Hi all.
So, I did what I shouldn’t have done and impulse bought a bass yesterday from a shop in Denmark st, London. (I wasn’t intending to buy but hey…these things happen!) I am a relative beginner and have a Yamaha TRBX and a Fender American Vintage 2 1966 jazz bass. (Seafoam green, of course).
I hadn’t heard of Tokai but I tried the Hard Puncher and fell in love with the sound as soon as I played it. Nothing I tried in the way of P basses that day even came close to it. And we tried A LOT in the shop including a 1950s P bass that was £12k. The maple neck and fretboard also felt incredible and so comfortable.
But from having a look online, I’ve noticed my headstock looks different to others. Mine is dated as a 1982… Why did I look online? Cos I didn’t know much about the brand etc… As I said, it sounds amazing and has flat wounds on it which I’m sure helps the sound.
I kinda wonder if it really matters cos the bass sounds incredible but I paid a significant amount of money for it so I’m just thinking 
(or overthinking!)
Love to hear your thoughts. Cheers all.
@HighlandBass thanks for this!
Back in the day, 80s/90s time frame, Fender made a name for itself with MIJ basses (Fujigen made them) and CIJ basses (Tokai), they’re good quality, and Tokai made a name for itself as Crafted in Japan for Fender.
These days CIJ and MIJ are used interchangeably
Ah, Denmark Street, I used to love that road when I was at university in London. So many memories of pressing my nose to the shop windows on Wednesday afternoons - no lectures, no tutorials on a Wednesday…
Sadly, it’s a shadow of what it used to be, I assume ‘cos so many of us buy things on line now.
Enjoy your new bass!!!
Tokai was a well established company with a good name long before that. They’ve been around since 1947.
Actually no, they still denote different manufacture I think.
Yeah I know what you mean. I went with someone who’d shopped in those shops over 20 odd years ago. You’re right…my other 2 basses were bought online so it was so cool to be able to try out a ton of others there and then. I probably let the excitement get to me 