Help identifying mystery noname Strat

[thierry3nnui]

Have decided to make a project of my first guitar – a noname Strat bought for around £100 in around 2006. Despite the price, it's actually a pretty amazing guitar – holds up really well against my 1983 JV Squier (side-by-side image for physical comparison as well) and in many ways I prefer how it plays and sounds to my Fender Mexican Tele. Pickups are really 'classic' Strat sounding and there's hardly any noise. However, there are a few things I want to change about it... Before I get started, though, I thought disassembling it might be a good chance to see if anyone can ID it, as it's always been a mystery to me what this guitar started out as.

Anyone got any ideas? It looks like something was rubbed off the headstock at some point – 10 year old me printed 'Stratocaster' on, and if I keep the neck, that's staying too!

Images attached. Thanks!

 

[gwilde]

It don't look bad actually, it looks japanese to me.
Memphis or Hohner maybe?

 

[Caffiend]

Those pickups look exactly like what was on my 85 E MIJ Squier before I pulled them

 

[Neophyte16]

Those stamps are the same as the ones found in Tokai guitars.

 

[Lonn]

Tokai is when I was going to say as well.

 

[thierry3nnui]

Update – managed to strip the body. A few burns here and there but nothing I'm too worried about. Looks like a fair few pieces of wood have been stitched together for this. Not too sure on the material but it's a pretty heavy body – definitely heavier than my JV. Planning on keeping a natural finish, staining and polishing. Will have a better idea of the grain once I've sanded and filled but despite the Frankenstein nature of the body I think the grain shouldn't look too bad!

 

[gwilde]

Yeah, it should look good in natural. Looks like alder to me.