Have Tokai's gotten more expencive in the last year?

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aroomstudios

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I have a lot of Tokai guitars. Both Brand new and 40 years old. I have noticed the old ones 1978-1982 have got a lot more expensive in the past year or so.

A Lc-100 (Les Paul Custom) from 1980 or so around $2500 USD
ST-100 (57 strat reissue) from 1980 or so $2,400 or so USD

vs

Gibson Les Paul Custom fro 1980 or so $3,000
Strat from 1980 or so $2,800 or so.

My point is Tokai guitars are getting really close the the price of what they are coping. I have an old Burny Les Paul custom from 1978. It sounds amazing. Beats most Gibsons customs from 1980 or so. I keep thinking I should buy a Tokai LC-100 for 80 or so. The Burny sound so good I probably do not need to but want to. I threw around the idea of getting a Gibson custom from 80 or so (as they are only a hair more). Every time I think about buying a Gibson I see the crappy Nashville bridge and remember that Tokai's are just built better.

Maybe the Gibson's have better PU's but that can be easily replaced. Gibson PU's are real hit and miss though so maybe you get a good PU maybe it is a bad one.

Unless you are going to buy a 50's Gibson (and sell your house to buy it). I just do not see the point of Gibson anymore. Every which way I look at Tokai they are just a better product vs Gibson. You could argue Gibson is a better investment. But what I see Tokai's selling for these days are they?

I do not know, just curious what you guys think?
 
Yes, they are. As far as they are more desirable and collection pieces,
I have finished my collection 56-57-58-59-60 old Tokai LS/LC serie plus an ES-100, and two LS320s one of each era. It is hard to get one, a light under 4 kg. specially.
 
It is my impression that there are far less ones available for sale these days, plus the general public is more aware of them. Prices seem to have risen by 50% in the last 10 years. Still, in Europe they are far cheaper than a Gibson Custom Shop...
 
Yeah, I know they have risen a lot in the past 10 years. It seems like there was a big jump in the past year though. I noticed a big article on Reverb.com about a year ago. I guess like everything when people find out about it the price rises. Yeah, you can still find Tokai's for a deal now and again. But in general I see the price very close to the price of Gibson, Fender now. I would say a lot of the time within 20%. Used to be within 50% a few years ago. I just wonder if they will ever be the same price is Gibson's etc or even higher than what they sell for. I am talking about comparing apples to apples. Like a Ls-80 (1980) to a Les Paul Standard 1980 and similar type guitars of Fender style.

There are a lot of people in Europe selling Tokai's on their personal website and in stores. In America you pretty much have to use Ebay or Reverb. There is the occasional person selling them on a local classified place. But I have never seen anything good there. And usually when it is somewhat good they want Ebay prices. Or you can pay a premium to ordered them from the European stores you are talking about. But after exchange rates and shipping you are very close to Gibson/Fender prices.
 
I would agree they are rising. I have sold 3 vintage LS models in the last year. An LS 80 for 2200 AUD, and ls 100 for 2300 AUD and an LS 200 with issues for 7000 AUD. The prices were very different to when I started buying old tokais in 2013...
 
adoring_fan107 said:
I would agree they are rising. I have sold 3 vintage LS models in the last year. An LS 80 for 2200 AUD, and ls 100 for 2300 AUD and an LS 200 with issues for 7000 AUD. The prices were very different to when I started buying old tokais in 2013...

I still remember buying Springy's back in the day for $500 - $600 and there was an ample supply of them.
 
adoring_fan107 said:
Yeah, you used to struggle to sell them for anymore which meant it was a great buy really.

Yup - for a long time, Tokai (and the others) were the best kept secret in the guitar world.
 
old Tokai prices have certainly increased, no doubt

I know a collector in New York that started buying up old (US) Epiphones & Tokais many years ago; he bought his Tokais for pretty much 'dirt cheap' as the ole saying goes

one day he will eventually sale them & the prices will be to da moon
 
guitar hiro said:
old Tokai prices have certainly increased, no doubt

I know a collector in New York that started buying up old (US) Epiphones & Tokais many years ago; he bought his Tokais for pretty much 'dirt cheap' as the ole saying goes

one day he will eventually sale them & the prices will be to da moon

I was planning on doing the same but they play so well that I'd be hard pressed to sell them regardless of the value - also because I'd never be able to replace them. In particular, my two ST80 twins (one maple neck, one rosewood), my ES100J, and my 80's white flying V
 
They are still quite nicely priced in Canada, not many know about them. However not tons to choose from and some people ask laughable prices so they'll never sell.
 
Yes, good deals in Canada from time to time because the limited market here.
I'm moving back to Japan for a few years this summer so I guess I will miss any good Canadian deals LOL.
 
wulfman said:
Yes, good deals in Canada from time to time because the limited market here.
I'm moving back to Japan for a few years this summer so I guess I will miss any good Canadian deals LOL.

yo Harold, make sure you have at least one room in Japan that can hold a minimum 40 guitars :p :lol: :lol: Cheers, Hiro :wink:
 
Prices skyrocketed. Yes.

This is a normal phenomenon. Internet popularized this brand a lot, and, since a decade now, Gibson fanboys that searched quality to a price, discovered this brand. This was fueled by the Vintage craze and some hoax on the internet.

I have found my LC110 of 1981 for a little bit more than thousand bucks, at this price it is ok. But for more than two thousands, I would go for an actually premium LS. They are not worse than the old ones. The oldies just had the time to age and take some patina.
 
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