1987 Tokai Jazz Sound TJB55 Vintage PJ Bass White, Japan

Up for sale, a 1987 Tokai Jazz Sound model TJB55 in excellent, 100% original condition and in perfect working order. Manufactured in Japan, this rare Jazz Sound was designed to replicate the look of Fender’s pioneering early-60s Jazz Bass, with the versatility and tonal breadth of a PJ pickup configuration. It features a gloss White finish from headstock to strap button, with gold hardware and vintage-style spiral saddles. Tonally, the pickups offer both the warm thump of a Precision-style split-coil and the articulate grind of a Jazz Bass-style single coil in the bridge position. With Volume/Volume/Tone controls, it’s easy to dial in the perfect balance of midrange cut and low end oomph. This Jazz Sound weighs 9lbs 2oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 45-100 roundwound strings, easy-playing action, and spot-on intonation.

The maple neck has a slender C-shaped profile carve with moderate shoulder and lightly rolled fretboard edges, with a gentle increase in heft in the upper registers, measuring .820” deep at the 1st fret and 1.015” at the 12th. The rosewood fretboard features a vintage-spec 7 1/4“ radius and flawless slender fretwire. This bass plays cleanly up the 34” scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The nut measures 1 1/2“ in width. The matching headstock sports a waterslide Tokai decal with small “Oldies but Goodies” script, and the gold clover-button tuners turn smoothly and hold accurate pitch. The original small “55” sticker is present above the four-bolt neck plate, denoting the model and original price of this bass (¥55,000). The neck plate is embossed with the L-prefix serial.

All of the electronics work as intended, with the stock pickups wired to the original harness and governed by individual Volume knobs with a Master Tone control. The pot codes date to July, 1987. The hardware is all gold-plated and is notably clean; including the control plate and bridge with vintage-style spiral saddles. The trio of original knobs and the three-ply black pickguard rounds out the plastics.

The gloss white finish is particularly bright, and cosmetic wear includes some dings on the body perimeter, largely concentrated along the treble-side lower bout, as well as a handful of faint finish scratches in the clear coat on the body as a whole. The neck profile retains its smooth gloss, with a handful of shallow nicks along the profile length that have no impact on playability.

A padded gigbag is included.