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Fescat

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I bought this guitar on Ebay as I really wanted a Tokai but am a little concerned now that I read the forum and see that people are actually making copies of Tokais. This was listed as a Tokai Stratocaster 2004 Solid Alder Series Ltd Edition but I cannot find anything on the web that verifies that Tokai made this model in 2004. I emailed the seller to ask if there was a serial number on it or country of manufacture but he told me that there was no serial number on it. Asked if it was made in Korea or Japan and got no response so I am a little nervous. Does anyone know if this is a legit guitar or not? I appreciate any help with this question. Great forum!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tokai-Stratocaster-2004-Solid-Alder-Series-Ltd-Edition_W0QQitemZ110027413013QQihZ001QQcategoryZ38082QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
Fescat, welcome to the forum.
Even it is hard to say welcome and on the the other side I've to regret that you bought no Tokai. :evil:
I always recommend to contact the Forum before somebody buy ...
.. and not thereafter .... :(
 
togps said:
Fescat, welcome to the forum.
Even it is hard to say welcome and on the the other side I've to regret that you bought no Tokai. :evil:
I always recommend to contact the Forum before somebody buy ...
.. and not thereafter .... :(

Gottfried, are you sure about that? To me it looks like a korean low end model, maybe an AST-25 (lower right):

http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/tokai20014.jpg

Unfortunately $400 USD is too much for one of those.

Mike
 
Mike, hello.
Maybe you are right as well.
Anyway, the seller claims Alder body - the AST25 of this Tokai catalog features a plywood body. Also the pick guard of this Ebay guitar is not a Tokai one.
Strange guitar nevertheless. even regarding the price.
 
It might be a different model, the model numbers have changed slightly in recent years but it still looks like a low end korean Goldstar to me. The pickguard may have been changed, it's a used guitar. Still, $400 USD is too much for it.

Mike
 
I appreciate your input and the link to the AST25 picture. Sure hope it is not a plywood body. Is there any way to tell if it is a Alder body Vs. plywood by simple visual inspection? My mistake actually and I typically am better about doing my research before buying. Too many beers that night! Impulse bidding did me in.
 
It depends on how the guitar is painted, sometimes it's possible to see the wood if you remove the tremolo cover. The paint might be thinner in that cavity so the different layers of the plywood is visible. Otherwise, if you remove the neck the wood should be visible. It might be a better model than AST-25, possibly an AST-33 or similar and from what I understand they are really good.

Mike
 
Its an AST-25. That model was in fact made of agathis, not alder. Its made in Korea and should have a serial number and made in Korea on the back of the headstock. Its not a bad guitar but never sold for that much. That seller goes by a few different names on flee-bay and seem to mis-rep items all the time.... :-?
 
Fescat,

you cannot see it from outside - except you have an impression, that the body seems to look "too" pretty ... joke aside - NO!
I've bought an Allparts "ash" Tele body a couple of years ago, thought it was a bargain ... but when I started to widen the bridge cavity because the size didn't fit my pup, there were many little nuggets of Ply-wood falling outside ... :cry:
BTW - the buyer told me later that he had an accident with his guitar - touched an the amp with the body and a 4 cm-piece of the edge broke away ... think you have to damage something to know the truth.

Roger
 
Great info! Good tip on checking to see if it was plywood. Also, I emailed the seller a couple days ago to ask if it has a serial number and country of manufacture noted on the headstock and was told that it had neither. Really strange. Not sure what to expect and this is a first for me. Usually much more on the ball before I make purchases. Kind of kicking myself on this one. I will probably take the pickguard off to take a peek underneath and that should help determine what the body is made of.
 
If you'll use a beveled-edge chisel and deepen the cavity a little bit (this place is not so important - but avoid to make a hole :wink: ), you are able to see if there are "real" wood - chips - not single nuggets - and will they have "grown grain" or not ... :wink:

Good luck - keep us informed about the result !! :-?

