Tokai breezy sound with humbuckers

[brokentoeswalker]

So i picked this up awhile ago in pretty bad shape from the pics.

I originally thought it was just a Tokai neck slammed into a teleish kinda contoured body.

Turns out it has Tokai markings in the cavities so I was wrong there but I do not recognize this model at all.

It has a kinda burled hog veneer top (i think), strange locking tuners and a weird half broken brass bridge.

Also it came with yamaha SG1000 pups installed, now i did figure they were yamaha pups from the pics in the auction just from the patina.

The body is made up of multiple pieces of wood under the veneer. There is visible grain but could even be a mix of woods.

Anyone wager a guess ?

 

[brokentoeswalker]

 

[brokentoeswalker]

Splitter added for the yamaha pups.

 

[zombywoof]

I'm a hardtail Strat fan but I dig your tummy cut tremolo Tele.

 

[Puck Luck]

Found it’s brother if you scroll down this page.

TOKAI@BREEZYSOUND TL-80

 

[brokentoeswalker]

Wow thanks @Puck Luck !!!

Its more original than I thought !!

 

[Deftone]

I think it's pretty cool. Nice score @brokentoeswalker

 

[zombywoof]

Found it’s brother if you scroll down this page.

TOKAI@BREEZYSOUND TL-80

View attachment 877999

 

[LPTDMSV]

There is visible grain but could even be a mix of woods.

could be a book-matched 2-piece Sen Ash (or similar) body with mahogany veneers front and back?

 

[brokentoeswalker]

could be a book-matched 2-piece Sen Ash (or similar) body with mahogany veneers front and back?

Im thinking front and back veneers for sure.

What's the wood under that veneer though ??

Could be almost anything.

 

[brokentoeswalker]

Did a bit of looking around and it seems it could be alder under the veneer.

Gonna need a new trem.

Any suggestions ??

 

[zombywoof]

check the mounting screw spacing and search parts while shopping YJ. I'm sure you can find something you like at a good price and it'll ride for free on the slow boat.

 

[Jim_E]

That looks like a nice mid 1980's TE80 model (same as the 60's but with an extra 20 for the veneer and gold hardware), I don't think the back is veneered, that's an Alder body according to the catalog spec's and it looks right from your pictures. If you check the Tokai forum you'll find documented examples of 1983/84 models in the 110xxx serial code range.

 

[LPTDMSV]

I don't think the back is veneered

Ah, you are most likely right, my mistake - it's probably only the mahogany-colour stain/lacquer making it look like a different piece of wood. Looking more closely at the photos, the grain on the back doesn't seem like a tropical hardwood.

 

[brokentoeswalker]

That looks like a nice mid 1980's TE80 model (same as the 60's but with an extra 20 for the veneer and gold hardware), I don't think the back is veneered, that's an Alder body according to the catalog spec's and it looks right from your pictures. If you check the Tokai forum you'll find documented examples of 1983/84 models in the 110xxx serial code range.

I found it strange that the route markings are different. Tokais humbucker routes always have square like dents and these are circular. I haven't seen a catalog featuring a humbucker TE. I thought the gold parts were replacements because they look brand new.... perhaps not ?? The neck looks barely played except for tarnished frets.

 

[LPTDMSV]

I found it strange that the route markings are different. Tokais humbucker routes always have square like dents and these are circular. I haven't seen a catalog featuring a humbucker TE. I thought the gold parts were replacements because they look brand new.... perhaps not ?? The neck looks barely played except for tarnished frets.

Could it be that even back then Tokai (as a marketing company) were using more than one contract manufacturer supplier? Not my specialist knowledge area, for sure! Somewhere on the web there will be an archive of old Tokai catalogues, and auto-translate is getting better every day ...

 

[brokentoeswalker]

Could it be that even back then Tokai (as a marketing company) were using more than one contract manufacturer supplier? Not my specialist knowledge area, for sure! Somewhere on the web there will be an archive of old Tokai catalogues, and auto-translate is getting better every day ...

I always favored Tokais more Gibson flavored offerings but now that people want $2000 + for plain Jane parts casters I've tried out some of Tokais newer and older Fender flavours as well.

I rarely use the wiggle stick to be honest.

I'm always attracted to basterdized guitars which I thought this one was. Ive seen the single coil style tortoise shell veneer TE's but I guess I wasn't really paying that much attention and never saw this style veneer from Tokai. Ive probably forgotten more than I'll ever know again at this point too lol.

 

[Bend'n'Slide]

Interesting! The first thing that occurred to me was that this looks a lot like Tokai’s take on the double-humbucker version of the Schecter “Saturn” custom Teles from the ‘80s, such as these beasts here:





Admittedly these were hardtail rather than vibrato but pretty similar styling.

 

[GammyBird]

Cool unit!