My first vintage Tokai :)

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SilverStar

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Hello Tokaiforum

Just want to share some pictures of my first vintage Tokai, a Silver Star SST-40 from 83 hat I bought yesterday.

It is in great condition and plays incredible well with a great neck, that fits my hand perfectly.

All in all a very nice guitar, that has made me consider looking for a LP style Tokai as well :)

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mdvineng said:
Wow, that's been hidden away for a long time. Enjoy, looks like new. 8)

Thank you :)

Yeah, I think so as well, since it is in such excellent condition. It does have a few minor scratches and very small dents, but nothing severe. It even came with a nice other brand case that was probably bought alongside it originally.

It does need some minor adjustments though, so I'm going to adjust intonation, lower the pups a bit and maybe give it some lemon oil and polish up the frets later today. But it's straight as an arrow, there are no dead spots and action is sweet and clear all the way up the neck, so even as for now, it's a great playing guitar :)
 
That’s a beauty. And if you get more MIJ Tokais you will see that they are consistently well built.

As you move up in models, the construction, hardware, and pickups change.

It’s hard to just have one. Congrats!
 
Sigmania said:
That’s a beauty. And if you get more MIJ Tokais you will see that they are consistently well built.

As you move up in models, the construction, hardware, and pickups change.

It’s hard to just gave one. Congrats!

Hey, thanks and sorry for the late reply, I've been quite busy lately. :)

Now that I've had the chance to polish frets and adjust it, I can really feel the quality of the instrument.

It's a great playing guitar and the pups are very dynamic, even though I have to play with stainless strings due to allergy.

I'm definitely into get another tokai and currently looking into a Love Rock, but find it quite hard to decipher the serials.

EDIT: Can I kindly ask if you know whether an inked serial in this format: C09xxxx is MIJ, MIK or MIC?

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm no expert on serial numbers on Love Rocks, but believe that is a Chinese made Tokai.

I would shoot for the earlier MIJ ones with the embossed serial numbers. Note, the early ones do not have "Made in Japan" stamped on the back of the headstock in black ink. Those came later.

What I look for among other things is how many pieces the bodies are made of to get an indication of model number. But the craftsmen at Tokai were very, very skilled at disguising joints, so you really need to look closely. Even when in hand, a bright light or headlamp help me to see.

Further, there are always exceptions to rules with Tokais. I had a solid flame top LS80 with a two piece body.

And, multi piece bodies don't necessarily mean the tone is compromised, that simply may indicate model number. You never know about tone unil you have it in hand. So many factors go into that, as I am sure you know.

Have fun in your search. There are some real treasures out there.
 
Thanks a bunch for the quick reply and great tips on how to spot the different levels of quality.

I have seen pictures and vids of some of those MIJ LP style guitars and they look and sound absolutely fantastic.

I'd be so happy to get my hands on one of those early MIJ's, but as they can be quite expensive and hard to find, I have to either compromise a bit on it being a MIJ or maybe be lucky to stumble upon a barn find somewhere :)
 
There are ways... One way is to go to where the guitars are.

In the past I had some luck with Yahoo auctions in Japan. I used a translator like Google Chrome for the web site I believe, and an in between to actually buy and ship the guitar.

Other members here may have suggestions.

I live in the US and Tokais are scarce here, but pop up from time to time.
 
Btw, I didn’t mean to imply that Chinese Tokais are bad guitars, I just don’t know anything about them other than what I’ve read.

As in all cases with guitars, you can probably find good ones and some not so good no matter where they were made.

I have noticed that they have some bolt neck Les Pauls which to me defeats the whole idea of a Les Paul.

But if the price is right and your budget is keeping you say under $1,000 then you might grab one for cheap and swap out what needs upgrading.

The hunt is part of the fun. Enjoy the hunt.
 
Sigmania said:
There are ways... One way is to go to where the guitars are.

In the past I had some luck with Yahoo auctions in Japan. I used a translator like Google Chrome for the web site I believe, and an in between to actually buy and ship the guitar.

Other members here may have suggestions.

I live in the US and Tokais are scarce here, but pop up from time to time.

Thanks a bunch for the great help and tip on yahoo auction that I followed and immediately fell in love with a guitar with the most beautiful quilted maple top, that I in no way can afford at the moment :lol: But there are definitely options in the right pricerange out there, especially if one is looking for a player guitar :)

I also believe that guitars are meant to suit the player not the other way around, hence most guitars might have a hidden quality to them that will fit a certain person out there. That's exactly what I experienced with the Silver Star. It might not be the most expensive guitar in the world, but it fits my hands and my need for a great playing and sounding guitar.

I'm defo going to check the les paul forum out in my pursuit to find that exact LP, that'll do the trick for me.

