Help ID'ing Tokai strat-like guitar

[AndyM]

I recently picked up this used guitar in Japan on the cheap. It is in pristine condition. I doubt anyone ever played it much. It is labeled Tokai Super Edition in plain font. Plays and sounds great and not concerned about collectibility. But curious about year and model. Any ideas? I have already searched the Registry and catalogues there. I found a few being played in Youtube, but that is all. Thanks! I think I have seen Fernandes that looked similar.

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[iainblack]

Interesting. We have seen the 3 ply scratch with the red middle layer but. Not that logo or sunburst. Any sticker on the back of the neck or body codes under scratchplate?

 

[AndyM]

No stickers. Serial number on the steel plate is 214347. Looks hammered in(a little crooked). Though it seems serial numbers don't mean much for these.

This Fernandes looks similar(identical from the photo):

http://www.j-guitar.com/product_id119162.html

I wonder if mine was some kind of prototype for a Fernandes production. I won't have a chance to open it up for a few days after this trip. Very quiet for a cheap strat. I am curious what the shielding looks like. Neck and frets are perfect. Not what I would expect from a strat at this price level and a truss rod you need to adjust from the butt end.

 

[carl300367]

i have one similar 3 ply scratch plate HSS set up
mine has a sticker on the back of the neck 36
take it apart mines not wood its some funny material they tried
in the 80's the back off the neck is gloss black

i got mine on ebay for ?113

 

[AndyM]

I'll pull it apart next week. Tapping the head stock, it seems to vibrate differently than wood. It does seem to have good natural sustain for this type of guitar.

 

[AndyM]

Researching Japanese websites leads me to believe that this a prototype for Fernandes SSH-40 that Tokai built for them OEM and found in the 1986 catalogue.

 

[carl300367]

here's a link to the ebay add of the one i bought
on reflection it looks sod all like yours

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Myst...oeX0mCq419EMNGIvZqXvU%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

[AndyM]

The one in the ebay link looks like an earlier prototype. 3 screw neckplate instead of four and the jack blanked out and moved. Head stock is different shape.. Maybe they were trying to find a way to keep the sound and function without it looking too much like an exact Fender copy?