we're all sane people here , i'm sure we dont complain over nothing... hope you get to the bottom of it!

whats your preferable outcome to this whole mess if u dont mind sharing??? i'd demand a cash refund for sure...

Cheers OrvilleBoy.

I am looking for a replacement, preferably handpicked by Bob from Tokai Guitars UK, and he actually suggested this in his email to me, altough they don't have a white Custom. The way I got this Tokai is by trading in my mint new Epi Sheraton II (which was a better guitar in every way, but I needed a heavier sound) + 200 pounds on top of that from my side. If he wants to give back my Sheraton and the money, I would take that too in an instant over this afterbirth I got.
 
supreme, you still haven't answered what I asked... what's the name of the store... it would make good information on a place to be avoided in the future in case you do have a bad experience... besides if the guitar is indeed in just bad conditions, it might have not left the factory like that, maybe something went wrong at the store.

don't give up on tokai, considering you did indeed get unlucky, you should try your chance once again, I find it hard to believe that the guitar left the factory that way though...

thanks and good luck
 
bruno said:
supreme, you still haven't answered what I asked... what's the name of the store... it would make good information on a place to be avoided in the future in case you do have a bad experience... besides if the guitar is indeed in just bad conditions, it might have not left the factory like that, maybe something went wrong at the store.

don't give up on tokai, considering you did indeed get unlucky, you should try your chance once again, I find it hard to believe that the guitar left the factory that way though...

thanks and good luck

Like I said in the above post bruno, I will give their info publicly (I gave it to Bob already) if it is evident that the shop is not going to do anything about it or deny it. I today got an email from the shop owner that he was going to contac t Tokai etc..

I will PM you the info now, but don't post it in a thread yet, ok? I am still trying to be fair to the shop owner if he really was away for a week and didn't see my emails.
 
PM me the delear details


I recently have had issues with a UK Tokai dealer selling Grade B stock and the Trading Standards are taking the matter through the courts. If your dealer is the same one then Trading Standards will want to hear from you ASAP.
 
Alright, finally got everything, wasting a whole day on this. Click on the thumbnail, then on that site click on the picture for the full high resolution image.

First the frets and the different problems concerning them, cuts, filling, holes, sharp angles:














Second, the strap button and the missing finish:









Third, the binding problems:







Fourth, the "colorful" marks:





Fifth, the roughly cut cavities:





Sixth, anomoly under D-string tuner which skips and detunes every few minutes:



And finally, by request, serial with the name of the person who asked for it in a "sceptical" way:



As I also stated it cannot be played at low action and on moderate high action it sounds muffled and frets clatter. I actually wouldn't mind most of the stuff above if it just played without muffling or clattering at lower action. But is a b*tch to play on and look at, there is not other way of putting it.
 
As far as I can see - the dealer should have sent it back, got a discount off bob and sold it cheaper as a graded instrument. How much did u pay for it again?
 
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