Breezy Sound Wiring

Just wanting to collect pics of Breezy wiring. Both original an altered.

The 1 M ohm pots Tokai put in many Breezys are often seen as a problem and these are frequently switched out and re-wired to 250K ohm pots.

Presented in no particular order.

1981 TE70 BB

TEB pickup in neck position.

Not sure about the bridge pickup. Looks like the "B" mark got scorched in soldering it?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2753259985...b_vTl8uRJe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Unusual TE50?

1981 serial, 1983 neck.

Mixed parts. Altered wiring. TEB bridge pickup, TEA neck pickup.

1 M ohm pots.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=26435

Another unusual 1983 Breezy.

Altered wiring.

1M ohm pots.

http://tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=25326

1986/87 TE50 BL

500k ohm pots.

http://tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=26269

My (sold) 1979 TE80 GS

250k ohm pots.

1984/85 catalog describing models and differentiating pickups.

Looks like:

TEB = "TE Vintage MKII"

TEA = "TE Vintage"

https://www.vintagejapanguitars.com.br/en/tokai-1984-1985-traditional-series-catalogue/

Discussions re: the 1M ohm pots:

"If you’re looking for subtle tone tweaks rather than sonic transformation, experimenting with control pot values is more cost-effective than swapping pickups. Although Fender used 1m pots for a while, 250k is the standard value for Telecaster potentiometers.

It’s commonly held that higher-value volume pots make a guitar sound brighter, which is sort of correct. Conventional guitar circuits have inherent treble roll-off; and pickup inductance, pot resistance and cable capacitance combine to create a resonance peak at the cut-off frequency. Higher-resistance pots accentuate that resonance peak, which happens to be in the treble region with Telecasters. With hot humbuckers, you’ll get more of an upper-midrange boost.

The earliest Stratocasters had 100k pots, and they sound very smooth but less shimmery. Few will want to brighten up a vintage-spec Tele, but a 500k or 1m volume pot may drag a tad more twang out of a hot-wound Tele set.

You may want to mess with your tone control, too. Tele types often feel compelled to imitate truck horns and train whistles. Wah effects are popular, too. In addition to pot values, you can experiment with a linear taper to alter the control response or try different capacitor values.

The stock cap is 0.047uF, but 0.022uF will make your Tele sound brighter and 0.068uF and 0.1uF will make it sound darker. The capacitor value will also alter the range of the tone control, so consider hooking up a bunch of capacitors to a rotary switch to decide which value works best for you."

https://guitar.com/guides/diy-workshop/25-fender-telecaster-tips/

lawtone said:

novosel,

.... I have 5 old stock Tokais, 79'-82' that had the wrong pots. As guitarboy said it is likely a supplier error, but my guess is there are a lot of early Tokais out there with wrong pots. That's why I posted. Ironically, that's probably why I got the guitars I did. A breezy sound tele with a 1 Meg pot sounds dreadful. Sounds stupendous now.

In my opinion pots do affect tone significantly. To illustrate, set your amp clean, set guitar volume on 10, turn pot down a few notches and listen and you will hear the high end disappear. The only factor changed is that as you turn the pot down, you lessen resistance to ground. Lower resistance = less high end and gain. So if your pot doesn't have as much resistance as it should, your losing high end even with the guitar on full. I'ts as if your guitar volume only goes up to five. Conversely, higher resistance =more high end and gain. That's the Breezy sound story. The difference pots make isn't as noticeable as going from a 5.8k vintage pickup to a 12k overwound one, but it is significant.

I've measured many vintage Fender pots and all were significantly less than 250K. This undoubtedly, along with many other factors, contributes to vintage tone. The effect of pot values is more apparent on single coil pickups as they are more nuanced and subtle.

Click to expand...

http://www.tokaiforum.com/posting.php?mode=quote&f=1&p=2671

lawtone said:

If your Breezysound pots have markings that say D1M, or 1Meg you might consider changing them to 250K. If you can't tell from the markings you can buy/borrow an ohm meter and put one lead on the center lug and the other on either outside lug and turn the pot until you get the highest reading. That's the pot's value. Pots are sometimes way off spec. The one meg pots in my Breezysound for instance measured between 800K and 979K.

Regarding this site, I say hats off, kudos, etc, etc, to whomever is responsible for this site. Great service for fans of Tokais I am a pro player who has used Tokais for years. I use them because they feel great, sound great, period. I have 54' 57' 59' 62' original Fender Strats. 57' 58' original Pauls, 65' 67' original Teles. I have found Tokais to consistently sound as good as real vintage instruments. So as a player I don't think of Tokais as copies at all, just great guitars. The best sounding Les Paul I have ever played on stage is a lowly LS50 Les Paul Reborn. Three piece top, three piece back.

