Tokai Forum - a subsidiary of TokaiRegistry.com:: View topic - Have I just bought a fake Tokai Jazz Sound bass? (many pics) Goto page 1, ->:: In your expert opinion, is this bass a genuine Tokai Jazz Sound bass? Yes, it's a Tokai alright! 100% [ 8 ] No, it's certainly not a Tokai.

0% [ 0 ] Total Votes: 8 Author Message Fender32 Guitar God Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 69 Location: Germany Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 3:59 am Post subject: Have I just bought a fake Tokai Jazz Sound bass? (many pics) Firstly, 'Hello to all in Tokailand'!

How old is this Tokai Jazz bass and more info please. Identifying a Breezysound w/o serial number. Bluejeannot: 1984 Tokai Goldstar Sound (ST50) - Candy Apple.

This is my first post. Well, this morning my new eBay purchase turned up and having had a screwdriver to it, I'm very concerned that it may not be all that was advertised. I hope that the collective wisdom of you good people will be enough to unravel the mystery.

Before anyone asks, I won this 'by accident' and didn't do my research properly before bidding, so if it is a fake, it does indeed 'serve me right'. The seller didn't specify which year the bass was supposed to hail from - only that it was 'from the '80s' (which it very probably is, judging by the ageing of the paint and metalwork). So, I'm not even sure which model this is supposed to be. Let's go through the 'pros and cons'. The Serial Number: As you can see, there's no 'L' prefix, which rings alarm bells with me.

Could this possibly be a Tokai Jazz Sound serial number, or not? The Neck: The build quality of the neck is actually very good and appears to be consistent with other Tokai Jazz Sounds that I've seen pictures of. The fretboard is a round laminate of tight grained, Indian (IMO) rosewood and the frets are nicely seated vintage jobs. There is a stamp on the end of the neck, which looks to be in the same font that I've seen on other Tokai guitars and basses. There is also a 'Made In Japan' sticker (on top of the lacquer) on the back of the neck, which I haven't seen on other Tokais before.

At a guess, I'd say that the finish was poly/acrylic and not nitro cellulose, but I won't really know until I've played the bass for a while (the sweat from my hands makes nitro go very sticky after about 20 mins). The headstock shape looks good (very Fender) and there are four small divots drilled out underneath each tuner, just like Fender Jazzes of the mid-1960s. The tuners themselves are 4-hole mount models and are very much like late '60s Fender ones (without the Fender stamp, obviously). Nice as they are, they are not the same as the (frankly rather shoddy), 3-hole mount Tokai ones, which I've seen on most other '80s basses. Did Tokai ever use tuners like mine, because if they didn't, then I think that we can safely say that this bass is a 'fake' The Headstock Logo: More cause for concern here.

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The logo is exactly like most '85 Jazz Sounds and looks to me to be genuine, but it has been cut in two, with the 'Oldies but Goldies' part mounted on the ball of the headstock. Again, this is period correct for a mid '60s Fender Jazz, but did Tokai ever do this?

The logo appears to have been applied over the top of the lacquer, although where it has been scraped, the wood underneath seems to be matt and not glossy (maybe that's more a function of it having being scratched, rather than an indicator that the logo was applied to an unpolished surface!?). The Body: When I took the bass out of it's case, I immediately panicked - it weighed almost nothing!!! I was convinced that when I got it apart I was going to be confronted by several dozen layers of plywood. Thankfully, this was not the case and the body actually appears to be made of two pieces of very lightweight alder. I'm happy about that, because there's a good chance that this bass is going to have the vintage Jazz tone that I'm looking for (it came without strings, so I haven't played it yet). There are no stamps or markings in the body cavities, apart from some red crayon in the neck pocket. Is this normal for painted bodied Tokais, or should there be some maker's mark somewhere?