ibicus said:
Ok...makes sense.What about the price ? 1400 euros for the guitar only.7 years old mint without case...
Hmm.. don't take my word for granted as I may be very wrong, but:
As far as I understand the Tokai model number essentially indicates the price in Japanese Yen.
So SG104 = 770 euros (?547) (before you add import Tax, etc)
and SG185 = 1370 euros (?974) (7 years ago)
You also have to consider that the SG185 was... 1370 euros 7 years ago. Take into account inflation and if there was an identical model today, it'd probably be closer to the "200" mark. (questionable calculation). Whoever imported also would've paid import tax at the time.
Therefore, we're talking about SG185 essentially being double the price of SG104. I presume for a new SG104, you will end up paying close to 1000 euros, once you add import tax and other nonsense. So if you opted for SG185 you would be paying an extra third of the cost, yet receive double the goodness
... Will you be able to tell the difference from sound alone? I don't know, but it may have slightly nicer spec, or nicer timber or whatever else.
Now, most guitars I've seen on eBay and locally (unless they're rare or ****), second hand they tend to be valued at around 50% of their original cost. Therefore, 1400 euros for a 2nd hand guitar, that today new would probably cost.. maybe 1600? is quite a high price (but still better than the completely new SG104).
So essentially, you could haggle and see if he'd sell it for 1200? or 1300 if he threw in a hard-case? Or simply go for it on the basis that you like it. I paid 1200 euros for my Gibson 61' reissue and I suppose you could ask whether it's even worth going for a Tokai if you could get a gibby which tend to hold their value better and aren't as big of a pain in the arse to sell afterwards (especially locally if you want to avoid shipping). Additionally, it could be said that it's unlikely that other people will be willing to pay a 4/5 of the guitar's original price for what is essentially a 2nd hand guitar if you were to sell it afterwards.
Again, I may be wrong with my logic/estimates, but I've gathered that no one likes to value anything in this forum which is a major pain when you're trying to gauge whether something is worth the money or not and all it does is just deters people from buying out of fear they're gonna get ripped off.
Sidenote: go for it if you love it. It's personal for most people. I absolutely loved the grain of the wood on my SG and I've not seen any alike since I got mine.
Also check this thread, there's a guy with 2008 SG155
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=22676