Tokai 'Springy Sound" Stratocaster / Otto Vowinkel Concert guitar 1994.

Not long after the introduction of this Japanese 

brand in Europe these guitars became very collectable.

Being very precise copies of the Fender's golden era

instruments this company was asked to make these 

copies for the worldmarket by Fender in the eighties.

They refused but disappeared on the world market

for a while. Tokai guitars are now made in both

China and Japan. Japan for the high end models

Especially the "Springy Sound" is wanted by collectors.

Though this one is not the top model, this guitar answers 

to all the specs of the catalogues at the beginning

of the eighties. 3 piece Ash body so an ST 50 (?)

For example this logo has to be there.

"Oldies but goodies". The neck has a rosewood
cap and not a slab board as on the more expensive
models like ST 80 and the ST 100.

On this picture the uneven polepieces are clearly visible
as are the engravings on the saddles: Final Prospect
which dates this guitar around 1982.  Probably this

guitar has been equipped with the E-pick ups as the 

resistance is somewhat lower. Just click on this 

picture to enlarge. It is a matter of personal taste 

but for me the volumepot is a stand in the way.

I wired one tone control to a master and removed 

the other one in favour of the volume control. 

Otto Vowinkel Concert guitar 1994

Presented here is the 1994 Otto Vowinkel Concert guitar.

Nowadays the cheaper models are manufactured in Spain

and provided with this headstock so confusion may arise

about the guitar. However it has been signed and dated

by mister Vowinkel himself. E-mail contact learned that

this headform was the case in the earlier years. Nowadays

the firm "Picado" makes the second range of guitars.

A closer look to the spruce top might do believe the top to be

made out of three pieces of wood. But that's not the case here.

I had to repair a still closing crack on the outer end of the 

bridge left running to the bottom. As it still closed perfect,

working in some glue will do the job. As I'm planning to 

keep this guitar I can control things now and then. An old

crack in the lower bout near the edge on the outer right

has been treated as well but that won't cause any trouble.

The back had to be refinished as there was a spot

where the bare wood was visible due to intensive

use of this guitar probably. The guitar has been

French polished but as years pass the layer colors

a bit yellowish so a new coat would not match

the surrounding old varnish. I've treated it all

the way from the beginning. So back to the bare 

wood and starting all over again.

The result is fine now as you can see however there seems 

to be a kind of discoloration in the upper bout left as well

as right which is in fact normal as the two halves of the 

back have been book matched.

The head is still in a very good condition and just 

only needed to be cleaned a bit.

The sharp point on top in fact is prone to damages and

they were there as that will be no surprise. I repaired 

that spot with a small amount of hardwax.

Nice tuners from Schaller will do the job to

full satisfaction

The sides were in a good condition but some extra French 

polishing therefore was needed as well.

His guitars already sounded very promising in the various

video's on YouTube but when you actually play his guitars

things are becoming even more clear. Lots' of volume

together with a nice and friendly voice that resonates

very beautiful. The sustain helps in that field of course.

Besides all that, balance between the registers is good

but this guitar colors very differently once striked

at various places on the strings which is a great plus.