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Writer's pictureJDZ

New Tokai Model Discovered - Ritchie Blackmore Model

Updated: Oct 28, 2023

When I saw this 1982 Silver Star, at first I thought someone had scalloped the fretboard of a Silver Star, but it also had the tell tale signs of a possible Ritchie Blackmore model – white body and pickguard with black knobs and pickups.



I started going through the guitar magazines of the time and sure enough I found a new product announcement for the Tokai SR-60, a Ritchie Blackmore model Stratocaster with a scalloped fretboard and high output pickups with large diameter pole pieces.It also had a picture of the guitar with the full model name ST-60 OWR, indicating Olympic white with Rosewood board.In another magazine I found a store advertising that they had the Tokai SR-60 Ritchie Blackmore model in stock.




So this is a non-catalog Tokai SR-60 Ritchie Blackmore Silver Star model and exactly matches what I found in the magazines, including a 60 model sticker on the back of the neck. I searched all over and wasn't able to find any prior references to a Tokai SR-60 or a Tokai Ritchie Blackmore model, so this appears to be a previously unknown model, all the more intriguing as it has a factory scalloped neck and its pickups don't seem to match any Tokai pickup I am aware of. I was able to purchase the SR-60 I spotted originally, you can check it out here


UPDATE: I did find a second one of this model and since I don't need two, this one is for sale: 1982 Tokai SR-60 Ritchie Blackmore FOR SALE


UPDATE: Ramon Goose did an excellent video on the history of Ritchie Blackmore's guitars. If you jump to you 26:43 can see the guitar Tokai used as the basis for the SR-60 model: History of Ritchie Blackmore's Guitars


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