Production Date Superstrat Bumblebee

[Sigmania]

So now I am curious about two things.

Can you pull the neck pickup and see if someone added that one? Also wondering if the two control knobs were added with the neck pickup and only the middle hole was original. Maybe check the shielding paint around them and see if it goes into the hole?

And can you take another picture showing more of this cavity with all of the text?

 

[Sigmania]

Wondering if the "112" is the number of bodies in this special EVH bumble bee style edition?

I read somewhere speculation that it was a limited run somewhere between 100-200?

 

[Sigmania]

Another one on Reverb. Serial number L20504

https://reverb.com/item/7003682-tok...len-yellow-striped-tribute-w-fender-strat-hsc

 

[Sigmania]

So far serial numbers are:

L20504
L2050_
L20610
L20835

 

[Sigmania]

More discussion on this forum:

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=12389

 

[Sigmania]

Looks like we may have the model number....

See the ink stamp in the bridge pickup rout. BBYL.

So it’s probably called an ST50BBYL :lol:

 

[Sigmania]

So my best guess is that you have a 1985 Tokai ST50BBYL that was likely modified and had a neck pickup, rings, and related controls added? Need a pic of the neck pickup cavity to confirm.

Wood I would guess is alder.

Cool guitar.

 

[mdvineng]

112 TN9 2LT

Is a Uk post code with the house number of 112 Baltic Road, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 2LT

 

[Sigmania]

Oh interesting....

I appreciate that. I'm in the states. Completely different system of addresses here.

 

[Bobfrance]

Thank you for the interesting discussion folks.

I found my way here as I was trying to find out info about my own Tokai Bumblebee. It must be a rare guitar as info is pretty thin on the ground.

You might be interested in this review I found from 1986 http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/tokai-van-halen/4820#

I bought mine second-hand in the mid 80's and always thought it was a quality guitar, though I didn't know much about Tokai. It's the model with the rosewood fingerboard, brass saddles, and has been in storage for about 20 years, but I recently dug it out to start playing again.

Would anybody have an idea of the value of these guitars now? I've seen a couple of old ads suggesting somewhere in the region of £750 but there are no live ads so I have no idea of current prices. the guitar is in almost new condition.

Cheers!

Bob.

 

[Sigmania]

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/tokai-van-halen/4820

Making Music
April 1986

Tokai Van Halen
TST50 Six String

by Jon Lewin


Electric Guitar

OPINION

The Tokai Van Halen model looks a vision of modernity, but it's actually part of a longish tradition of single pickup six strings, including the Fender Esquire, and Les Paul and SG Juniors. There's something very appealing about the simplicity of this type of guitar - no tone control, no pickup selector, just strap on and go.

And it encourages playing - like all the best guitars, the Tokai has a positive feel to it that makes you want to play more. So though its two faults are minor, they do spoil the flow. More of them in a moment.

From the front, this guitar looks a very familiar shape - that rounded, contoured body, those curvy horns, the single-sided head... but why does it have those horrible yellow stripes painted to look like insulating tape all over its fine form? And who's removed ail the pickups? While Edward Van Halen can't be held personally responsible for this, it's obviously his attempts at DIY (and his rather good playing) that have inspired this copy. So how does it work?

Looking down from the headstock end, you'll find six smooth, Tokai own-brand machine heads, and a plain plastic nut without the string-damping machinery that accompanies a locking tremolo system. The 21 fret neck has slim rounded Fendery frets, a slim rounded profile, and a nicely slippery rosewood fingerboard for your slim rounded fingers. The neck screws onto the body at the 16th fret, and the body itself has one humbucking pickup with its cream coils exposed, a volume knob, no scratchplate, and a Strat-like bridge/tremolo unit with adjustable brass saddles and traditional through-body string loading. And that's all.

Back to the faults. The current vogue for locking-nut tremolos is not without reason, as the Eddie Van Halen school of wang bar dive-bombing (as it is known) has a tendency to put guitars out of tune. Locking trems don't stop strings stretching, but they do stop them slipping or sticking when you wiggle the wanger. If the string is prevented from moving by being clamped at both the bridge and nut, it obviously can't stick.

The TST50 has an older style tremolo system without any of this new-fangled lockery. Which is why it can go out of tune if you wrestle with it. Proper setting-up will ease matters but can't cure the ailment completely. Then again locking trems are more expensive.

SPEC

PRICE: £324.61
BODY: alder
NECK: maple
FINGERBOARD: rosewood
PICKUPS: one humbucker
TONE: none
VOLUME: one
SELECTOR: none
TREMOLO: traditional Strat-type
FINISH: chrome with brass bridge saddles
COLOURS: yellow stripes on black

My other complaint is less important. This particular Tokai had a high 16th fret that deadened the B string when you bent it up to E from D at the 13th (my main "lick"). High frets are important things to look out for when buying guitars, and are usually visible if you peer down the length of the neck. The neck should appear either straight or slightly concave with all frets even in height. High frets aren't incurable, or fatal, but they can occasionally catch you out in mid-riff. Apart from this quibble, the rest of the neck played excellently.

DECISION

It didn't sound so bad either. The humbucker is good, growling and howling as much as required, though still clear and clean enough for rhythm work with the volume backed off. As you might expect with a single pickup guitar, the tonal range is quite narrow. The TST50 is hard and middly, sounding somewhere between a Strat and a Les Paul - like a Gibson Firebird, perhaps? Good if expensive. It's well-finished (except for that 16th fret) and is - most importantly - rewarding to play. But the Tokai TST50 is still essentially a simple and limited guitar. Depends whether you think £300 is a simple price.

 

[iainblack]

Looks like we may have the model number....

See the ink stamp in the bridge pickup rout. BBYL.

So it’s probably called an ST50BBYL :lol:

Cool, so BB is the standard code for black and YL speaks for itself - sad BB doesnt stand for bumblebee

 

[Sigmania]

1986 Tokai Striped Strat Body Single Hum | eBay

 

[Sigmania]

SN 117540

These six digit serial numbers starting with 11xxxx seem to be 1984 or 1985 ?

1984 Tokai Super Edition EVH Frankenstrat Vintage Striped Superstrat w/ Washburn Wonderbar, Japan | Reverb