Tokai 2019 FA245 "ES-175"

[Jx30510]

Happy to hear from another owner!
Yes it plays amazingly well.
I tried to put a set of Chromes on it, I had one barely used, I just tried them on another guitar and didn't like them.
Well on the Tokai they're great. I'm really surprised because I tried many times flatwounds and never bonded with that type of strings.
On the Tokai they're perfect. Not dull and it emphasizes the "thunk" in a really good way.
For the first time I enjoy flatwounds.
This guitar amazes me more and more.

[citizenk74]

Hey, I have the same! Mine is a Tokai FA-235, which I understand is because they name the models according to price in Japanese Yen and rename them when there's a price hike. (FA-235 = 235,000JPY)

You don't see them for sale in the USA much, and I consider myself lucky to have picked up this one for $1500 last July. There's some nice figuring on the top, it plays amazingly easy (despite the fact that I'm a newbie to jazz and not used to 12 gauge flatwounds), and the previous owner installed a rosewood saddle.

[Banksia]

Speaking of the availability of Tokai in general, they changed hands in 2022. They were owned by the original founder and family since 1947. They have informed all their distributors that there will be some big changes. (I got this info from a mainly-rock site. Here in Australia the Tokai LP is a popular high-end choice among those rock players who can afford it.)

Anyway, the TL-DR
- no more Chinese or Korean Tokais, only MIJ
- all distributorships cancelled, to be replaced by outfits who can/will focus on high-end, lower-volume product
- thus far, the only models revealed are (surprisingly) modest-priced Les Paul models.

When I say modest price, I mean about $US1700. If you are familiar with the MIJ Tokai range, then you'll know that's the bottom end of that MIJ price range.

Interestingly the Australian distributorship changed from a very mainstream big volume outfit to a much smaller group who actually specialise in retailing used guitars. The used guitars though are quite specific to what many consider Japanese Golden Age models - 1980s Yamaha, Burny, Greco, Ibanez, etc. I think these guys must have an agent in Japan or they go on an annual shopping binge and come back with a truckload.

I may be mis-interpreting this but it seems Tokai wanted people who knew guitars as musical instruments rather than people who knew sales, inventory and turnover with a general interest in the "lifestyle products" sector.

[thelostboss]

<<SNIP>>

Interestingly the Australian distributorship changed from a very mainstream big volume outfit to a much smaller group who actually specialise in retailing used guitars. The used guitars though are quite specific to what many consider Japanese Golden Age models - 1980s Yamaha, Burny, Greco, Ibanez, etc. I think these guys must have an agent in Japan or they go on an annual shopping binge and come back with a truckload.

<<SNIP>>

Can you tell me who this agent/group is please?

[Banksia]

Can you tell me who this agent/group is please?

Mojo Stompboxes. You see them on ebay all the time.

https://www.ebay.com.au/str/mojostom...4.m570.l113337

You can pick up a nice 70s Greco Les Paul while you're there. They actually have a Gneco there - the period when the "r" in Greco had the long tail on it. Among serious buffs that's considered a plus. They have the 2023 Tokai LPs already listed.

there is also an OZ Tokai site. It might be tokaigakki.com.au but don't quote me on that.