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Same model, but it's a different guitar - different serial number, and different grain on the top. So there's at least 2 of these out in the world.

Thanks for sharing this. I wasn't aware of this. Please forgive this next question if it has been answered, or seems dumb, but how is it known that they were built in Nagano but the factory/manufacturer isn't known? They seems to share some traits of typical Tokai (square pickup routes) with...

Good point. I'm not too familiar witu the Nagano Silver Stars. Do the inkies not share the typical Toaki traits? Square pickup routes, and similar cavitys? Or are they different than typical Tokai builds?

Serial number format, control cavity route, pickup cavity routes, and short tenon with dowels are just like the 1981/82 Greco EGCs.

I think this a proof of a Fujigen made Tokai LC. If you look at the control cavity routes, it's the same as Greco used in 1981. And similar same serial number format. Same short'ish tenon with the 2 dowels as well and pickup cavity routes that I had in a 1982 Greco EGC, not the typical square...

Oh boy - I tried to snag this one today, but got a little too pricey for my pocket book. Hopefully someone here snagged it and will share some details of it (body material, pickups, weight). It looked to be in incredible shape, and I've never seen another one from 1985, or that era, in Silver...

Came back for an update - I swapped out the bridge pickup on this Piare this weekend - (I put in a 1984 MKII or MKIII), and I reused/swapped the original gold (rusty) pole pieces and cover so it still looks "original" (it's in rough shape, but I like keeping it cohesive looking. The original...

It's very true - DC resistance doesn't tell anything about the sound, and 2 similar spec pickups can sound very different. Then there's playing style, string gauge, signal chain, and musical taste to consider, and the guitar itself.

So I bought 3 Tokai pickups from YJ auctions over the past couple months, and they've all arrived now. Based on the original listings, one came from a 1985 SD50MRR and has the TOKAI '57 P.A.F. MODEL sticker on the bottom (which I think is the 57 PAF Vintage model), and the other 2 came from a...

Yes, exactly - I'm not sure if there is a difference between the MKII and MKIII's.

This is an interesting LC. Is it possible the original headstock was completely destroyed, and a new one was grafted onto the neck? Or was this repaired? Can you see the grain lines, and do they track or follow the neck? There's a lot going on in that pic of the back of the headstock, with 3...

That's awesome - these guitars are close siblings. Yours has fared better over the years :) I can't make out the last digit in my serial number, could be 0, or 6. Same pot dates on the volume pots as well (which make sense, they were probably made same time). Yours is the only other white one...

It would be fun to compare a 1985 Tokai, Grandy, Piare and Mavis LC side by side. But I do suspect there will be a lot of variation in them, even within each brand, since as you've mentioned, 1985 was a year with a lot of changes. Someone at Ishibashi or Tokai may know the story on these.

There's also the Mavis one - 1985 SN 5031076

Looks like in this 1983-1984 catalog, the TSG-50 had '57 PAF MKIII

For sure - 1985 seems like a year with lots of unknowns and changes for sure. I just checked the pots on my 1985 Tokai TSG-60, and they are from 1986 and 1987, so maybe this mismatch of serial numbers and pot codes extends to Tokai models as well. Unless the pots date code format changed in the...

Bought this a couple weeks ago, and though I'd share it with the fine folks here. Anyone know about this Piare brand? Or have one? I don't know much, if anything, about the Piare brand, but it appears from some googling, that it was possibly a store brand for Ishibashi (similar to Mavis, and...

I have a 1985 Tokai TSG-60, in cherry, and it does not have a scarf joint, it's a 1 piece mahogany neck, no headstock ears, no heel cap - 1 whole piece.

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m1124866946

A black 97 sold this morning on YJ for a steal - pickups were swapped for P90's, and the headstock had a crack halfway through the tuner holes, which is why it likely sold for so low, but still, that was a good price for such a great guitar.