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COUNTRY BOY

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Jul 14, 2007
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Hi Guys, I have been scanning The Forum for a couple of weeks now looking for information on the Tokai Tele: and am totally impressed with the knowledge and experience of some of you Guys, however, I tried to do the detective work myself but I am still not able to identify my Tele: so I am hoping someone out there can help . I recently bought it at an auction, it is my first Tokai, The serial number is L36611 (registry dates this approx 1981 to 84) - the logo on the head is in gold and black block ( Tokia in gold and Telecaster in black block) which appears to be set into the wood under the glaze. I have compared at least four different heads but nothing seems to match, I have found nothing with two ( w ) trees, as on this, I can find no other stamps or markings, The glaze is very deep, Fretboard is slightly curved, lmahogany. The action is absolutely fantastic plays like a dream. I have not attempted to take anything apart as at this time as there is not a mark on it!
I have posted photos on photobucket But have no idea how to give you a link, the album site address for that is - s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa171/3stardriver/

Sorry to be so longwinded, hope someone can help. many thanks Guys, Rog.
 
Thanks for the welcome and for responding 'topgs' Obviously I wasn't sure, but the finish and set up is so good I thought it just might be 'be right' , did you manage to get hold of the photos?

Thanks, Rog.
 
Thanks 20 century Boy, Its just that, as I said before, everything about it looks and feels so good, I really thought that I had found a bargain. I also have Gibson custom E335, and a couple of other decent instruments to compare it with, and thought it played really well, Maybe comes from a good fake stable then! . Anyone any ideas.

Thanks again 20 C.B.
Rog.
 
Could be a late 90's Korean Squier with some swapped hardware and phoney decals. I have to say though it looks very nice! if it sounds as good as it looks you have a cool guitar there!. Just get the decals changed. Maybe get your own name on there. Country Boy Telecaster Yup!
 
Hi BH, Thanks for your reply. Yes I have accepted that it is not a straight Tokai and although I am a little disappointed it is still has a great feel and plays well. However, I will follow through and see if I can find its origin, your suggestion is a good place to start. The logo on the head is not a 'stuck on' decal it is under the lacquer and appears original , so I will take the whole thing apart to see if there are any numbers on the base of the neck or body and I guess I could check under the hardware as well for colours and wiring just to see if anything matches that which is already known in the field. Thanks again,
 
COUNTRY BOY said:
Hi BH, Thanks for your reply. Yes I have accepted that it is not a straight Tokai and although I am a little disappointed it is still has a great feel and plays well. However, I will follow through and see if I can find its origin, ,

Sorry to inform you that it is a Richwood


A lot of poeple are using these guitars to flog off as Tokais because they are coated in yellow clear coat. The guitar is no where on par with a Tokai, it is at best worth around ?20. They are made out of unseasoned woods and put together in Bejing.


The Richwood website was closed down. ( I heard Gibson were behind the closure )

Here are some other threads on the subject.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELECTRIC-GUITAR-Richwood-TL-in-LAKE-PLACID-BLUE_W0QQitemZ270148443028QQihZ017QQcategoryZ101562QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem


http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=8771
 
Thanks BW I guess thats the closest match yet, particularly the shape of the head. but! I would say that my one has a better finish than the the Richwood and, their 'add' states, quote, "The bolt-on maple neck features a maple fingerboard containing 21 frets". whereas my one is definitely a dark wood.
Anyway, thanks again for the leads, Rog.
 
COUNTRY BOY said:
Thanks BW I guess thats the closest match yet, particularly the shape of the head. but! I would say that my one has a better finish than the the Richwood and, their 'add' states, quote, "The bolt-on maple neck features a maple fingerboard containing 21 frets". whereas my one is definitely a dark wood.
Anyway, thanks again for the leads, Rog.

They come in Rosewood or Maple.

Trust me, you have a Richwood. I used to import them
 
COUNTRY BOY said:
Experience is the name that everyone gives to their mistakes.

Thanks BW.

I cant really say much on here, but these are appearing all over Scotland at the moment. Rumour as it that they are coming out of Glasgow.

I can give you three facts.

There is a guy who lives in Glascow who produces Fender , Gibson and Tokai decals.

There is a guy in Glascow who sells another brand of guitar that is made in the same factory as the Richwood brand.


There is a dealer in Suffolk who trades on ebay who gets hold of the Richwood donor guitars ( in other other words, he gets them prior to the Richwood decal being applied ). This same dealer sells a lot of these guitars to a guy in Scotland.



I think that should give you enough information to work out what is going on :wink:

I cannot be more specific other then giving you names places, dates and times :eek:
 
Buyer beware! I think that goes for almost everything now BW, but very interesting that more of the same are appearing. I was recently in Aberdeen and one of the two main music shops there had an Identical model ( same colour / dark fretboard ) to the one I have, but, no logo, nothing, on the head and no number on the neck plate. the price tag was ?169.

Thanks for the links, though I thought the site you gave me showing the Richwood model showed not such a smooth paint job certainly a darker blue and the fretboard looks decidedly rough, Perhaps the earlier ones were a little better finished. anyway as I previously said It does play well the finish is good and the setup is excellent, so I will hang on to it for now. at least until the real thing. Thanks for all the info, Rog



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