Roger
 
I received the guitar today and first off, it was filthy. Cannot believe someone would sell a guitar in that condition. I sell on Ebay all the time and would never let one of my guitars out the door looking like that. Now I know why the pictures were from far away. Guitar was light as a feather and you could clearly see where it was some sort of thin laminate wood over the pressed plywood neck. A really cheap, dirty guitar and it is my fault for not checking into this further before buying. Also, it was really plain to see where someone had scratched off the Made in Korea or serial number on the back of the headstock. Will try to get a better look at this tomorrow to see if I can make out what was scratched off. Boy, do I feel like an idiot. Most of my experience with people on Ebay has been very positive and I have bought some real gems on there. This was a first and really my own fault. Thanks to all of you for your help with this. Rock on!
 
If the body is not ash as the seller clearly claimed then the guitar was substantially misdescribed. You should be entitled to cancel the purchase and get a full refund if that's what you want. Might be a lot of hassle though.
 
That's a sh .... ! :evil:

I have the idea that it gradually becomes profitable to produce some fakes !!! :eek: :eek:
As you mentioned the weight - also my former Allparts fake Tele body was a feather-weight! :-?

What are you going to do now?? Try to get a refund??

Roger
 
You should be entitled to cancel the purchase and get a full refund if that's what you want. Might be a lot of hassle though.

If you paid by credit card, you can contest the charge and refuse to pay it when your bill arrives - as having been sold something other than what you thought you were buying. The credit card company will get inolved with the seller and you should be able to avoid the charge, pack up the piece of firewood and send it back (with proof of delivery of course).

You know the lesson here.....don't buy something sight unseen unless you know for sure what you are buying. If you can, buy through a service such as Paypal and do so with a credit card you have on file with them so that if something happens like this again, you have some time to sort out what you got (or didn't get) before you are billed for it. If you pay with a check or money order, it may be a difficult task to remedy.

Good luck....let us know how you make out :wink:
 
I get a little nervous when I see the feedback on a seller, and alot of them are from ebayers with only a few transactions (such as with this seller). I am not accussing this particular seller of anything, but it would be easy to have multiple IDs, and pretend to buy from yourself, just to boost your feedback.

On the rare occassions I have bought a guitar on ebay, I've researched the seller's feedback very, very carefully.
 
I bought an old Springy Sound from Germany (eBay), I admit I was a bit nervous. As far as I could see the guitar was genuine but the pictures were bad. When I received the guitar it was really dirty and the strings were rusty, it was impossible to tune it. After I'd cleaned it and put new strings on it it turned out to be an excellent guitar. The seller was the original owner and had bought it new in 1982. I didn't mind cleaning it although I would never sell a guitar in that condition myself. I really got what I wanted though, a Springy that wasn't messed up, only the pickups had been changed sometime for a set of Duncan vintage staggered SSL-1.

I've never seen this amount of dust in a tremolo cavity:

springy_dust.jpg


I hope you will be able to get you money back or at least part of it. I haven't checked the eBay rules thoroughly but if he was lying about the solid alder body would that be enough to get you money back?

Mike
 
I have to wait 10 days to report this to Ebay and notified the seller that I was doing so. Requested a refund but he is not going to do it. Even offered to pay for initial shipping cost and cost to ship it back. I hate to have to report this but it makes me mad that he lied when he said that there was no serial number or country of origin on the headstock and it turns out that it was clearly filed off the back of the headstock. In my opinion, that alone constitutes fraud and I am reporting it that way. In the end, it was my fault for not doing my homework on this one but I am going to do what I can to contest this with Ebay. Just received a MIJ Edwards Les Paul from an Ebayer and it is a beauty. Cherryburst and sounds incredible. Most folks that I have dealt with on Ebay are great.
 
Update - I took off the rear plastic over of the body and took a small chisel to it to see if it was solid Alder or not. It is solid for sure, definitely not plywood and that is a relief. It actually plays good so now I am baffled. Not sure what I have here. Feeling better about this guitar and it has grown on me a little. Definitely has that Stratocaster sound!
 
No suprise there, I already told you what it was made out of in my previous post in this thread. Its agathis and its solid, no plywood/pressboard filler. The neck is also rock maple. Its not quite worth what you paid but not a bad guitar.
 

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