Can anyone tell me if this is genuine or fake?

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wanorak

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Can anyone tell me if this tokai is the real deal or fake.

http://www.wanorak.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/tokai

In particular the machine heads are not what i'd expect on a goldstar.

But if there is anything else could you let me know as I'm thinking of buying

cheers

wanorak
 
it must be a fake for a couple of reasons.

1) Tokai doesn't put the MIJ sticker on that place.

2) it's black (fake guitar has a black body, mostly)
 
Cato said:
it must be a fake for a couple of reasons.

1) Tokai doesn't put the MIJ sticker on that place.

2) it's black (fake guitar has a black body, mostly)


Where are the made in japan stickers normally?

I've seen two like that recently
 
wanorak said:
Cato said:
it must be a fake for a couple of reasons.

1) Tokai doesn't put the MIJ sticker on that place.

2) it's black (fake guitar has a black body, mostly)


Where are the made in japan stickers normally?

I've seen two like that recently
old Tokai guitars don't have the MIJ sticker anywhere.

that fake is probably a Korea or China-made one. it's pretending a Japan-made guitar using that sticker that was brought from somewhere. I guess so.
 
every tokai goldstar I have looked at on ebay has had the made in japan sticker.....and at the bottom of the neck. are you saying that all of these are fake?

Can someone make a list of things to look out for when buying these guitars it seems a mine field.
 
I've seen 80's Tokais with a made in japan sticker where this one is - although one I had was white text on a black background. Often there was also an oval sticker showing model number (any sign of an oval sticker having been there in the past ? ). Tuners are not the ones normally on the ST-50 (or higher) range but think the ST-40 may have had these type. What about the pick-ups and the saddles - any indication there that they are genuine tokai. I'd recommend a search of this website for previous comments. I wouldn't discount it from being a genuine tokai. how does it sound/play?

Tony
 
This is an ST 40 - and she has the same tuners as showed on the other pic ... :wink:


http://cgi.ebay.de/TOKAI-SUPER-EDITION-Stratocaster-Made-in-Japan-1984_W0QQitemZ190026599497QQihZ009QQcategoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

BTW - this one would attract me more ... 8)

... if it isn't a fake too! :-? ... because it is totally black - even the headstock !! 8) 8)

Roger
 
I got a REAL ST40 with a made in Japan sticker at exactly the same place. The tuners are the same too. (They are the cheaper tuners but still OK to me).
Cato, before you post anything be sure that you are right, this time you aren?t at all!!!
 
Cato, before you post anything be sure that you are right, this time you aren?t at all!!!

Easy Kappie.....

Cato's not alone in his statement about the made in Japan sticker. I've never seen a made in Japan sticker on a Tokai....ever. I've seen "made in Japan" ink stamped on them only.

All of the Springy Sounds, Goldstars and Silver Stars I've owned have either had no labeling on them or only the model number oval sticker with a 40, 50, 60 etc on them.

The tuners are the same that I have on my two Silver Stars so it well may be that they might have been used on Goldstars. As far as the authenticity of the guitar, open it up and look at the bottom of the pickups, body and neck cavities, and the end of the neck to see what identifying (or lack of) information is there. You'll usually find your answer there.[/b]
 
Point taken Marcus,

Anyway, mine?s got the sticker AND the final prospec bridge saddles. So maybe Tokai had a bunch of stickers back in 1984 they wanted to get rid of...
By the way, my guitar has a elliptical "40" sticker just above the " made in Japan" sticker as well...
 
OK! OK! OK!

All those that think the guitar is GENUINE raise your hand (or post here)


and


All those who think the guitar is FAKE raise your (or post here)


many thanks..........I think I have a lot to learn before I can buy with confidence
 
Wanorak

There are specific marks on the end of the neck and in the neck pickup which are specific to Tokai. When buying ask for photo's of these area's.

They are like this :-

attached042.jpg


IMG_2927.jpg


You can just make out that on the neck it has 10=11 and in red within the neck pickup cavity 10=11

YS =Yellow Sunburst
A = grade of the wood ( I think :oops: )

If you don't get the photo's of these areas, then I would suspect a fake.
 
wanorak said:
OK! OK! OK!

All those that think the guitar is GENUINE raise your hand (or post here)

many thanks..........I think I have a lot to learn before I can buy with confidence

It's a genuine TST-40 in my opinion. The "made in japan" sticker is often missing, probably removed by a previous owner. My 1984 TLS-50 Love Rock also has that sticker and I bought that guitar new. I opened the box with the guitar myself at the distributors warehouse, it came directly from Tokai.

The difference between TST-40 and TST-50 are the tuners, the tremolo (cast in one piece with cast saddles on TST-40) and the pickups which have a ceramic bar magnet and steel poles instead of alnico magnets. It's a good guitar in my opinion but I would replace the tuners with Kluson type instead, they cover all the old screw holes except part of one at the last tuner (high E). The pickups are quite good but I would replace them too. I use Seymour Duncan Hot Stacks and Little '59 on my AST-40 (exactly the same as TST-40 except for the headstock).

The codes on the TST-40 should be on the neck end and in the control cavity like this (my 1984 TST-50, the code is probably a manufacturing date and MR stand for Metallic Red in this case):

Image002.jpg


My AST-40 (on this picture with a TST-60/80 neck):

tokai_strat.jpg


I've kept the tremolo but the tuners are replaced with "Deluxe" stamped Klusons. It's easy to see that the "made in japan" sticker was on the original neck since the clear coat has not yellowed in that area.

Also, the TST/AST-40's do not have Fender related serial numbers, they have 6-digit serial numbers. No 5-digit numbers or Lxxxxx as on the 50's and 60's replicas, the 40 model is a generic strat copy not replicating a 50's or 60's model. You can see that on my AST-40, it has an 11-screw 3-ply '62 style pickguard and a one piece mapleneck, the 50's maplenecks had 8-screw single ply pickguards. Also, the cast trem with cast saddles was used on the 70's strats.

I like my AST-40 very much, it's a great guitar.

The serial on the black strat seems to be 229391 according to the seller.

Mike
 
All u rookies stand aside !
Real Early eighties Goldstar Tokai's ->>

1. Have a matching number on the neck butt and in the electronics cavity (sometimes in the neck pickup cavity)
Neck butt->9=3
Neck Pickup cavity-> 9=5
Electronics cavity-> 9=3 YSO Y

2.the early eighties Goldstar's have stamped grey bottom pickups ( I have seen a couple Goldstars with black bottom pickups-probably not original )

3. Final prospect saddles-

Have seen several with Made in Japan stickers on neck and have seen a couple with the oval and made in JApan stickers on the neck.

The Goldstars sent to europe have mostly the same markings(early eighties have the equals sign) at somepoint the markings was changed to a dash --- have seen ->
Neck butt->9-3
Neck Pickup cavity-> 9-5
Electronics cavity-> 9-3 YSO Y
[/u]
 
ochay said:
All u rookies stand aside !
Real Early eighties Goldstar Tokai's ->>


2.the early eighties Goldstar's have stamped grey bottom pickups ( I have seen a couple Goldstars with black bottom pickups-probably not original )

3. Final prospect saddles-


[/u]

The TST/AST-40 strats do not have any stamp at the bottom of the pickup, there's a ceramic bar magnet there. But the bobbins are of the same grey type as on the other pickups.

Final prospec saddles only for TST-50 and higher models, the TST/AST-40's have cast saddles like the 70's Fender strats. The tremolo is also cast in one piece, the sustain block is not removable.

Mike
 

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