NGD! 1984? TFV70

[ElectricJam]

Hey guys,

Super excited to share my latest acquisition with you all. I never thought I’d get an opportunity to hold, let alone own, one of these extraordinary instruments. Definitely a grail guitar, as owning its contemporary or vintage Gibson counterpart is obviously out of the question.

The guitar is absolutely stunning in hand and exhibits all the funky patina you would come to expect from an original V. Not quite sure how accurate these are, but I have heard tell they were dimensionally 1:1 to the original. The sole distinguishable feature being a much shorter neck tenon.

Either way, this certainly scratches that Flying V itch and makes for the most satisfying playing experience. At least, as much as you can, with such awkward a instrument. Sonically speaking it perfectly nails that shrill chime or bell like quality of genuine article. Unsurprisingly, seeing as the brass anchor plate and string through body construction is identical.

Once again, I find myself pleasantly surprised by the overall impressive build quality coming out of the Tokai company in its prime. Enjoy!

 

[Sigmania]

Serial number on the back of the headstock?

 

[ElectricJam]

Serial number on the back of the headstock?

 

[Sigmania]

Cool. Definitely 1984.

Congratulations! That’s a sweet catch.

And with the case too. Amazing.

 

[Sigmania]

I added it to this gallery:

FV, FVD, F AFV & TFV Gallery

 

[Sigmania]

1984 catalog:

 

[ElectricJam]

The graining on that catalog model is so similar it could almost be that very same guitar.

You’re right, the case has just much presence and personality as the guitar itself. It’s an extremely well made unit. No surprise to find it too is Japanese.

Both the case and instrument had a good 30 years of accumulated surface grime and needed some serious cleaning. It really doesn’t translate on camera how nice and plush the funky blue felt lining actually is. It certainly makes for the complete vintage experience.

 

[Sigmania]

Man you scored. So glad it found a good home.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

HNGD! Seeing this fine example made me briefly dig into the history of the players - most people will associate the Flying V with certain glam or hard rock bands <cough> and I noticed that I totally missed that Lonnie Mack was playing one all of his life!



(Anecdote: That tune is often referred to as the origin of the term "whammy bar" but this doesn't seem right - you can see on the album cover that Lonnie didn't have the Bigsby mounted on his V yet and you can't hear any whammy bar action on the recording either. But what you can hear is his trademark usage of the "F.M. Vibrato" circuit in his Magnatone amplifier.)

satisfying playing experience. At least, as much as you can, with such awkward a instrument

My brother had a German Hoyer 5062 Flying V copy around the time your Tokai was built and I found it less awkward than it looks and even pretty comfy to play sitting down, it just looks a little stupid with the lower wing between the legs and the first fret far away and as high as your head.

I love how they even made a raised letter Tokai logo just for that model! The catalog page scan is missing the description (OCR + Google Translate):

TFV70 1958 MODEL / ¥ 70,000 Maho with shocking body lines and sharp flat top The newly developed expressive 157PAF vintage pickup is mounted on the gunny body. professional A fantastic solid guitar masterpiece that enables aggressive hard play. 'SS traditional model A perfect replica down to the last detail, it is now available as a model desired by old collectors.

 

[ElectricJam]

I know that Mick Mars played a 58 Flying V on Dr Feelgood, my all time favourite Motley Crüe album. Which, is serendipitous, as I bought it the day I saw a Crüe gig.

I’m also a huge fan of Lenny Kravitz, another well known flying v aficionado, whom famously played a signature v. In doing so resurrected the v’s popularity and kudos in the zeitgeist of the pop-rock scene during the 90s.

Goes without saying, that the three Kings all played a 58. Also, Mick Fleetwood, Keith Richards, Kirk Hammett, Slash and the prestigious list really goes on and on…

 

[Sigmania]

Don’t forget Jimi. He played at least 2 of them.





Maui



Isle of Wight

 

[ElectricJam]

I purposely omitted Jimi, only because I had never seen footage of him handling a 58 style v. I know he played many 67 style vs, both of the hard tail and whammy varieties.

Experiencing some incessant buzzing on the low e string, and same again to a lesser extend on all the other strings.



Thing is the guitar appears to have been set up incredibly well, at some stage. The intonation is still spot on, fretboard edges have been sufficiently rounded over smooth and the nut and saddles have both been grooved - as you might expect to see on an acoustic. The action is a little high for my personal preference of play, but I’m happy to live with that to preserve the inherited setup.

My current thinking is to first try a heavier gauge of string. In hopes they might seat better in the grooved notches and if not eliminate, at least somewhat dampen the buzzing.

Then perhaps drop the bridge down to lessen the attack angle of the strings. I have noted most vintage abr-1 are typically crashed almost all the way down to the body. As, I know early Gibsons had a tendency to collapse bridges due to high string tension.

If the buzzing still persists, all I can really think to do is reverse the saddles. And if that fails, I will have no other choice but to install new saddles.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Just a word of caution - I don't know how long the guitar is in your home but if the relative humidity there is much different than in its previous location, it may take weeks until the wood has reached its new "equilibrium moisture content". Until then all (action-) setup efforts can be a bit short-lived.

So the buzz is coming from the bridge? The video didn't make too obvious what you mean? Could be that the saddle notch is too wide indeed - I think you could get some replacements from Faber/Germany.

As, I know early Gibsons had a tendency to collapse bridges due to high string tension.

There's 2 different phenomena associated with old ABRs, one is the "collapse" of the bridge itself as seen on the top example - the bridge is bending down in the middle so the saddles are not following the neck radius properly anymore. I've not heard seen/heard much about this happening on quality Japanese ABR copies tho.

The other one is particularly infamous with the 335 et al, that's the neck angle decreasing over the years because the neck/body transition is giving in to the string tension. To get the action corrected appropriately the bridge gets lowered more and more until it's sitting on the body top. From there, only shaving down the underside of the bridge will help, which in turn will increase the tendency to develop problem #1.

Your high action could have to do with the latter phenomenon. Have you checked the neck relief yet? That's the main component settling slowly while the guitar climatizes in its new home tho, but you should be able to see if the neck is generally straight and if the relief is much off or not.

 

[ElectricJam]

I’m fairly certain it is a culmination of the deep notches in the saddles and excessive bridge height. I have a genuine abr-1 on my LS gold top and the original gotoh that came as standard was basically identical to the vintage Gibson bridge. Both of which resemble the latter taller version of the abr-1. That makes a lot of sense that it must be the only way to set the string action at the ideal height for the neck angle. I suppose the real problem is the rake angle on the string attack.

 

[ElectricJam]

I eyeballed the neck and did a basic string check by fretting both the lower and upper registers, simultaneously and tapping midway to see if there was any muting, thus indicating an up bow. I don’t believe there is any significant bowing on the neck. I did note there was some lacquer checking along one side of the body, at the neck joint. This was indicative of exposure to temperature change and deemed purely superficial. Hey, for a v of this age and of neck through construction, I believe this is basically requisite. I do know that this is a common issue on most vintage Kramer king vs.