NGD Tokai Breezysound TTE-50B

[Jonne]

Hi all,

I graduated university recently and got a gift card to the local music store as a graduation gift from my family and relatives. It was a pretty big sum so I was able to get this really nice Japanese made Tokai TTE-50B in vintage blonde [EDIT: ah, the colour is supposed to be olympic white, not vintage white, got that wrong]. It came with a nice case and I had enough left over to get a used Fender Champion 600 amp and a few sets of strings.

I have been dreaming about an early '50s style tele as a companion to my 60s baja tele so I couldn't be happier!

The colour is named olympic white but I think it really is more butterscotch (a bit more yellow than in the attached pictures), the grain can be seen through the finish although it is not very clear on the pictures. It plays really nice and sounds sweet through the champ 600. Of course I had to go and mod it a bit, swapped the steel saddles to brass ones and the butterfly string tree to a round one. Will probably change the switch tip to a barrel type at some point for a bit more accurate early '50s look.

 

[bender66]

Looks great!

 

[matmchugh]

That looks AWESOME. What is the neck like ? The frets ? The pickups ? I’m interested in one of these, I think Tokai are cool

 

[545454]

Looks lovely - I had a very similar one in the past and found the quality to be exceptional.

 

[Zeonoid]

that might be actually better sounding guitar then american professional series...

 

[cntry666]

Nice

 

[Chicago Matt]

Those are really nice guitars, beautiful too. Congrats!

 

[Nickadermis]

Looks amazing !

 

[tintag27]

That's a beauty - very classy!

 

[Marcus M B]

That is nice. I've never even seen a live Tokai, much less played one. Are they particularly hip in Finland?

 

[brookdalebill]

Cool!

 

[funkysoul]

she is a doll man cong's

 

[TeleTown]

These are great T-style guitars. Ive owned a few of them that I gigged with on a regular bases, great tone, and feel. Bet she sounds as good as she looks. Well done Sir!!

 

[shupe13]

Man that's nice!

Congrats!!

 

[Jonne]

That looks AWESOME. What is the neck like ? The frets ? The pickups ? I’m interested in one of these, I think Tokai are cool

Thanks! The neck has a nice satin finish and a 7,25" radius (I think). I compared it to my Baja 60s neck and took some measurements. Tokai has a little narrower neck and tapers more toward the body, overall pretty similar feel on the higher frets. Frets are the same width but Baja frets are a bit taller, both are labeled medium jumbo. The specs don't say much about the pickups, but the neck pickup sounds pretty similar on both, haven't compared the bridge pups yet.

Nut width:
Baja 42,39mm
Tokai 41,41mm

1st fret width:
Baja 43,24mm
Tokai 42,03mm

12th fret width:
Baja 51,79mm
Tokai 51,11mm

1st fret thickness (top of fret):
Baja 22,69mm
Tokai 22,38mm

12th fret thickness (top of fret):
Baja 24,68mm
Tokai 25,48mm

 

[nojazzhere]

Hi all,

I graduated university recently and got a gift card to the local music store as a graduation gift from my family and relatives. It was a pretty big sum so I was able to get this really nice Japanese made Tokai TTE-50B in vintage blonde. It came with a nice case and I had enough left over to get a used Fender Champion 600 amp and a few sets of strings.

I have been dreaming about an early '50s style tele as a companion to my 60s baja tele so I couldn't be happier!

The colour is named vintage blonde but I think it really is more butterscotch (a bit more yellow than in the attached pictures), the grain can be seen through the finish although it is not very clear on the pictures. It plays really nice and sounds sweet through the champ 600. Of course I had to go and mod it a bit, swapped the steel saddles to brass ones and the butterfly string tree to a round one. Will probably change the switch tip to a barrel type at some point for a bit more accurate early '50s look.
View attachment 560767View attachment 560768

Beautiful guitar! I'm told some of the Tokai copies are as good or better than a "real" Fender.
Back in the seventies, Guitar Player had ads from Ibanez featuring accurate copies of classic guitars....I remember a '59 Les Paul, a Stratocaster, a double-cut Les Paul Jr., and maybe a Telecaster. Has anyone ever owned one of these, and how was the quality? Were these indeed made by Ibanez, or was Tokai involved?

 

[Chicago Matt]

I've never owned one but a friend has the Tokai Springy Sound strat type. Really, really nice, and one of the "statyest" sounding strats I've ever heard. My "real" strats have nothing on that one.

 

[Jonne]

That is nice. I've never even seen a live Tokai, much less played one. Are they particularly hip in Finland?

I don't know about hip, but I guess they are better available here than in a lot of countries, as a Finnish company is responsible for importing Tokais in the Nordic countries.

 

[truckstopchuckie]

Beautiful guitar! I'm told some of the Tokai copies are as good or better than a "real" Fender.
Back in the seventies, Guitar Player had ads from Ibanez featuring accurate copies of classic guitars....I remember a '59 Les Paul, a Stratocaster, a double-cut Les Paul Jr., and maybe a Telecaster. Has anyone ever owned one of these, and how was the quality? Were these indeed made by Ibanez, or was Tokai involved?

I do believe that both Tokai and Ibanez where made at the FujiGen factory, but maybe not by the same people. I’ve owned a couple of those so-called post-lawsuit LP copies. Sorry to say, but they weren’t all that. Bolt-on Les Pauls are just plain wrong. A Greco, Tokai or Burny from the same era would be a much better bet. Ibanez made budget copies, Greco, Burny and Tokai made both budget and «hi end» models. Not trying to start yet another «which is best» discussion, but I do believe that at some briefly period a lot of the higher end Greco’s and Tokai’s that rolled out of the FujiGen factory was better than the off-the-shelf Gibson’s and Fender’s - at that time. That being said, I think there’s a lot of hype going on regarding old MIJ copies. People seem to forget that many of the models where budget copies and wasn’t meant to be other than just that - budget copies. The better ones was also copies, but not in the budget class.

 

[nojazzhere]

I do believe that both Tokai and Ibanez where made at the FujiGen factory, but maybe not by the same people. I’ve owned a couple of those so-called post-lawsuit LP copies. Sorry to say, but they weren’t all that. Bolt-on Les Pauls are just plain wrong. A Greco, Tokai or Burny from the same era would be a much better bet. Ibanez made budget copies, Greco, Burny and Tokai made both budget and «hi end» models. Not trying to start yet another «which is best» discussion, but I do believe that at some briefly period a lot of the higher end Greco’s and Tokai’s that rolled out of the FujiGen factory was better than the off-the-shelf Gibson’s and Fender’s - at that time. That being said, I think there’s a lot of hype going on regarding old MIJ copies. People seem to forget that many of the models where budget copies and wasn’t meant to be other than just that - budget copies. The better ones was also copies, but not in the budget class.

Thanks for comments.....my understanding of the Ibanez copies I'm referring to, though, were that they were "reproductions", rather than cosmetic copies.....set necks, open-book headstocks, beautiful finishes. Maybe few were actually ever sold over here....I never saw one in person, just the ads. And, at that time, the originals were still available in pawn shops for reasonable prices. (in 1969, I bought my double-cut LP Jr, in excellent condition, for $60.......