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The Tokai Story Courtesy www.japanguitar.com

Tokai Guitars
Of all the “copycat” guitar manufacturers of the 1970’s and 1980’s, by far the most collectible and widely-known brand is Tokai. Tokai began making electric guitars as long ago as the early 1970’s. Two reasons Tokai is the most famous of the lawsuit makers are #1: Stevie Ray Vaughan played a Springy Sound on ccasion, and #2: ZZ Tops plays Love Rock Les Paul’s on stage on occasion.Aside from their celebrity introduction to the masses in the US and abroad, the older Tokai “lawsuit” guitars have the single-most likeness to original Fender’s and Gibson’s of the 50’s and 60’s. The headstock logo of their famous “Springy Sound” Stratocaster is a spitting image of the Fender “spaghetti” logo from the 50’s and 60’s. What a great replica logo! Aside from the logo being cool, Tokai melded excellent craftsmanship with extremely smooth pickups; hot “U” series, vintage “V” series, and Dimarzio “E” series on the strats, and really smooth Dimarzio PAF replica humbuckers or Gotohs on the Love Rock Les Paul’s. It was never the intention of Tokai to make lookalike copies of the great USA guitars of the era but instead to actually match or surpass them thus offering a real alternative . I personally like the Tokai Dimarzio PAF replica pickups and the Gotohs on their Love Rock and Reborn Les Paul’s more than any other Les Paul tone, including Gibson tone. The only other pickup that come close to the tonal qualities of these pickups are the Greco rare “Dry Z” PAF replicas and the VH1's of the Burnys. Those are extremely rare to find on Greco and Burny Les Paul’s, but are just as sweet. For more really good information about Tokai’s, I’ll leave it up to the experts at the Tokai Registry. They do a fabulous job at keeping eBay safe from fraud (concerning Tokai’s) and also offer an excellent forum where Tokai lovers can learn more and share stories.

Our Opinion :

Plenty of brand awareness in the west makes Tokai a comfortable buy for those not ready to step beyond the safety line. This also makes them a tad more expensive than their lesser known but equally good alternatives. Significant difference in the classic 80s Japan guitars when compared to the mass produced modern production. In particular the Reborn - Reborn Old and the Love Rocks pre 83 are phenominal with ALL the mojo of a true vintage Les Paul. After 83 Tokai went into greater volume production but still these were still great guitars - just not as rare. Same applies to the Springy Sounds , Spacey Sounds etc. on the Fender replica side . Prices on these - especially the Les Pauls will in our opinion just keep on rising but are still cheaper than a new Gibbo equivalent - which seems a little crazy . Love Rocks are Now also made in China - Say no more -

Useful Links - Click to Open-

Wikipedia Tokai

The Tokai Registry

Tokai Les Paul ReBorn

1978 Original

Don't get too excited here but this is a 1978 all original 100% complete Tokai Les Paul Reborn in Cherry Burst complete with Original case . Very Rare with the Les Paul Logo and highly sought after at the best of times but in this condition and originality a fantastic money in the bank investment. These were only made for about a year before pressure from USA forced the removal of the Les Paul on the headstock.

Absolutely every dimension as per the USA Les Pauls right down to the precise headstock angle and allegedly better built.

Apart from that it isn't a bad guitar either justifying the virtual legend status these are now getting..

Tokai Reborn Old

Japan 1980

The Legendary Reborn old from Tokai made in 1980 only . If you want a 59 Gibson Les Paul and can’t afford it then get one of these at one hundredth of the cost.

This one is in excellent condition all round with just a bit of playwear and totally original and complete except the normal missing pick guard. It looks better without it anyway.

Everything is fantastic and the vintage vibe is just immense.

Even has its original case.

Tokai Reborn– LS60 - CherryBurst

Japan 1978 – Serial : 800914

Prime natural slow grown mahogany body with lovely Maple cap , Rosewood fretboard etc. These materials were chosen at the time for the warmth of tone and high sustain characteristics unfortunately for modern guitars since about 1991 use of these materials was stopped on a worldwide ban in the interests of conservation.

This guitar is free from dinks or donks anywhere and very beautiful. You may find one or two tiny pinhead sized indents if you look hard but that’s being hyper. There is some ice rink buckle rash in the varnish on the back and barely a hint of fretwear. That’s it – Fantastic with a HUGE vintage vibe. The pics tell the tale but we have the highly prized X marked pickups – medium tenon joint with a dowel as well – PCB in the controls chamber – Double ring perloid tuners – In fact the lot and its alloriginal and unmolested.

Sublime neck – Slim 60s and a nice handful recently set up low and fast and the sounds are everything a vintage Les Paul should be.

These ( when you can find one ) have been increasing in value year on year and continue to do so but are still well under valued compared to the same vintage USA Les Paul which would cost you many many times more for no more guitar.

Good Hardcase which may also be original .

Tokai Silver Star NOS

CBS Stratocaster 1984

Highly prized version of the 70s large headstock Strat . The Springy Sound of the same era was the sister guitar and emulated the pre CBS model Strat. The build quality and everything about these guitars was said to surpass the quality of the originals . See it , Play it and believe it.

This one goes 10 steps further up the desireability scale because it is a genuine NOS ( New Old Stock ) . It has never even had strings on it and the plastic is still on the pick guard . Warranty card - Trem - Springs are all still in the goodies bag in the case. Needless to say that it is MINT and as new. Quite amazing .

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