SS-80 on ebay!

Hi,
Check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage79-Tokai...cmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item280292352533

It's missing its logo (serial# is also gone), has a replaced/wrong colour scratch plate (should be black, 3ply) and replaced volume knob, but otherwise looks original. One (!) piece body, brass saddles and nut and super-hot Dimarzio pickups (came with them originally).

I don't know this seller and have nothing to do with this auction--these are just neat underrated guitars. It should have a nitro finish and a skinny V-neck--41mm at the nut. Being a 1979 model (case candy shows 1979 serial) this also has SS-80 stamps on both body and neck--wish Tokai had done that with all their guitars!

The pickups on these are ridiculously hot. I bet even ochay would like a strat with these in it! :lol:

You can dial the volume knob back to about 6 to get the normal gain you'd get from a Springy!
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Yeah i checked it out and your right its a nice guitar,but at that price with the logo missing,id give a best offer of $1000{aus dollars),bout 400 pounds,,,..What youu reckon? nAte

cheshirecatsmile said:

this also has SS-80 stamps on both body and neck--wish Tokai had done that with all their guitars!

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Amen to that!

Mike

Yeah i checked it out and your right its a nice guitar,but at that price with the logo missing,id give a best offer of $1000{aus dollars),bout 400 pounds,,,..What youu reckon? nAte

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I guess the question is what's it worth to you? It's tricky with these--they're pretty uncommon, and probably as hard to find (or even more so) as ST-80s. To me, not having a logo/serial would keep me off this entirely, but that's personal taste. I know togps has at least one of these (in good shape)--you could see if his is for sale too, and if so how much.

I've been looking at Tokais on ebay for about 3 years now and I've maybe noticed about 6 SS-80s come up in that time--I think this is the highest price I've seen on one (other than the SS-60 posing as one of these recently). On the other hand, it's pretty cool having a guitar with a one piece body!
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cheshirecatsmile said:

The pickups on these are ridiculously hot. I bet even ochay would like a strat with these in it! :lol:
You can dial the volume knob back to about 6 to get the normal gain you'd get from a Springy!

Click to expand...

I'm sort of keen on an SS-80 but I don't know about those pickups... are they good hot or just thick, muddy and difficult to control ?

/Magnus

I don't know about those pickups... are they good hot or just thick, muddy and difficult to control ?

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I was a bit puzzled by them at first, and I'll admit I actually took them out for about 3 months when I first got it and replaced them with a spare set of Tokai "U" stamped PUs I have. I finally put them back in and decided I really like them. They have much higher gain than a regular Tokai strat pickup--I haven't measured the output on them, but they're quite hot.

I usually play through a Vox AC-30, and with my usual settings it sounded like I was playing a guitar with humbuckers. Just turning the gain down a bit gets a really nice clear strat sound--not a vintage tone, but super clear--especially on my ash bodied one. My alder one is nice too, just a lot mellower sounding. I don't know if it's the pickups or just the setup of the guitar, but it's like you can hear every note clearly--not mushy feeling even on the neck side of the pu selector. The different pickup settings are all quite distinct and sound good.

Lately, I've taken to using my regular amp setting and just dialing the guitar volume down to about 6--if I need some gain for a lead I just turn it up. Certainly they're not for everyone--if you just like a vintage strat tone, stick with a Springy or Goldstar, but these have a really useful character particularly if you play with a dirty tone a lot.


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It sounds as if I just have to try them. I love the ac30 crunch but the top boost is a bit much for me most of the time... but not all of the time! 8)

/Magnus

I would be very interested to know what the readings are from them. Strange, the way Tokai pickups vary.