Tokai In Nagano 1980, 1981, 1982 ?

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Kasuga
Kasuga produced their own house brand in Kasuga guitars. For a brief period of time the company produced Yamaha acoustic guitars. Kasuga guitars were first sold in America in 1972. Unlike many Japanese manufacturers who outsourced their guitar production in other factories outside the main maker, Kasuga produced all their products in-house. Badged guitars known to have been made by Kasuga include Conrad, Emperador, ES-S, Ganson, Heerby, Hondo, Mei Mei and Roland. Kasuga went out of business in 1996.


https://claescaster.com/tag/kasuga/
 
Bad hyperlinks, but wanted to note the point made.

hans-j?rgen said:
Found a very interesting article on the Vintage Guitar magazin site about the Fender Telecaster and its copies. The author Michael Wright seems to know his stuff and mentions some facts about the Kasuga and Tokai history in the late '60s and early '70s:

http://www.vintageguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=94


Here's a similar remark on another site (now www.myrareguitars.com) mentioning the brand name "Conrad" for the U.S. import guitars:

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=yarddoggolfer

Kasuga and Tokai link re Conrad?

Kasaug and FujiGen link re Roland?

japanstrat said:
Kasuga and Tokai made the Conrad guitars in the 1960's/1970's for export to the US.
Kasuga apparently made some Washburn models around 1988 or so with a serial number starting with a K and they might have also made some Jackson and BC Rico guitars.
They also did BC Rich type copies for the Japanese market with a K on the headstock instead of a B.
Kasuga started their own brand of guitars in the 1960's and in the 1970's made the Heerby and Ganson brands.
"rock = GAN" "village = SON".
In the 1970's they went into partnership with Roland for a while for a guitar synth.
In the 1980's/1990's they made a lot of guitars (OEM) for well known brand names like Yamaha and Burny/Fernandes and the early Navigators.
Kasuga also made lots of bluegrass instruments (banjos, manolins etc)
Kasuga was established in 1935 in Nagoya by Miki Bukichi who went on to be the Japanese Democratic Socialist Party Chairman.
Kasuga made guitars, banjos, mandolins, violins and ukeleles.
Kasuga went out of business in the mid 1990's.
By the start of the 1990's they must have had trouble staying in business as a lot of contracts went to the Korean guitar factories that sprung up in the 1980's and also Taiwan as well.
Kasuga lost the Yamaha Acoustic contract to Taiwan in the late 1980's.



http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4273
 
Ummmm. That looks like the inky serial number font on a Kasuga built Heerby from 1978...

0LL5AAF.png


bszmy0J.png


https://www.yeahmansguitars.com/products/1978-heerby-kasuga-les-paul-goldtop?variant=21864849473615
 
Hi guys,

From my files it would seem the Nagano connection only lasted for 3 Years - 1980, 1981 and 1982.
It was only used for the entry level models during that time of LS and SS and a one-off LC-60M
Serial numbers all have a '1' as the second digit so 1980=010xxxx ; 1981=110xxxx ; 1982=210xxxx

regards
Peter Mac
 
Sigmania said:
Taking a second look at this odd bass....

It is probably a Frankenbass, but curious that it has a Fujigen style December 1977 serial number and "MATSUMOKU" on the plate where it’s rusting. Tokai spaghetti logo.

yDKbj7a.jpg

That's most likely an an Aria Pro II neckplate. APII used the same Fender copy serial format as Greco during the late 70's and at least until they gave up copies in '81-'82.

Why is an interesting question, actually. They may have used a common metalworking subcontractor, or maybe one factory made neckplates for both. It seems there might have been some informal cooperation going on between Fujigen and Matsumoku, they were apparently just down the road from each other. I've only ever seen undocumented oral history accounts about this, though.

Pic of the neckplate of a 1977 Aria Pro II ST-600 Strat copy. Identical to Greco plates, with "Matsumoku" added.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/DXngkGA.png[/img]
 
Guitars models believed to have been made in Nagano include:

LS50, LS60, SS38, and ST45.
 
Browsing through my severely disorganized photo archive, I came across these three pics. Not a guitar I've owned, and I have no record of where I got them, but still another example of a Fujigen-made 1981 SS36.

11xxxxx serial.

hQ7Wql6.jpg


Square-ended pickup routs and microtilt mechanism as per contemporary Greco SE450/700.

wgoMkfT.jpg


Interesting neck stamp. It matches the ones found in very late Greco SE's (late 1981 - April 1982), only it's DSS, not DSE, as in the Grecos (SS was Greco's code for SG copies, I would assume it's for "Silver Star" in this one). In the Grecos, the code is followed by the model number, in this one, it's been obliterated.

5ZJZUV7.jpg


The corresponding stamp in a Nov 1981 Greco SE-450CS. Exactly why a D was added to the model code stamp at this point is unknown. Either it's some sort of production info, or maybe the SE models were slated for a model designation change for 1982. Since there's no official documentation of the short-lived 1982 Fender copy range, it's hard to know for sure.

