Tokai Breezysound Telecaster

Bought for #250.00 inc h/case in 1987.This was the TTE50 model with 2 piece centre joined alder body finished in 2tone sunburst,One piece Maple neck.Gotoh h/ware which inc Kluson copy DELUXE tuners own design(at the time)6 way bridge(which i prefer).Tokai/Gotoh pickups,both wax dipped and marked TEB on the bottom,with braided wires(that`s on a copy!).Single ply 5 screw scratch plate.In 1994 i swapped the neck and scratchplate over from a 1983 Tokai Breezysound Custom.The neck was a 60`s spec "C"section Maple neck with curved Rosewood cap,the scratchplate 8 hole 3 ply which i preferred.In terms of features exactly the same as a real Telecaster!!

I have never felt the need to change these pickups,i have played many Telecaster`s over the years inc a 59 original,and feel the sound of this Tokai is easily the equal of them.The bridge pickup has that cutting bark+bite that a good Tele should have,the middle position has that TWANG in abundance,and the neck position(my fave)is blues heaven,deep and somewhat creamy.

The original set up from the shop was fine from what i can remember.The guitar itself was old stock that Musicground in Denmark Street had recently found during a clearout at the time and the guitar itself was actually an 84/85 guitar,which seems to fit because the importer for Tokai in the U.K,Blue suede music folded in early 1986 and Tokai`s did`nt start coming back into the country until the late 1990`s.The fit was excellent,i always judge Fender and similar guitars by how tight the neck fits in the neck pocket,and at that time Tokai was a hell of a lot better than some of Fenders 70`s guitars.The finish was thick polyester,but you could still feel the body vibrating when played.And the guitar weighs just over 7 pounds.Nothing was loose or rattled and the pots were and are still smooth

I used this guitar solidly for 3 years gigging without backup from 1990-93,i found it to be totally dependable.In 1994 i sold the guitar to an up and coming Irish comedian by the name of Dermot Carmody,he toured with the Tokai extensively for 10 years,during which time we lost touch.In 2004 my wife tracked Dermot down via the internet and he agreed to let me have the guitar back.When we travelled over to Ireland to get the guitar,i found the Tokai to be in a bit of a state,the body had 3 big dents around the top edge,several chips,3 of the machineheads were knackered,the chrome control panel was held in place with sellotape,and both control knobs plus the top hat selector were missing.When plugged in the pickups kept cutting out and there was constant bad contact noises from the jack socket,and the guitar was well and truly gunked up.I managed to buy new knobs,selector top hat and some screws for less than #6.00.I then replaced the machineheads with some Grover Kluson copies for #30.00.The guitar was then taken to David Millington at the Well guitar clinic in Colwyn Bay and he repaired the electrics,did some screening fitted a new bone nut and gave it a set up.It will soon need a refret but apart from that i reckon it`s as good as new plus it has that relic look which so suits Tele types,and this one`s real!!.

I recently phoned Tokai guitars uk ltd to enquire about buying a replacement neck(thought it might be cheaper than a refret)and R.K Murdoch,the managing director answered the phone himself,was very helpful and seemed so enthusiastic about Tokai guitars.

I`ve been playing now for over 25 years,i`m not giging at the moment but do teach beginer`s.I`m currently playing the Breezysound thru a Roland Cube 30,mainly through the clean channel with just a touch of reverb,but have put it through a Sessionette 75,Vox AC30 and a Vox Escort50 in the past.My other current guitars at the moment are a Santa Cruz H 14 fret standard model,see my review for that where i actually mention this Tokai(not realising that i would ever see it again),a Daion Heritage 78 acoustic(rare as hens teeth and going up in value all the time).In the past i have owned a Squier Telecaster,Japanese post JV series but prior to Korean production which had great wood but really poor hardware.An Ibanez artist ar300(very nice),A 1980`S Japanese Epiphone Sheraton re-issue(superbly put together but i thought let down by it`s pickups(i A/B it against a Korean 80`s Antoria Rockstar and thought the Antoria better at less than one third the price!!!).Westone Thunder 2A which was fantastic value,switch on the active circuitry and it could blow your head off!!!.I must admit i do have a penchant for Japanese guitars made anytime between 1977-1985,which i consider to be the second golden age of guitar making in which the Japanese came into their own.My wife i think will allow me the luxury of one more guitar,and that will be a Westone Rainbow Semi one day.Anyway i digress,as for this humble Tokai Breezysound,it can do whatever a very good Telecaster can do,and for that reason i give it a 10 and at a lot less money.A superb guitar and i`m so glad to have her back.Incidently for anyone interested an article with photo of this very guitar can be found in the June 2005 issue of Guitar and Bass Magazine,which has Steve Vai on the cover(God i`m mentioned in the same mag as Steve Vai!!!!!)

