NGD fiesta red

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danmunners
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NGD fiesta red

Post by danmunners »

After I got rid of my last CV strat it only took a few months before regret set in. I swore I wouldn't get another red guitar but, low and behold, a fiesta red Tokai popped up and it had pretty much everything I wanted in a strat. It's a slab board with vintage tuners and the pickups sound great. So another red guitar for me. Here is my latest acquisition:

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Unless someone kept it in a vacuum sealed room since the 80s, I don't think it's an old one. It doesn't have a serial number but it says "Made in Japan" on the neck above the neckplate. I think it's a Tokai TST-50. There is woefully little information about new ones with this headstock online but this site seems to be selling them: http://www.musamaailma.fi/tokai-tst-50- ... re=default

I'm loving this guitar. I think my wife is getting sick of me having it in the bed though. The amp at the foot of the bed doesn't help.

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Re: NGD fiesta red

Post by mttn3 »

Roja dodger, that's a totally rad red.

It looks old to my untrained eye because it's so similar to a Fender, with the logo looking like that and the headstock all looking like that too, like. Good buy anyway, I like people getting new things.

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Re: NGD fiesta red

Post by faceless »

Congrats!

Tokai is a top notch Japanese manufacturer. They are consistent with their builds from the 80's to present. I could say it's an AST88 model but yours does not have the skunk stripe that the AST88 has.

Either its a new model or an old one, it can still kick some Fender strat's ass. Enjoy.

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Re: NGD fiesta red

Post by danmunners »

faceless wrote:Congrats!

Tokai is a top notch Japanese manufacturer. They are consistent with their builds from the 80's to present. I could say it's an AST88 model but yours does not have the skunk stripe that the AST88 has.

Either its a new model or an old one, it can still kick some Fender strat's ass. Enjoy.
The sound and feel is better than most Fenders I've played. I can't find any faults in the build anywhere. The sustain is unreal, the body vibrates as long as my Martin Acoustic when I strum out a chord. The only thing I might change is that it's a bit on the heavy side, maybe halfway between a regular Strat weight and a Fender Jazz Bass. Have done a couple of 3 hour gigs with it over the last week though and I've played worse.

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Re: NGD fiesta red

Post by GrantB »

Nice - love that colour mix.
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Re: NGD fiesta red

Post by KNNZ »

Congrats mate! Looks hawt!

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Re: NGD fiesta red

Post by AiRdAd »

I think you got it for a great price. This one is the same colour - but's too old and isn't in the same condition as yours.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... 1211203992
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Re: NGD fiesta red

Post by danmunners »

I wasn't going to take this thing apart but curiosity got the better of me tonight. I wanted to see what the electronics and neck were like and if I could improve the setup. The neck fit is great. Really tight on all sides but not so much that I had to use an excessive amount of force to get it in and out. Just very snug. The pots and switch look robust and the soldering/wiring looks clean. I would definitely buy another Tokai guitar.

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I added a little neck relief (it was pretty much flat originally) and lowered the saddles a half turn. I've never adjusted a neck that I had to take off before and the truss rod on this was more responsive than I'm used to. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, took me 2 times restringing. It was great to play before but now I think it's the nicest feeling guitar I've ever played.

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