Tokai Jazz Bass

This is a Korean built archtop that is similar to the Gretsch Nashville. It seems to be built almost entirely of maple so I'm expecting it to be something like immortal. It has a pair of medium hot humbuckers with a fake Bigsby. Everything metal is gold plated and that looks real purty with the oak purfling that Tokai used up the neck and around the body. It sports some of those Egyptian looking Grovers. Came without case although apparently Tokai can supply. Just looking at it the store it is what I'd call a head-turner.

I use a Kustom 35 watt DSP amp and a Fender Hotrod Deville (60watts) Both amps give nice voice to this instrument. And that brings up my first objective criticism : I think that you could plug this ax into your fridge and it would have some kind of a character voice. That was my first pleasant surprise with this instrument. It has character in spades. It likes Rockabilly as much as it likes flamenco. I expected less in a copycat guitar. The jaded part of me was liking the price and hoping that I'd like the voice as much. No worrys mate ; this ax is as talented and as versatile as anyone could want. That's my favourite thing to discover in a new instrument. I want it to sing for me and hook me with its timbres and its squeaks. The 602 Jazz is all that and a bag of chips. When you run your own repetoire through it , it gives life and character to those too familiar songs. That makes them sound new and a nice kind of new at that. I don't care what you play ; you can play it pretty on this instrument. Or nasty. Or spacey.

As a guy who isn't terribly impressed with the fuzzy wrap of DSP sounds , I like my axes to sound interesting with just a clean amp. I don't hate effects by any means but if it isn't interesting clean it isn't any more interesting effected. Effects sound better on a beautiful voice than they do on something less. In that way this instrument is very satisfying. And when its a product of a copycat outfit like Tokai you kinda don't expect to be this impressed.

I haven't seen many new guitars that couldn't be positively affected by a talented guitar setup guy. This ax is not set up as perfectly as I will have it soon but the out-of-the-box setup is certainly more than adequate. There is some kind of a loose ground issue (maybe)but my guitar tech will iron that out when I take it to him. I've played the guitar for some weeks now and I want to have a complete list before I take it to him.

Some instruments tend to have a certain bounce or rebound on the neck that works for me. You might like something different but this guitar is right up my alley. Just enough space under the strings to yank em and not so much that I have to work to make that happen.

Intonation needs a touch-up. Close but no cigar. But everything is totally adjustable and part of what I'd call a standard list for new guitar setup.

I'll be talking to my tech about a nut upgrade too. This guitar has a double axle Bigsby clone and I just think that a bone or graphite nut will give better tuning. It hasn't really got a problem but I think its a false economy to put a plastic nut on a guitar with a tremolo arm.

The Koreans seem to be the current masters of the gloss finish. This is plastic paint and not laquer like a Gretsch instrument but I don't see that that's anything to worry about. This gols and black and oak finish is just plain delicious and I think I'm more handsome with this baby hanging off my neck.

This puppy is made almost entirely of maple. I think you could use it as a weapon and then woo your gal with it. And since this category mentions strap buttons as a criteria , the strap buttons on this guitar are everything that the whole industry should supply. I don't regard strap buttons as a luxury. They need to be right and these are better than right. Well done Tokai.

If a Gretsch ax is something that you'd gig without a backup , this instrument is probably no less reliable. Roll the dice and see how you make out... I recommend having something in your trunk to cover a worst case scenario. The show DOES have to go on.

I ran into the Tokai rep at the store while I was shopping this guitar. He was really helpful with info about the gear on the guitar. One thing he said was that Bigsby is joining the long line of companies that are suing Tokai for infringing on their designs. Apparently Tokai won't be offering these 'Bigsby' tailpieces for long. I think that they may already be out of production.

Can't say what Tokai corporation is like to deal with. But my dealer , Gordies Music of Victoria BC has been helpful. Haggling with Gordie is a pack-a-lunch proposition ; he doesn't seem to want to be known as a guy who gives away guitars. But his everyday prices are attractive enough that you can buy from him and feel like you did well.

I was a bit surprised to see that its been 41 years since I picked up that first $5 guitar. It was a bad deal. For the first year I had blood running off my left elbow. At the time that seemed a bit hoary but now I look back and I can say I paid my dues. I came all this way with no talent at all and girls still swarm around me because my guitar hides that gentle swelling around my middle.

OK... let's call it a spare tire and leave it at that. I didn't exaggerate and you didn't have to point fingers.

I think that this guitar is gonna hang around for some time still and I'm going to be a better player because of how it sounds.

Since this IS about offering advice I would say to any young player that your next and every guitar should sound like its singing just for you. There are so many choices to make that you can easily get dazzled by the chrome and the glitz. So many guitars play so right. But playing nice isn't the same as sounding wonderful. Nice action won't necessarily make nice sound. Decide early that voice is THE criteria for making ANY choice.

