I've done a bit more looking around and I've still found no evidence that Vintage guitars were ever built in Japan. I did discover that the new ones are being built in Vietnam.
As far as price goes, let's suppose your seller is right and the guitar was built by Tokai in the early 80's. I don't think even a Tokai V copy will bring $800. The only one that has sold on eBay recently is certainly inferior to the one you are looking at but it only fetched $200. You can see it here:
Another thing to consider is that you can probably buy a 1980's Gibson Flying V for $800. Check out some completed listings here:
It is possible your seller is absolutely correct about this guitar but I would inquire about his bases for claiming it is made in Japan. In terms of resell, you are probably better off buying one of the Gibson V's rather than a guitar with a sketchy production history. Just my opinion. sbStatistics: Posted by VintAxe — Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:40 pm
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