travisbickle
Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2013
- Messages
- 16
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:x Hi Tokai Forum! I notice the bulk of members I have read are from the UK area, and I hope that you will not mind a Yank (did not vote for BUSH!!) getting involved in the banter.
I have owned many ARIA and IBANEZ guitars, and I currently have 8 of them in the studio. I have always like FV shapes and neck feel, so when I read in several books that Tokai made a 'comparable' guitar to it's daddy, I was excited because Gibsons are overpriced and newer models tend to be on the 'cheap' side of materials and craftsmanship. I fell in love with a TOKAI Korina V FV55 (at least I thought)on EBAY:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310778475524?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
I bought the guitar for $500 and did not ask the right questions, so I am to blame as much as anybody. Anyway, I got in touch with the Tokai factory after it arrived, as it had a CN1204***** SN on the headstock, and I feared it might be a counterfeit guitar when they informed me that the headstock on my V was for a FV47 model, and the CN #'s are usually 12 characters, not 11.
My main complaint with this guitar is the (set) neck angle seems to be set at a whopping 4 degrees, and to make it playable the bridge has to be extended to around 7mm (3/8") to eliminate buzzing with level frets and adjusted truss rod. Still, it sounds 'cheap' and 'clinky' even though I can set the intonation and use a Pearly Gates pickup.
I want out of this deal if I can determine if the axe is counterfeit, and since time is running out, and the Tokai people do not seem to communicate very well with their China sub, I am asking the knowledgeable members of the Tokai registry if I am the owner of a genuine or fake Tokai? Thank you for reading such a long post. I have other pics' if someone needs them to ID this thing.
I have owned many ARIA and IBANEZ guitars, and I currently have 8 of them in the studio. I have always like FV shapes and neck feel, so when I read in several books that Tokai made a 'comparable' guitar to it's daddy, I was excited because Gibsons are overpriced and newer models tend to be on the 'cheap' side of materials and craftsmanship. I fell in love with a TOKAI Korina V FV55 (at least I thought)on EBAY:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310778475524?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
I bought the guitar for $500 and did not ask the right questions, so I am to blame as much as anybody. Anyway, I got in touch with the Tokai factory after it arrived, as it had a CN1204***** SN on the headstock, and I feared it might be a counterfeit guitar when they informed me that the headstock on my V was for a FV47 model, and the CN #'s are usually 12 characters, not 11.
My main complaint with this guitar is the (set) neck angle seems to be set at a whopping 4 degrees, and to make it playable the bridge has to be extended to around 7mm (3/8") to eliminate buzzing with level frets and adjusted truss rod. Still, it sounds 'cheap' and 'clinky' even though I can set the intonation and use a Pearly Gates pickup.
I want out of this deal if I can determine if the axe is counterfeit, and since time is running out, and the Tokai people do not seem to communicate very well with their China sub, I am asking the knowledgeable members of the Tokai registry if I am the owner of a genuine or fake Tokai? Thank you for reading such a long post. I have other pics' if someone needs them to ID this thing.