Just got this Tokai early '80's Fender Jazz bass copy. Hey, this thing is fantastic. I don't want to rave too much, or else all these vintage reseller bandits will jack up the prices! Hey, are these guys whores or what??Well, it does not have TONS of features, so i give it an 8

I play blues, country, rock etc... you know the gig. For recording the bass goes right into the board thru a UREI LA4 comp/limiter. Sometimes it goes thru the Bass Pod Pro. For amps, it goes thru a Fender Bassman. It is not noisy, it is really nice and tight, not the wallop of the precision with the neck pup, but thats okay. i prefer it sometimes. I prefer it in the studio. I have no dislikes

This is very well put together, I have taken it apart and put it back together, so i know. puts a lot of fenders to shame. the finish is spectacular

Well, it is 22-23 years old and counting. I dont know its history, so maybe it was laying under a bed for 20 years, but i doubt it! the frets have some wear, so she has been riden.

like, atheletic supporters?

guitarist who plays bass too. AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! said the real bass player....f*ck off!
I changed the pick ups for two emg's and cowabunga! I think that is sometimes where the Japanese are a little weak. God knows it is not in the choice of woods and craftmanship. But electronics and such, they sometimes need to get a little better.

like every body else 60's jazz f style t , pre 80's make replaced tuners,wax dipped pickups ,eventually changed to bart passives, plays great

played blues jazz, country,cant trick it,use warwick wamp 400 best series theve made,highly recomended.great classic j sound

i set the action the way I like it good frett finish sanded neck to give worn feel only use tomastics on it

never have backup even on extended tours ,play 4 to 5 gigs a week 52 weeks a year only change strings and general cleanup,nothing else needed

not needed,

im into the 30 th year of playing,got 2 travis beams(retired)and just purchased another tokai jazz should put some semore duncan antiquity j pickups in ,my first tokai was in the shop for, can you believe it 5years before i found it ,it was new,the shop owner was happy to get rid of it,am I the only smart muso in town? im a lucky boy, now ive got two, allthough its mid 80's its another killer

mid 70's tokai limited edition jazz bass.(pure breed japan)
20 frets, 4 string
solid black with a white pickgard
volume front pickup volume back pickup and tone control
2 jazz pickups
passive electronics
jazz bass
cost.150.00

this bass is the best passive bass that i ever played.(18years experiance) i bought this bass from a dummy at a pawn shop in kurihama, japan. i have no gripes about this bass except for finding info on it. i play live concerts once a week and my axe's are this and 1986 gibson explorer that i have had when i was i little kid(can't get rid of that heavy thing)and the tokai has became my fovorite axe. it is light as a feather and the electronics are the best. before fender bought them out(jelousy) there was a bass of the future that could not be touched by no other bass. and its name was tokai. feel sorry for the guys who got the 82 and after and bought it in america(exports are awful.) daddyduck15@hotmail.com

This bass is build in Japan around 1982. It is a 20-fretted reissue of a 1962 Fender Jazz-bass. Original electronics and PU-s replaced with EMG-active system, Tuners replaced with Schaller. It is Olympic white with rosewood fingerboard and tortoise plate. Very slim neck and contour-body.

This instrument is the best jazz-bass i have played, Fenders included.There is no noise at all, the volume controls gives you access to both deep, full bass, and jazzy mid-tone punch. Great for recording and live. I love it!

The quality of the instrument by the time I bought it was ok, but the sound of the original PU-s was not good, and the tuners were not the best quality, but remember that the Tokai was a low-priced instrument. It is amazing, how good the quality of the wood must be, judged by the sound and stability of the instrument. I`ve had many offers from colleages, who wants this bass, and i`m going to turn them all down!

I could play this till the end of the world, the competition comes from my Rubner upright and my Martin Acoustic!

Made 1982, Japan
copy of early 60s Fender Jazz.
20 fret, 4string
Volume for each pickup plus single tone
Jazz style passive pickups
maple neck with rosewood fingerboard
tobacco sunburst?

One of the most pathetic Basses I've had..Doesn't sound good through anything.
Very feeble pickups produce anything between mud and mud..Tone control almost non-existant. Neck is pure jazz bass shape with no-name clunky tuning pegs.

The neck is finished nicely with half decent looking rosewood fingerboard, but the sunburst body has many flaws in the finish..no pickguard on this model.
The bridge is an old style one and looks just as cheap as an original Fender bridge.
Pickups are cheap and quite noisy.
The neck is a good fit and fits snug in the body.
The nut is a plastic one and action set too high off of first fret.
The truss rod seems fine and a decent action can be acquired with a modified nut.

This bass will withstand live work, but the body wood is quite soft and dents easily..
The pots need replacing for solid duty.

Overall this bass plays ok but sounds bad...
After many incarnations and years sitting in a closet, this bass can actually sound good with Bartolini Passive Pickups, a high quality Godin neck and new electronics.
Through an SWR system it actually is sounding like a jazz bass.

Made 1982, Japan
copy of early 60s Fender Jazz.
20 fret, 4string
Volume for each pickup plus single tone
2 passive pickups, passive elctronics (and not much)
maple neck with rosewood fingerboard
transparent deep red
Jazz body
no accessories

Wonderful! Used mainly with folky/blues/country area stuff
Use Fender 300R amp with a gneric 15inch cab, no FX, but as often as not straight into a mixer for recording
very clean "pure" sound with some cut.
Two mods - Schaller bridge which gives much better sustain, and tone control removed and replaced with in phase/out of phase switch. This gives almost no sound when both pickups full on, but suitable manipulation of volume on ach pickup gives a very sharp "empty" sound
Records besutifully - with no eq at all!, but great live too.
No dislikes at all really. Because it sounds so good with very flat eq I had some trouble settling on amps because most are fairly coloured, but the Fender suits it.

Had a check over at the shop, and was fine.

Certainly fine live - astionishingly stable tuning. Has lasted. Strap buttons were quickly replaced with strap locks. Needed neck adjusting approx 6 monthly whennew, but now very stable, always used without backup.

Never needed any.

Been playing about 20 years. I don't know what I'd do if it were stolen, I really lucked out with this one its just got better and better with age!