A TOKAI By Any Other Name?

[Sigmania]

 

[Sigmania]

Ampeg Stud Guitar Japan Clean Original Natural Finish Plays Well Rare no reserve | eBay

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Hi Sigmania,

I don't think this was made by Tokai, are there any indicators beyond the claim of the seller (it isn't unusual to drop the name "Tokai" for pretty much any crummy garage find)?

With the odd German carve and the round corner inlays, this looks a lot like something from the Teisco-Kawai/Enshu Kogei era aftermath (picture is a "Sakai" labeled guitar).

Ollie

 

[bluejeannot]

So far it looks like Tokai made guitars at some point for:

Fender
Greco
Fernandes/Burny
CF Martin

Don't forget St Louis Music AKA Hondo and Robin guitars from Texas.

 

[Sigmania]

Hi Sigmania,

I don't think this was made by Tokai, are there any indicators beyond the claim of the seller (it isn't unusual to drop the name "Tokai" for pretty much any crummy garage find)?

With the odd German carve and the round corner inlays, this looks a lot like something from the Teisco-Kawai/Enshu Kogei era aftermath (picture is a "Sakai" labeled guitar).

Ollie

Hi Ollie. Do you have more pics? Headstock, pickup routs, back of the neck and back of the body?

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

I have only few more pics (attached). First off, I didn't see the "Tokai" labeled headstock of the same shape on the previous page yesterday. This is a funny twist, and why that is - well that's a rabbit hole I'd rather not dive into again (spent literally years trying to needlessly research this crap guitar archeology). This would also derail this thread I think.

Just so much, this odd "SG with German carve" scheme seems to have emerged 1968/69/70 from what was the Teisco Gengakki (body-) factory in Toyoshina, which was a company independent from Teisco and hence not part of the '67 Teisco buyout by Kawai. They did their own business led by former Teisco factory head Maruyama and made brands like e.g. Excetro, Honey, Emperador... to cut things very short here, whatever they did in Nagano prefecture was seemingly kind of echoed by something similar from Hamamatsu (IOW Kawai).



That's the Sakai, an Emperador and an Excetro. That this isn't pure coincidence could be derived from equally oddball control cavity cover:


Left: Sakai - Right: Red version of the blue Excetro above

How that Ampeg Stud guitar and Tokai fold into that scheme - no idea, but the (suspected) family likeness suggests that the story might be (as per usual) way more complicated.

 

[Sigmania]

Circa 1974 Sigma ad/poster.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Holy woods, batman! Looks like the same guitar! With Maxon pickups:

https://reverb.com/item/3384329-sig...se-tokai-sg-copy-ampeg-stud-1973-1974-natural
Another one in red:

https://reverb.com/item/10114846-martin-sigma-sg-sbg2-1972-1974-vintage-and-original
Looks like I stand corrected. Too bad there is so little reliable documentation to verify things like this, but if these plywood planks were really made by Tokai as late as 1973/74, they might have just picked up the German carve detail completely unrelated, or maybe they made those in first place (these guitars do share some of that old style hardware) and Teisco Gengakki distributed them under their Excetro label (after all they changed their name to "Teisco Gengakki Hanbai" (=marketing) "Co. Ltd" in 1968). Well, we'll likely never know for sure.

 

[Sigmania]

It remains a puzzle for me, but the more pieces we have to look at, the more likely a more accurate picture will form.

Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Sigmania]

I gotta preserve the pics from that listing. Those are awesome!

Sigma Martin SBG2-9 Electric Guitar + Case / Tokai SG Copy / Ampeg Stud 1973-1974 Natural | Reverb

 

[Sigmania]

Martin Sigma SG SBG2 1972/1974 Vintage and original | Reverb

 

[Stratman70]

I have a rare Sigma LP model. It's a great guitar. I can't find any info about on the internet. I've been told that it's made by Tokai.

 

[Sigmania]

Wow! I have been trying to collect info on Sigmas in this thread:

SIGMA Guitars

There are modern Sigmas now using the old logos, so it's getting even more complex. The new ones are made in China I beleive and they are making models that they never had in the past.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

https://best-vintage-guitars.de/tokai_sg_1974.html

 

[Sigmania]

Wow.....

 

[Sigmania]

Offset neck tenon and squarish tab routs look very Tokai.

1978 pot date?

Any 1970-80's MIJ experts about? - Guitar Discussions on theFretBoard

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Control cavity looks very Chushin?

 

[Sigmania]

Did they have the offset neck tenon and squarish pickup tab routs?

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Obviously yes, here's a Fresher (commonly assumed to be a Chushin made label, just like Maya):

https://reverb.com/item/900357-fres...ade-in-japan-lp-lpc-cij-chushin-gakki-vintage
However the control cavity is very characteristic and can be found on loads of low-cost bolt-neck LPs for the late 70s EU market.

 

[Sigmania]

Hard to see in the picture if the tab routs are the same and the tenon looks different to my eyes and rout doesn’t seem to extend into the pickup cavity. But it could be filled with paint.