Our BotW this week is a Japan-made 1980’s Tokai Hard Puncher. This particular bass is now a collectible, and you’ll find them on eBay ranging from $800 to $1,200 USD. Worth it? Well, if you can’t afford a real-deal vintage Fender Bass, the Tokai Hard Puncher is the next best thing. “Very Fendery” all around and has great looks and great tone. One could arguably say that the Hard Puncher is “affordable Fender vintage,” even though it’s not made by Fender.
Oh, and one other thing for you “love the vintage look” players out there. Many Hard Puncher models are “thin-skinned” but barely played, allowing you the player to get your own finish checking from normal play wear. It’s a great guitar, and you might be able to find one for a steal from someone selling one that doesn’t know what they have.
Owner Nick Dawson sent us photos of his Hard Puncher, and he writes:
MIJ 1984. Had this bass for nearly twenty years.Many other basses including Fenders have come and gone but this one has stayed. Nice light alder body at just under 9lb. Neck is a dream to play, being a 70’s style ‘B’ width somewhere between a jazz and a P, and depth is a ‘U’ profile being not too slim, but not a baseball bat either. I’ve swapped out the pots for decent CTS ones and wired in a PIO tone cap. Stock pickup has been changed for a late 70’s DiMarzio ‘Model P’ which gives it that lovely old school P-Bass tone – a nice mix of growly mids & a bit of thump! The tortoiseshell pickguard is not stock, but I sometimes swap back & forth between it and the original black three-ply one.
A great looker, Nick! We’re sure it sounds great, too.
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These are great basses, as were many late 70’s/early 80’s MIJ instruments.
Not to detract from this great example, but the article talks about “great Fender looks” and great Fender tone”, yet this example has had all of the guts replaced. Would love to see an un-modded example or something similar.
That said, I’d LOVE to own this bass.
looks pretty sweet, I have a 1977 Fender mia precision wonder how much it’s worth
Hard Puncher? Great marketing I guess?
Back in the 80s a buddy of mine played a Tokai guitar. It was, I guess, a copy of a Kramer Voyager. I thought it looked kind of goofy but man did it play and sound good. It was pretty clear that compared with other guitars of that era the Tokai was high quality with very good fit and finish.
Love the headstock decal–pretty close to the Fender fonts of the era.
I have old mij jazz style. Nane had been scratched off. Tuners not like fender but stayes in tune. Black blocks in neck. Overall nice. Had to put used emg pickups. Hey hold on this thing kicks. Don’t know what it is but I’m keeping it
To start with, obviously, wood isn’t homogenous. So rather than comparing brands, I prefer to compare instruments.
That being said, my Tokai P-J Bass beats most of my big F basses except for one. Very homogenous and balanced sound throughout the frets. Nice and deep sounding, warm tone with balanced but not shrill treble. The electronics are a bit strange and produce great sound in some settings, but i guess improvements could be made. In the best setting, the sound is deep, fat and woody but not muffled.
Feel and build quality: Taking the big F as a standard, the Tokai is very well built. The quality of craftsmanship is somewhere inbetween my AM Standard and my AM Special/Hwy One. What makes it better than the HWY1? 1. Much better fingerboard wood – very fine grain; 2. Fingerboard properly veneered rather than just slab-on; 3. Innovative tuners with locking screws that can be tightened with two fingers – no need for a hex key! 4. Much more bottom end in the sound.
This bass is about thirty years old. The neck has a tiny bit of relief with the truss rod being only slightly tightened to keep the screw from rattling. I guess that’s a stable neck!
There are no cracks in the edges of the neck pocket. I guess that’s some good wood used on the body. There are no protruding edges on the frets, even after 30 years. I guess that’s a dry enough piece of rosewood.
The slots on the nut weren’t deep enough and had to be filed down a bit. No other repairs.
I think you get the idea 🙂
Sorry, I realise that this is an old thread, but I’m looking to pick up a new pickguard for my Hard Puncher. Any idea where I could get one? Or will the Fender P Bass ones fit just fine?
Cheers,
C
Just got my first Tokai Hard Puncher. I had to do some work to it to get it playing right. The pole pieces did not line up exactly under the strings and the neck was bowed pretty bad. However after making all the needed repairs and playing it out live. all I can say is wow wow wow. This puppy barks. I haven’t picked up my Fender Custom Shop bass in weeks. I might have to retire it. Anybody have a Jazz Sound Tokai? I’d love to read about what the necks are like. The HP I have had a fat U shaped neck which I love. Don’t like flat skinny necks. I would expect the Jazz would be less wide but hopefully U shaped and meaty. Anyone know?