2005 Paisley (seems like '60s RI), MIJ. 1 pc. figure maple neck, black dots. Not sure what type of the wood is used for the body. Pretty lightweight, though. Kluson style vintage tuners, 3pc. bridge. No ash-tray. Chrome hardware. 2 MIJ PUs (later on that). Looks like Tele...

Here comes the main part of the story. The original PUs sound good, rather bright but somewhat rounded twang is present. The balance between the two PUs is excellent. What lacks is a character.
I literally robbed buddy of mine who just bought '63 Custom Relic Tele (actually, he wanted PUs with more output) and istalled '63 PUs (cloth wire, staggered polepieces on the bridge PU). Oh, boy! THAT is Tele sound! You can tell that even with your body, not ears! Lotta twang, full bottom. Plays great clean or overdriven.
My setup is Klotz LaGrange cable into Brunetti Overtone all-tube preamp into tube poweramp. Don't need anything else.
Strange enough, Tokai bridge PU doesn't have a still/copper bottom plate. The magnet strip is glued to a black (fiber?) base, that's it. How can you get the twang that way? Just another single-coil...

Straight from the box the guitar set-up was just wonderful: low action, no string buzz whatsoever. Perfect intonation, no pots squeak, stays in tune for weeks. Finish is absolutly perfect. High-gloss nitro on the neck, shiny body. 10 here, no doubt!

Seems like this guitar will last longer than me. Probably will gigging without backup, though noramally I take 2-3 different guitars with me.

Don't know. Perhaps, never will...

Playing 35 years, have/had 20+ guitars (Gary Moore signature LP, LP Standard DC, ES-335, few custom guitars at present). If this guitar were stolen or lost i'd get my money back from the insurance company and buy good ol' Tele from someone.

MIJ c.2004 '62 reissue double bound Tele with rosewood board and vintage pickups. Features? Well this is about as basic as it comes but suffice to say I have never been moved to write a review about a guitar before! I have a PRS Custom 24 (and some others)but this has very quickly become my guitar of choice.

Sounds fantastic!!! Has a real warmth but cuts through the mix just as a tele should. I play this through an all valve Trace Elliot Speed Twin and its great for everything from blues through pop to hard hitting rock. Each pickup suits a variety of tasks and I see no reason why I should upgrade (?) them at any point.

Beautiful guitar, superbly made. Not a piece of art but a real working guitar that looks as good as it sounds. Fantastic retro look with its double bound body and vintage style tuners. Neck (not skunk striped) is a joy to hold. I've had this guitar for more than a month and played it, on average, for more than 3 hours a day (so that's about 100 hours pf playing) and I just can't wait to pick it up again each time I put it down. Everything fits and works as it should - no wonder Fender took a lawsuit out on Tokai!!

I have absolutely no doubt this guitar would stand up to gigging - which I fully intend to do with it. Everything is solid and dependable and I would, if necessary, gig it without a backup (though doubt if I would in reality).

I have no idea and hope I never will!

I've been playing for longer than I care to remember (more than 20 years). I've never had a Tele before but I'm blown away by this one!! I tried US, Mex and Jap Tele's before buying this one (which is actually a slightly altered Fender Jap)but this one was just perfect. I did not buy it on price and would happily have paid more than twice as much for a Fender if I thought it was better - it isn't! Suffice to say this will be with me for a very long time.

this is one hot tele, kicks the fenders tele's ass! no but seriously there is no difference between the 2. Iv only just bort it today, an when i went into the shop i went in lookin for a tokai les pual, but then i got drawen towards this guitar. any way, for 400 GBP its worth every penny. usually you can notice things wrong with a guitar in seconeds within playin it but there is nothing wrong with it! this isnt the best looking guitar ive ever seen but its one of the best. the 2 tone sunburst is just divine!

