Cybercat
Well-known member
My friend Bob has been holding out for ages to get a really good early Tokai neck (originally to go with a genuine '65 Strat body) to build his "dream" Strat.
Due to this experienced & seemingly highly reputable (1783 feedback, 99.6% positive) seller's glowing comments, he bought this neck at quite a high price (US $275.00 - and got considerably overcharged on the shipping)...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3721428094
When it finally arrived, he was a bit shocked to find the "Tinted Amber Nitro" refinish has been sprayed (& not particularly well) OVER a kind of very light coloured 'poly' satin finish, which is left exposed at the heel end, more importantly, the end of the neck looks a bit weird for a "Lawsuit Era 80's Tokai Neck" to him, me & a collector friend of mine (who has 4 early Tokais)...
None of us have ever seen a hex truss-rod adjuster like this before. Is this very common? - The seller says it is "THE ONLY "GIVE-AWAY" IS THE ALLEN-WRENCH-ADJUSTABLE TRUSSROD AT THE HEEL. OTHERWISE IT WOULD FOOL ANY PRO!" (..presumably that it is off a vintage Fender).
(Not so important, but FYI anyway, the "FENDER SPAGHETTI REPLACEMENT LOGO" looks like it was made on a poor quality home inkjet, and has been badly applied too).
My friend is rather worried that the neck may not be exactly what it has been represented to be. He really doestn't know what to do. Apparently the seller seemed very short & dismissive with him on the phone prior to shipping the guitar. (After the auction, he decided he would not accept PayPal from a buyer in Hong Kong, & my friend - a US citizen working here - had to buy a Demand Draft from the bank, which the seller then said had "got lost" for several weeks. I understand that only when Bob checked with his bank, who confirmed it had been cashed, & Bob contacted the seller again, did the neck get shipped...)
The seller now says the work was "done before we bought it", and that it came off this "RARE 1980s TOKAI STRATOCASTER REISSUE-STYLE STRAT BODY " body, which he also has for sale on eBay: -
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41406&item=3723854744
Note the "5th" hole in the neck pocket. Neither my collector friend nor I have seen this before in a 1980's Tokai body - looks like it could be a "micro-tilt" adjustment hole? (The neck does not have any sign of micro-tilt).
Can anyone offer any help, advice or comments, please?
Due to this experienced & seemingly highly reputable (1783 feedback, 99.6% positive) seller's glowing comments, he bought this neck at quite a high price (US $275.00 - and got considerably overcharged on the shipping)...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3721428094
When it finally arrived, he was a bit shocked to find the "Tinted Amber Nitro" refinish has been sprayed (& not particularly well) OVER a kind of very light coloured 'poly' satin finish, which is left exposed at the heel end, more importantly, the end of the neck looks a bit weird for a "Lawsuit Era 80's Tokai Neck" to him, me & a collector friend of mine (who has 4 early Tokais)...
None of us have ever seen a hex truss-rod adjuster like this before. Is this very common? - The seller says it is "THE ONLY "GIVE-AWAY" IS THE ALLEN-WRENCH-ADJUSTABLE TRUSSROD AT THE HEEL. OTHERWISE IT WOULD FOOL ANY PRO!" (..presumably that it is off a vintage Fender).
(Not so important, but FYI anyway, the "FENDER SPAGHETTI REPLACEMENT LOGO" looks like it was made on a poor quality home inkjet, and has been badly applied too).
My friend is rather worried that the neck may not be exactly what it has been represented to be. He really doestn't know what to do. Apparently the seller seemed very short & dismissive with him on the phone prior to shipping the guitar. (After the auction, he decided he would not accept PayPal from a buyer in Hong Kong, & my friend - a US citizen working here - had to buy a Demand Draft from the bank, which the seller then said had "got lost" for several weeks. I understand that only when Bob checked with his bank, who confirmed it had been cashed, & Bob contacted the seller again, did the neck get shipped...)
The seller now says the work was "done before we bought it", and that it came off this "RARE 1980s TOKAI STRATOCASTER REISSUE-STYLE STRAT BODY " body, which he also has for sale on eBay: -
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41406&item=3723854744
Note the "5th" hole in the neck pocket. Neither my collector friend nor I have seen this before in a 1980's Tokai body - looks like it could be a "micro-tilt" adjustment hole? (The neck does not have any sign of micro-tilt).
Can anyone offer any help, advice or comments, please?
