Orange Amps Forum

So hello again. Been a while but still visiting.

So today I think I managed to score a good deal on a made in Korea Tokai SG.
Paid £120 for it with a decent levys gig bag.

Very minimal fret wear just a polish will sort out and controls are crappy but plan to swap them out.

Seems to play well and neck is good. Tuners work great and nut isn't plastic by the look of it.

Now I'm not sure what the plan is with it yet but have a couple of questions.

How can I date it? Is there a serial number somewhere?
Will a Gibson sg scratchplate fit if I wanted to change over to a two pickup style? Was thinking full plate which go's over the bridge holes. Possibley remove gold covers?

The only minus I've found so far is the neck crack. It appears to be laquer only as I gave it a massive push about before I paid for it lol. That may limit my audience if I decided to sell.
I think for £120 with maybe £30 in pots/caps and scratch plate it could be great either as a keeper or seller. The open bookstop head is a big plus for resale from previous experience.

What you think.......

I like it. I would hang onto it if it plays well since it was cheap and isn't in Collector Condition. I have always thought that the black pickup rings looked out of place on those. A full-face pickguard is a great idea. It looks like an exact replica of the Gibson, but I would still consider ordering the pick guard without holes if you are able to drill them yourself.

I haven't had time to try it yet through my proper amp to see how she sounds so can report later on sound.
Just can't get on with middle pickups, for me it's always in the way lol.
With it being 3 pickups I plan on making it just bridge/neck with full plate. Reading online all sg pickguards are different so I'm gonna try and source one with just humbucker holes and drill the bridge posts myself.
Tried to make a pickguard myself before and it's not as easy as I thought by hand so don't fancy that route again lol.

So now just to find a pots/caps or prewired kit in UK

Well, I know that even Gibson guards on SG's could be inconsistent so my recommendation is not to bother trying. That guitar is pretty sweet as-is - it would be a crime to change it to a two pickup guitar.

That said, what's up with that crack on the back of the body from the neck? Three pickup SG's from Gibson were notorious for being weak because there's so little wood holding the neck. I'd have that checked ASAP - a friend of mine had the Gibson version, set the guitar down - and the neck snapped forward....

Yeah very sweet looking guitar Mr Jones!

I know they were first imported into the UK by Rick H of Music Ground in the early 80s. My band mate had/still has I believe an early Tokia Strat.

Its a cool looking stage guitar for sure.

Don't know if this helps with dating it but ....

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=20753

Here's a similar concept:


I think I'd put two black P-90s in it if you don't want to reuse all three stock humbuckers.

Hi, thanks for the replies and added info.
After a quick read it could be around early 2000's and originally destined for a country with out open headstock copy right laws.

The neck crack appears to be lacquer only but I might have it looked into as stated. I have given it a fair amount of pushing on inspection without any issues but I'm not expert.

I was maybe thinking like my old sg which I had to sell at the time like below.

But the cream guard look is growing on me

So I assumed swimming pool rout but it's not. I'm guessing this is a normal neck joint lol. If anyone knows different give me a shout

Looks right to me. You can see my concerns about how little wood there is surrounding the tenon but if it looks ok then I wouldn't worry.... too much.

Wow, that amp's cool. JTM-1H with PA column?

JMP1 with 2x12 pa cab
One g12h and one g12m both from 70's.

Yes not much wood around the neck but suppose that's best it can be. Crack can't be seen where cavities are but it quite a crack. Doesn't seem to move but not really sure how you'd sort it. I will speak to my tech at some stage and get professional opinion.

Gonna try and do a fret job myself as it a level and polish etc as there's a few dents but they don't affect playability.

That crack is not typically what an SG neck break looks like. It goes across the back through a section of the body that is theoretically stronger than the neck joint. I am fairly certain that it is a finish crack, especially if it is only on one side of the guitar. The other side would show some sign of stress before a structural crack would get that large on that side. Here is an example of a typical neck joint failure:



The Tokai does appear to have a better neck joint than the Gibson, which probably surprises no one.

If is poly finish - that is not a finish crack - It's way to big. That kind of crack is likely to go into the wood below. to fix it, flowable superglue would be injected into the crack. The finish would then be repaired if possible or removed and refinished.

It's not worth it on a guitar costing £120. I'd suggest getting some clear gloss nail varnish and putting a small dot of it over the crack where it passes through the cutaway. Only a small dot! Then keep an eye on it. If the crack is moving, the nail varnish dot with break into two parts at or near the crack line. If it does, think about getting a syringe and injecting glue as deeply as you can.

How about getting a small rectangular section of white pickguard plastic to cover just the middle pickup hole?