Tokai Hummingbird Electric Late 60s? 70s?

[Robin]

Hi, Just joined the registry and I would like some help from the knowledgeable people here. I had a few guitars sitting in a walk-in closet since 1983, when my ex-husband left. I have never even looked at them since I am not a musician and don't know a thing about guitars. Now the time has come when I realized the guitars might be worth something to people who love guitars, so I researched online and found that there is a thriving community out here! My ex definitely had this guitar in the mid- 70s when I first met him, so it is at least that old. I am looking for identification and potential worth, if anyone can tell me. This particular guitar says "Hummingbird" on the handle part, (the neck?) and on the front there are metallic letters that say TG and then on the back, a plaque saying TGK Tokai Gakki. There is a tiny sticker, not engraved, just stuck on, that says D68953. It is a beautiful dark reddish kind of wood. It has a long arm kind of pedal on the front, is that a tremelo arm? (Trying to learn from my research). I thought it was a bass because he was a bass player, but it has six strings so I don't know. The condition is that three strings are missing or broken, and it has some scratches and dings, but it looks beautiful for sitting in a closet after a quarter century. I will try to post some pix. I did see a guitar like this on eBay, but from what I have learned it's a fairly rare and collectible guitar, and a Tokai dealer in Germany told me that this is from the late 60s. Any help would be very appreciated! Thank you, Robin

 

[Robin]

I have been trying to post some pictures of the Tokai Hummingbird but I can't figure out how to do it. I uploaded the pix to Snapfish but I can't get them onto the forum. Any advice? Thanks, Robin[/url]

 

[CliffsGuitarWorld]

Upload your photos to photobucket.com and then click on the IMG URL at bottom of photo and copy and paste it into message..Then we can all see...Cliff

 

[Robin]

http://s331.photobucket.com/albums/l443/RobinTKV/

Thanks, Cliff. I hope I did this correctly

 

[Diodibuh]

as far as I know - they're rare, hard to find and quite expensive.
this was the last auction I saw on ebay for this guitar
http://cgi.ebay.com/1967-SUPER-RARE-Tokai-Humming-Bird-Mosrite-VINTAGE_W0QQitemZ120282516557QQihZ002QQcategoryZ118985QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Anonymous]

Now that IS unusual. We have a member on here who collects those Mosrites - is it Marcus?

Hopefully it should bring you a few $s Robin. Make sure you write a good ad with lots of pics available on your photobucket site - pics really help to sell guitars, particularly unusual ones.

Good luck.

Mike

 

[Robin]

thank you, Stratman and Diodubuh. I will take it to a guitar store to have its condition assessed and then put it on ebay when the summer lull is over, unless I find someone who wants it here or on another vintage guitar site.

 

[andyscott]

If you don't actually need the money and you have the space it can pretty much only appreciate in value. That's what happens when things are considered 'collectible'.

 

[Diodibuh]

I totally agrre with Andyscott. If would wait couple of years.

 

[Robin]

Thank you for the advice....I guess I've had it stored away this long, it wouldn't hurt to hold onto it awhile longer.