This guitar can play any sort of style from cool calm an contempery to grunge rock....there is so much variety in the sounds you can make with this guitar, i have a carlsbro wahwah, Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal an a zoom 505 multi FX pedal an you can make every sound you want with this guitar! with this set up you almost sound like john fursciante, only thing extra you need is a mxr 90 phaser

well what can i say. the action of the fretbord is super quick, an the i was plesantly surpprised with the strngs it came with.... nothing wrong with it

well ive only just got it but i can see it with staining any hit!

Not had to us them yet! hopfully never will either!

Well iv been playin for 3 years now an its the best god dam guitar ive ever played an ive played gibsons an fenders an epiphones but this takes the biscuit! this is the closest thing to a fender tele...what am i saying?? this is better! any company that makes copied guitars then gets sued for making to good copy's of there guitars must be amazing! and it is!!

Hook this guitar up with a
-JIM DUNLOP Cry Baby
-Boss DS-1
-Elecrto Harmonix Small clone
-Boss Digital Delay

An she will be the best guitar ever! make sure though you put her throug a nice marshall tube amp!

Mid-80's breezysound telecaster with a six piece bridge.
Ash or alcder body...not too sure.
Bourght for 150 pounds in bath music shop(forget the name)in 85.

I use my tele with a fender frontline 25watt amp and a yamaha Va 10 battery amp when playing smaller venues.
I use a volume pedal and an Ibenez digital delay..mostly I go for a clean,toppy sound with plenty of reverb which rounds the tone off nicely.
I am an improvising guitarist and use as much of the guitar as possible(tapping the neck,using volume drops,plugging in and unplugging,harmonics,ect...)
My tele can take a lot of abuse and has done over the years!
I have lent her to dozen of other musicians and they all wanted to buy her after the gig whatever style of music they played!

Plain wood finish..been repainted several times!
Pick ups fine..bridge a little too sensitive to feedback when cranked up and loads of sustain with neck pick up but a drop in volume between the two.
No flaws to speak of..i needed to play about with the bridge a bit.

Ive been playing this guitar live since the mid-80's,fallen off stage with it and it stayed in tune!Played it violin bows,drumsticks,ect..build to last!
I could do with cleaning the bridge(tad rusty)but hardware is okay cept for dodgy input ive been meaning to fix for a while.
I don't use a strap these days(sit down to play in old age)
I can depend on this guitar for the rest of my playing days!
I only use this guitar..no back up no safety net!

I sold a 72 fender strat to buy this and never looked back!
Too many people are hung up on name brands!The best guitarists ive ever seen have been african with junk guitars but amazing talent and joy in their playing.
If my guitar was stolen..well It would sadden me but I would still have the ability to play which would be a lot worse!

I reckon this one was made between mid 70's an early 80's. The tobacco sunburst body with creme bindings could be ash, because it is not a real light-weight (but still comfortable). The neck is of maple (nothing special, but good quality) with a nice rosewood fingerboard and shows the spaghetti style "Tokai" logo on the headstock. The shape is rather 60's-like, not one of the clubs found on early Teles - nice to play. Despite the fact that the bridge is the copy of an early three-piece brass unit, proper intonation and tuning has never been a problem. The PUs are both "classic" single coils with 3-position switch, volume and tone knob.
So how to rate this category? A Tele is definitely no hi-tech guitar, and the limited number of features is no lack at all.

Alright, when you buy a Vintage style Tele, you're aware that hi-gain is something you'd rather try with different guitars. But otherwise I'm completely satisfied with the variety of sounds from clean to crunch - I prefer the clean sound on my Marshall Valvestate, but with all-tube amps like a good old Peavey Tweed Combo it is fun to really push the pre-volume, especially when you use both pickups. Given that the pickups are original (which I don't know) it is astonishing, that this axe sounds more authentic than many Fender, be it American, Japanese or Mexican. I first thought the bridge pick up was a bit edgy and harsh, but when I lately had the chance to test a new Mexican Tele, I revied my opinion. At least there's a tone knob which does a good job - especially with the neck PU you can achieve nice jazzy sounds. Only the volume pot was not exactly "easy action", so I built in a better one.

Can't tell very much about the state when the guitar left the factory. I like the choice of woods - the body is very fine-grained and you can hardly spot the joint-line of the two pieces it consists of. I mentioned that the three-piece bridge does not cause tuning problems - a little wonder according to vintage Tele lovers. No complaints - a wonderful guitar, the best Tele I ever played.

