Hondo Lead II – made by Tokai?

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19tlb84

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Hi all,

every now and then I see a Hondo guitar from their "Professional" series offered dead cheap. Some of these guitars, namely the Fender copies, are said to have been made by Tokai in Japan. At least from 1979 to 1981, when Hondo-owner IMC decided to have all their guitars produced in Korea.

One of these Fender copies is the Lead II, which seems to be a decent guitar, and if built by Tokai, certainly not far from the original's quality.



Have any of the forum members ever owned a Tokai-made Hondo? Are they any good?

Best, Talbophile
 
I'm not an expert in this area but I would warn you to take such claims with a grain of salt. They are usually baseless, and tend to be made by people trying to talk up the value of guitars they thought were "vintage" and valuable but turned out to be worth pennies.
 
Hi,

Paladin2019 said:
I'm not an expert in this area but I would warn you to take such claims with a grain of salt. They are usually baseless, and tend to be made by people trying to talk up the value of guitars they thought were "vintage" and valuable but turned out to be worth pennies.

Thanks for the input. Dead right you are. There is currently a Hondo Strat listed on Ebay UK, item 373599455673, for almost 1.300 pounds! Here's the description:
Vintage HONDO PROFESSIONAL (PRE HONDO II)
MADE IN JAPAN / LEAD GUITAR
VAN HALEN STRIPED STYLE (black body with yellow stripes) ORIGINAL & RARE!
SERIAL NUMBER 1050680 (This guitar has a TOKIA seven digit serial number)
10xxxxx = 1981 (LAW SUIT ERA)
Fitted with new number 10 coloured strings.

Ridiculous price. An MIJ Lead II on the other hand can be had for less than 200 Euros and could make a good workinghorse six-string.

Best, 19tlb84
 
Just found this old thread:

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=18323

So someone's been there before...

19tlb84
 
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