Sharing some pics and what I know about this guitar, and hoping to get some of your own opinions on it and knowledge!
I've heard rumours that Hondo II Pros were allegedly built by Tokai in the 80s (this guitar was apparently built between '81 and '82). I can neither prove nor disprove that except to say it was made in Japan as stated on the headstock. I'm splurging all the info on it with the hope you all might be able to validate as Tokai or not, it might be boring to most of you!
Most importantly it is very nice and stupidly fun to play. I picked this guitar up for about ?70 from a different forum and it is worth every penny. It's a little dinged here and there, but it gets played more than my Classic Vibe Tele (which I'm selling now), and for all intents and purposes it is my go to Tele. I don't think I will ever sell it.
The electrics are quite tidy with good soldering, and the parts are cheapish but functional. It has 250K pots and a 0.047 cap.
The pickups are beefy ceramic monsters with a construction I've not really seen before - Bridge: 8.9k / Neck: 9.38k! They sound great driven but still have a very pleasing chime when clean. The bridge actually sounds more like a Tele than my Classic Vibe. However, the neck pickup is too bassy and strong for my taste so when I finally land a real Tokai Strat I will probably swap the neck into the bridge position of the Strat.
Do these routs match anything similar to Tokai? (excuse the socks)
I should also add that there at least 3 pieces to the body showing a budget driven construction.
The neck is a dream and shows some Tokai-ish traits such as a capped maple fingerboard and wide spaced 12th fret dots. It has a 9.5" radius (I think). The wood selection is perhaps not as good as Tokais seen with the grain here...
The neck profile is what I would expect a U profile to be. It's definitely not a C, but very comfortable to hold.
Apparently this is a Tokai serial?
The tuners are also similar to those found on ST42s and Silver stars, though I expect they appear all over the place.
The nut is definitely unlike Tokai Fender copies of the era
Here's a demo, not of myself, but he plays better than I could anyway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0MAKdT0B80
All in all it's a great guitar, showing impressive craftsmanship, but definitely at a budget. So what do you guys think? Is it a Tokai?
I've heard rumours that Hondo II Pros were allegedly built by Tokai in the 80s (this guitar was apparently built between '81 and '82). I can neither prove nor disprove that except to say it was made in Japan as stated on the headstock. I'm splurging all the info on it with the hope you all might be able to validate as Tokai or not, it might be boring to most of you!
Most importantly it is very nice and stupidly fun to play. I picked this guitar up for about ?70 from a different forum and it is worth every penny. It's a little dinged here and there, but it gets played more than my Classic Vibe Tele (which I'm selling now), and for all intents and purposes it is my go to Tele. I don't think I will ever sell it.
The electrics are quite tidy with good soldering, and the parts are cheapish but functional. It has 250K pots and a 0.047 cap.
The pickups are beefy ceramic monsters with a construction I've not really seen before - Bridge: 8.9k / Neck: 9.38k! They sound great driven but still have a very pleasing chime when clean. The bridge actually sounds more like a Tele than my Classic Vibe. However, the neck pickup is too bassy and strong for my taste so when I finally land a real Tokai Strat I will probably swap the neck into the bridge position of the Strat.
Do these routs match anything similar to Tokai? (excuse the socks)
I should also add that there at least 3 pieces to the body showing a budget driven construction.
The neck is a dream and shows some Tokai-ish traits such as a capped maple fingerboard and wide spaced 12th fret dots. It has a 9.5" radius (I think). The wood selection is perhaps not as good as Tokais seen with the grain here...
The neck profile is what I would expect a U profile to be. It's definitely not a C, but very comfortable to hold.
Apparently this is a Tokai serial?
The tuners are also similar to those found on ST42s and Silver stars, though I expect they appear all over the place.
The nut is definitely unlike Tokai Fender copies of the era
Here's a demo, not of myself, but he plays better than I could anyway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0MAKdT0B80
All in all it's a great guitar, showing impressive craftsmanship, but definitely at a budget. So what do you guys think? Is it a Tokai?