KUhCaw8.jpg


Either way, it's another case of "if it walks and talks like a Fujigen build, it IS a Fujigen build" to me. Remember that the Greco SE450/700s these SS36's were based upon were unique in that they came with a Fujigen-"signed" neckplate, so for once, there is no ambiguity as to who made them,
 
Fascinating. Thanks for adding that piece to the puzzle!

I can’t help but wonder at the context of all of this with the back and forth between Tokai and Fender in 1981, and the bold moves at the end of the year and then the legal battle early in 1982.

To be a fly on the wall…

Thanks for sharing that.
 
Sigmania said:
I can’t help but wonder at the context of all of this with the back and forth between Tokai and Fender in 1981, and the bold moves at the end of the year and then the legal battle early in 1982.

One possible (and 100% speculative) explanation for the existence of these guitars could be that Fujigen needed to divest themselves of an overstock of parts not up to Fender standard. The timeline is murky, but with the Fender Japan joint venture announced in March 1982, it's possible that at least letters of intent were signed by Nov-Dec '81 and prototyping and other preparations having begun. They may have been aware that they would have no use for bodies with square routs and necks with non-original microtilt design within the next few months.

But, like I said, just speculation. And to be honest, I wonder if we'll ever know.
 
Yep. Would be great to know. Not much info coming out of Tokai.

I had pieced together a lot of it in that Lawsuit thread.

Seems that Tokai was on track to make Strats for Fender, then the deal fell apart in Dec. 1981.

Here's a timeline:



1980

Tokai begins making Fender acoustics (per letter from Tokai to Leo Fender in April, 1982)

Tokai uses first of its kind CNC machines to build guitars (photographed in the 1981 "Flat Top", and the Spring 1982 catalogs.

October 1981

"In October 1981, Blue Suede Music launched the now legendary Tokai vintage series of guitars on to the UK market"
(From 1986 Tokai ad "Beware of Imitations").

Note: This timing roughly coincides with printing of Spring 1982 catalog including new models and an announced planned change to a Fender style serial number system in February of 1982.

December 1981

Relationship and business partnership between Tokai and Fender sours. Per letter from Tokai to Leo Fender dated April 8, 1982: "In 1980 we started making "Fender" Acoustic Guitars for CBS and up until last December, 1981, C8S and we were on very good (friendly) terms, and then they wanted the entire distribution of our "Tokai" made "copy" models with "Fender Japan" brand. Our talks came to a deadlock when we knew they wanted to control this Japanese market but did not want to market our products in USA (possibly because our products oversell their "CBS's Fenders")."

January 1982

Jan. 21, 1982. CBS/Arbiter sends letter titled "URGENT - PRESS RELEASE" giving notice to Tokai dealers in the UK of potential legal action, injunction.

Jan. 25, 1982. Blue Suede Music Ltd. consults Ratner & Cave attorneys as counsel and sends its own letter to Tokai dealers in the UK.

February 1982

Rumor published in an article by Max Kay that Mac Seshimoto had done a deal with Fender to make their guitars in Japan.

Previously planned Fender style serial number system set to take effect.

March 1982

The new company of "Fender Japan Co. Ltd." is announced.

April 1982

Tokai sent letter to Leo Fender. Lots of info in there as to the genesis of the conflict with CBS.

May 1982

UK Customs seizes Tokai guitars being imported including 205 guitars bearing the word "Strat".

CBS/Arbiter (Fender UK distributor) sought an injunction in the UK of the importation of Tokai guitars claiming Tokai was "passing off" guitars and claiming that was a copyright infringement.

June1982

Blue Suede Music Ltd. petitions court re: seizure, etc.

Judge rules that the use of the word Tokai could not be an infringement on Fender's rights.

"I held that the particular form of the word "Tokai", which was being used on the defendants' guitars, was not an infringement of the registered trade mark of the plaintiffs, "Fender". The plaintiffs, however, alleged infringement of other registered trade marks, of which one was "Strat". I dealt also in that judgment with the questions of infringement of copyright and passing off. What has happened is that, before I heard the motion the plaintiffs had served on the Commissioners of Customs & Excise certain notices in relation to guitars to be imported by the defendants..."


Ruling on guitars with the word "Strat" on them:

"In effect what the notice of motion asks is that I shall make a mandatory injunction against the plaintiffs to withdraw the notices which they have served. So far as concerns the notice in respect of the largest proportion, numberwise, of the guitars which have been seized by the Customs, namely, the so-called "Vintage Stratocaster", of which there are 205, I would not under any circumstances consider making the order asked for, because it is conceded that those carry the trade mark "Strat" and are infringements."

"... in so far as the defendants now wish to try to secure the release of those 205 guitars bearing that infringing mark "Strat", possibly on the basis of being able to delete the infringing mark, they must follow the procedure which is set out in the appropriate statute relating to the position"


July 1982

Melody Maker article on July 10, 1982 touting the new Squires available in the UK.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=25979&p=199483&hilit=lawsuit#p199483
 

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