Help Identify These Pickups

[Voodoo Blues]

Hi guys, I hope some of you will be able to help me out. I recently got a '78 Fender Strat from my cousin and have come to find out it is loaded with E-Stamped Tokai pickups, actually I think the entire pickguard assembly is Tokai since the pots don't match the Fenders and the cap is the chicklet type.

They are light grey bottoms and are marked with a stamped "E" between the D & A poles. Someone penciled in "1", "2" & "3" but I think this may have been done by the person who swapped them. There are no date stamps and the wire is plastic coated. They have the vintage stagger and the beveled edges on the poles are different for each one. On the neck pup the high E, B A & low E are beveled. On the middle one the high E, A & low E are beveled and all the poles on the bridge pup are beveled. All the other poles are straight edge.

Any info you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a photo...

 

[Anonymous]

I recently got a '78 Fender Strat

My commiserations......

Yep, those pickups are Tokai Es.

Mike

 

[Voodoo Blues]

My commiserations......

Ah don't say that, it's a pretty good guitar. Considering the biggest faults with the 70's Strats are the pickups (which have been changed) and the tremolo (this one's a hard tail).

Yep, those pickups are Tokai Es.

Any chance you can point me int he direction of some info? I tried searching but couldn't find anything solid.

 

[Anonymous]

The problem with 70s Fenders was poor machining, finishing, quality control etc. etc.

What info do you want about the Es?

 

[Voodoo Blues]

The problem with 70s Fenders was poor machining, finishing, quality control etc. etc.

LOL There's a story in the Stratocaster Chronicles about how a bunch of guitars that had be picked out for defaults had accidently been shipped out.

Anything you can tell me really... Is there any way to figure out what year they were made? What kind of magnets/wire/etc did they use? Were they modeled after another particular pickup?

All I've found so far is that they have a reputation for being high quality with great tone (but I can that one by myself), Dimarzio made them and they measure in the mid to high 5's.

 

[Anonymous]

Anything you can tell me really... Is there any way to figure out what year they were made? What kind of magnets/wire/etc did they use? Were they modeled after another particular pickup?

All I've found so far is that they have a reputation for being high quality with great tone (but I can that one by myself), Dimarzio made them and they measure in the mid to high 5's.

No idea really - I don't recall anyone asking that before. I've never heard anyone on here quote details of their construction. It's widely believed that they are Dimarzios, though a few people dispute that with some vehemence.

Personally I find Es weak & shrill, & I improved my ST80 considerably by replacing them! So maybe somebody else should answer you....

In my opinion, the weakest part of any Tokai Strat tends to be the pickups.

 

[greco_burst]

The problem with 70s Fenders was poor machining, finishing, quality control etc. etc.

LOL There's a story in the Stratocaster Chronicles about how a bunch of guitars that had be picked out for defaults had accidently been shipped out.

Anything you can tell me really... Is there any way to figure out what year they were made? What kind of magnets/wire/etc did they use? Were they modeled after another particular pickup?

All I've found so far is that they have a reputation for being high quality with great tone (but I can that one by myself), Dimarzio made them and they measure in the mid to high 5's.

Those pickups are Tokai E stamped pickups, with vintage type specifications. The E stamped pickups were called Tokai Vintage ST Pickups in 1982, and prior were called ST-A or Microphonic A and were put in models ST-60 and above

Tokai used single coil DiMarzio FS-1 in Silver Star SS80, and used DiMarzio VS-1 for the first time in 1982 for the ST-100 Springy Sound, and later in Gold Star TST80 and TST100 (until 1985)
Tokai E stamped ST Vintage pickups were last seen in 1984 Strats.