Click to expand...

http://www.tokaiforum.com/posting.php?mode=quote&f=1&p=2608

Posting readings on these as I find them.

moraesbo said:

I have a set of early '80s TEB pickups .... The bridge reads 7.1kOhms and neck 5.9kOhms with the multimeter.

Click to expand...

http://www.tokaiforum.com/posting.php?mode=quote&f=3&p=192961

Re: "2017 Tokai Breezy Sound Wiring"

azuregio:

"I was in the process of checking the hardware on my "Blackface Reissue" type Tokai tele prior to an upgrade and spotted these dual caps(?) It doesn't appear to be a tone bleed mod as I can see a resistor

Any clue to what the second one does? It's wired from the factory as a modern neck, neck+rear, rear switch with a master volume and tone."

garrett:

"The one that reads "473K" is the cap for the tone pot. 0.047 uF

The one that reads "102K" is a treble bleed cap. 0.001 uF (or 1nF)

Treble bleeds often have resistors, but it's not a requirement."

azuregio:

"Many thanks for that, nice touch from the factory putting in treble bleed."

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/2017-tokai-breezy-sound-wiring.1047956/

1984 TE50 BB?

https://reverb.com/item/10256437-ho...60-telecaster-factory-waxed-pick-ups-ash-body

1981 catalog.



"Pickup (front). TE Vintage Pickup. I want you to experience the crystal sound. It's a super single coil pickup"



"Pickup (rear). Sharp and bright sound. Uses exactly the same coil material as the old."



Google translation (not perfect):

Pickup: The source of The Tele Sound Two types <TE Vintage> and <TE Hot> are available.

TE Vintage. Bright. The sharp sound truly symbolizes the American sound and the West Coast sound. Sharply stretched The high tone and crying sound are reproduced as they are in the coil material of the broadcaster. Roy Buchanan, Robertson and Arlen Roth, a breathy old Tele dedicated to Albert Lee It's a sound. High response pickup that meets a wide range of needs such as rock, blues, soul, and country. It is a masterpiece pickup that represents a single coil.

TE Hot: Straight and crystal, yet powerful TE Hot boasts exquisite sound quality of Le & Exciting. Thorough analysis of the original coil material, The results of research and development are gathered here, and a high quality pickup that expresses 100% of the guitarist's sensibility is completed. I made it. The sound created by the best matching with the perfect swordwear truly represents the world of wonder. It's a Tele sound.

Control Circuit: Have you ever noticed by playing the Tokai TE series? It should be completely different from the copy model of. Smooth response of volume, crisp without muffled even if the sound is reduced. The range and depth of expression, such as the sound, is truly diverse. The key, that is, when the secret is disclosed, is as follows. First of all, the curve characteristics of the volume, all TE series are A curve, that is also IM. Just a copy. When it comes to guitars, you can change the B-curve from 250KS to 500KS as originally done, but the human ear I dared to adopt the A curve because of the characteristics of the above, that is, the problem of hearing. In other words, the A curve is better than the B curve. It sounds like the function of the volume changes more linearly and smoothly, and it is a guitar that makes full use of the violin playing method. I used IMQ for the strike. 1000PF so that the sound will not be muffled even if the volume is lowered further The capacitor effect is produced by the capacitor. A normal tone condenser is 0.047MF. The TE series policy is where the range of expression is further expanded while making the best use of the nuances of the original.

TE-70 YSO 1982:



I was initially thinking the 1nF treble bleed capacitor would be a modification, but the 1981 catalog excerpt above shows they were installed in the factory. It seems your 1979 didn't have it, so it was either removed or the TB was introduced around 1981.

I don't see one on my old '79, but I suspect a re-wire. Solder looks sloppy and 250k pots.

Rewired with pots that look like they came out of a Springy - that sparked some suspicion that they maybe used those initially but here's another 1979, obviously modified but the pots are 1MΩ, no treble bleed either:

1980 TE series catalog

Inside the control panel

The volume is an A curve. If it were just a copy of the guitar, it would be fine to make it the same as the original with a B curve, but there is a big reason for this. In other words, the A curve has more depth and width than the B curve in terms of tone nuances from 5 to 8, and can respond to the delicate needs of guitarists with more leeway. Furthermore, a 1000 picofarad capacitor is used to prevent the sound from becoming muffled even when the volume is lowered, and a 1 meg variable resistor makes it easier to play the violin. The tone is the original A-curve, 1 meg variable resistor, and 0.047 microfarad capacitor. As a whole, the inside of the control panel perfectly utilizes the nuances of the original design, and the policy of the TE series is to further expand the range of expression.

1980s - 1980 TOKAI ELECTRIC GUITAR TE SERIES Catalog