BTW: I couldn't help thinking about your handle might refer to Sigma (guitars)?

Do you have any knowledge about the electrics and LP's they made back in the day?
 
Yes re: Sigma guitars. I have never owned their electrics, but had LOTS of their acoustics and bought and sold quite a few of them over the years. Some rare ones. The supply seems to have dried up, but I see high end Terada examples on eBay in Japan for thousands of dollars.

And I am with you re: the guitar fitting the player. I am sure other members here would agree. We have all had guitars that are not the highest end models, but would hold their own with the most expensive guitars out there. That illusive "mojo".

I have a 1980 Tokai LS100 all mahogany Love Rock, that doesn't have fancy grain and she's a bit heavy, but OMG that is the best sounding guitar I have ever played in my life... period... And I have easily played hundreds.

So trust your ear and your gut and ignore what people say you are supposed to like.

I like the old adage, "A fool and his money are soon parted." 8)
 
Oh yes, that's exactly one of those that I've been looking for, would love a LS 100 in yellow burst but with a flame maple top!

I also saw a really roadworn Reborn Old to a fair price, that would also be something :)

The Sigma accoustics seem to be quite well documented and great playing guitars. But for some reason the electrics are hard to find proper info about. I'm scouting a bit for one of those, as I've heard they should have been made on Tokai Gakki, at least for a period of time? Would you know anything about whether that info is correct?
 
BTW: Love the adage, as I would also like to consider myself a smart buyer. Event though my permanent brokenness somehow is sort of a testament to a somewhat different story :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
No idea who made Sigma electrics. The ones I have seen seem to date from the mid 70s with the SIGMA symbol on the headstock.

I’m not sure when exactly or why but there was a production change in the late 70s. Different construction and different logo on the acoustics, more like an actual Martin.

So I would bet the same is true re electrics and Tokais.

I would not expect a Sigma electric from 1976 to have much in common with a Tokai from 1980.
 
Ok super cool, thank you for the answer.

Very interesting that production shifted in the late 70'ies, do you know what company produced the acoustics?
 
I once kept track of all of that but have forgotten.

From my perspective there was a general trend in the late 70s of creating much more faithful reproductions of classic guitar designs like Martin, Gibson and Fender. Lots of reasons.

For my tastes I prefer the guitars made after that shift. Before that you had lots of plywood or laminated bodies on Les Pauls, etc. All sorts of funky stuff. Some people love that. It’s not my thing.

If you get a chance to play a Sigma electric let us know what you think.

All of the Tokai branded guitars I’ve had dating from 1979-1984 sounded great. Beyond that I can’t say much.

Happy hunting.
 
mdvineng said:
If put Sigma in the search box above, you will find many posts about Sigma.

I get 15 hits when I do that and basically four threads, of which this is one.

There isn't a lot of info on Sigmas, electric or acoustic. Sigma was a budget Martin brand, and Martin kept pretty tight lipped about who made them and when. What is out there on the interwebs is mostly conjecture.

The best info I got was from a guy on eBay that was selling a rare one similar to one I had had in the past and he filled me in on the period where Terada made acoustics for them. They are super high quality. I want to say late 80s or so? Though most people focus on the late 70s and early 80s, before they moved mfg to Korea.

I had a DR11 from the early period with the SIGMA symbol on the head stock. That was a great guitar, but had finish issues (clouding, etc.) Wish I still had that one.

Others I believe labeled "Sigma-Martin" were cut in Japan and assembled in Pa. That's the rumor anyway.

Again, Marin is tight lipped, as are many brands with where and how they source their guitars. So good luck figuring it out.

I am focused on Tokais now and stopped dealing with Sigmas about ten years ago, and can't change my screen name. :). After that I went through a Takamine phase and still have some cool Taks.

Bringing in it back to Tokai, there is some mystery about where some models were made. Different factories in Japan and later Korea and China. WIth each there are likely prizes to be found.
 
Yes, exactly my thoughts also, there's a lot different opinions on the Sigmas circulating around, but it's very hard to find real info on especially the electrics. Only thing that seems to be sort of confirmed, is that the early versions with the pancake plywood bodies were made at the Tokai plant.

Some of those should play really well, but here in Europe there are also later Sigma LP models called Deluxe & Custom, and some of them look quite nice, but I haven't been able to find much info about how and where they we're built.

I guess I'll have to buy one and take it apart, to see if there are any hints inside the PU cavity etc. :)

Thanks a bunch for the info also on the Sigma acoustics, I'll definitely keep that in mind if look into buying one of those. But right now I'll focus on finding a japanese build LP, like a Love Rock or Reborn or maybe a Greco or Burny or something totally odd. There's a lot of interesting models to choose from, that's for sure :D
 
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