Vintage Talbo questions

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19tlb84

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Hello all,
being a Tokai forum rookie I'd like to introduce myself. I'm not into brand fetish, but I like a good instrument when I see and play one. Mainly into electric guitars, synthesizers, amps and recording equipment from the 1980ies which some consider to be vintage today.
I've recently purchased a beautiful first series Talbo in original condition with original case, most likely built in 1983/84. It features two humbuckers, a finetuning/locking vibrato and neck/headstock painted in black.
The guitar is missing the vibrato bar, so my first question is: does anyone on this forum know where to get a genuine replacement bar? Not entirely sure about the vibrato, my closest guess is it's a Tokai AR-1, probably built by Gotoh.
I'd also like to know a bit more abour the pickups. Some of the early Talbos had humbuckers with a black cover that had the "Blazing Fire" logo engraved. The pickups on my Talbo however look like classic PAFs with chrome covers and were probably built by Gotoh as well. Anyone know the secrets of these pickups?
Many thanks in advance!
Robert
 
https://www.ikebe-gakki.com/web-ikebe/shibuya-talbo/story.html

8) this japanese talbo article has so much infos! hope you understand somehow!
 
Hi,
HAMAMATSU said:
https://www.ikebe-gakki.com/web-ikebe/shibuya-talbo/story.html
8) this japanese talbo article has so much infos! hope you understand somehow!
thanks for the link, but I can't understand most of the text, because I don't speak any Japanese. And it seems to not cover the early Talbo with locking vibrato. As I haven't found out yet how to upload photos to this forum, I will try to link to a URI that shows a picture of the Talbo series in question. Here goes: https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...,t_large/v1583258240/vtfiiiopz5qea7pw302o.jpg. What vibrato model is that, AR-1? Need a whammy bar for this vibrato. Any Talbo experts out there?
Best, Robert
 
Most likely 6mm like all the other MIJ trem arms
Ayers rocker 1
Here's one on an SD50
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/tokai-sd50-guitar/5435
 
Hi,
mdvineng said:
Ayers rocker 1
yepp, that must be the one – intergalactic thanks for the hint! Ayer's Rocker 1, short AR-1. The original whammy bar looks like this:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/GjAAAOSwmepcJV4U/s-l1600.jpg
Probably a Gotoh part will fit.
From studying Tokai catalogues from the 1980ies I've learned that my Talbo must be a Talbo AX80D SGR (Silver Grey). The pickups are called "P1-26CrB" with "Cr" obviously referring to the chrome PAF-style caps. While the A80D with non-locking vibrato features pickups called "P1-26BB" (black caps with "Talbo Blazing Fire" engravings) like here:
http://www.teenarama.jp/tokaitalbo (16).jpg
Any information on these pickups would be very welcome!
All the best, 19tlb84
 
https://www.vintagejapanguitars.com.br/en/tokai-1984-1985-original-series-catalogue/

https://www.vintagejapanguitars.com.br/en/tokai-1983-talbo-catalogue/

https://www.vintageguitar.com/3278/tokai-talbo/
 
Well, actually this is my Talbo (picture taken from Tokai brochure, so copyright Tokai):

tokai-brochure-talbo.jpg


AX80D in Silver Grey with two humbuckers. Still not sure if the missing whammy bar is a screw-in or a push-in type, any help welcome, as well as info on the pickups. Heck, what a great guitar that is!
 
You can look from the back of the body with the spring cover off. It will be metric, most likely 6mm.
 
mdvineng said:
You can look from the back of the body with the spring cover off. It will be metric, most likely 6mm.
Thanx, good idea! Will do that and post a few pics of the Talbo as well. It's my first Tokai ever... Apart from my sympathy for neglected bizarre junk guitars, when it comes to really good serious guitars I'd always use USA-Hamers and a Steinberger Synapse. But playing the Talbo shows me that Tokais (at least the old ones) are on par with those. That's why I'm digging deeper into Tokai's fascinating history.
 
Problem solved. The whammy bar is a 6mm push-in type that can be secured by a tiny screw at the side.
 

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