I very much liked the remark of some other contributor, that a good Tele needs to be dropped from time to time... I bought it used, and the previous owner(s) obviously did not keep it behind glass in the living room. Very good teaching material for the "aging" specialists at the Fender Custom Shop. Still no substancial damages. The plug in was a bit loose, but could be easily repaired.

Did not need them yet.

Hm. Basically, I'm a Strat fan because I think a good Strat is much more versatile and flexible. But when I visited my favorite guitar shop in Hamburg five or six years ago, I saw this Tele and fell in love with it before I ever plugged it in. At the same time, one of the best German guitarists, Markus Deml, rushed in and played it - "great guitar" was his comment. So I knew I had to be quick - I traded an American Standard Strat from the early 90's in for this one and never regretted. I would never use it for a whole gig, but on my rare lead vocal appearances I love its steady companionship - you don't have to turn it loud, but it will lead you through the noise all your bandmates make. And whenever a blues session is up, I will let her tell Tele-tales - she's so expressive...

I'd sure get another one if mine gets stolen or damaged - but I've never seen a similar one all over Germany.

This is really an update on my earlier submission (see below - prchased from Noiseworks in Coventry ....). I had said that it sounded great, but might be better with better pick-ups. well I shouldn't have given it a 10 then because, having now fitted a Seymour Duncan Broadcaster pick-up in the bridge it really does deserve the 10. What's more, I also recently bought a 1972 Fender Telecaster. Comparison?

The Fender pick-ups were bright, but to me a bit on the harsh side, and the guitar didn't really "twang". So I've put a Seymour Duncan 1/4 Pounder in the bridge of the 72 Tele. Now it sounds much better, it has some "twang", but sounds quite different to the Breezysound.

Which sounds better though. Well they bot sound like Teles, but Teles of different eras. On balance though, the Tokai is better. It is more refined (but still a Tele!!) and has that totally gorgeous range of sounds.

As below. Superb. Easily as good to play as the '72, if not better.

It's a Tele / Breezysound. What can go wrong?

So my update is that my new Breezysound is closer to a real Tele than the real 72 one that I have. I have played a few standard US new Teles in shops and they don't come close to either my 72 or the Tokai. Perhaps a US Custom Shop would get there - but why bother when you can get some thing as good fopr afraction of the price. No wonder Fender and Gibson got so worked up about Tokai (and therby did them an enormous favour in terms of marketing).

Basically Fenders (and Gibsons) are way over-priced.

1981 Tokai. OK features, not too many, as you know (Ted McCarthy called telecasters for plank guitars, and he was right).

You can trust me in this: A Tokai Tele is much better than a Fender original. At the same time, I had a Fender and a Tokai, and the Tokai blow the Fender away, completely. Three or four classes better. The frontpickup just kept singing for minuttes, and the treblepickup have that twang.

Nothing wrong (but that couldn't be said about Fenders original).

A simple guitar would not let you down, that for sure.

This is one of the best guitars, I've played. It outranks original Fender Strats and Teles, are more satisfying than most of the Les Pauls, that I've had. Tokais are sumply better buildt, and they sound a lot better than most of the americans.

This is an early-80s MIJ Breezysound; '83 or '84, judging from the transfer on the headstock. Alder body? Not sure. Fabulous, honey-coloured maple neck with medium jumbo frets, beautifully finished. Black, with a white single-ply pickguard. Standard Tele electrics. Six-piece bridge, strung through body.

Bought used, this one has been round the block a few times. Plenty of little nicks, and a big ding on the back, but what the hell? You don't buy one of these to hang on the wall. It's a real plank of a guitar, but wonderful to play. One of the sweetest necks ever to come off a lathe, I'd wager.

I play a mix of stuff, but with blues roots. Like all Teles, a really wide range of sounds, and the tone and volume controls offer nice variation, unlike the either/or pots offered on some guitars. Tone quality? Well, the jury's still out on this one. Compared to the Mex Tele standard that ended up on the dealer's rack in PX for this, the pickups are muddy and lifeless. On the other hand, the playability of the guitar is in another class. But since it's sound we're concerned with here, I'm struggling to get the sweet sound I want in the mixed position, and the bridge pickup is just too rasping for my money. The neck pickup is warmer and richer than the Mex, but a little timid. Everything sounds best with plenty of gain or a full open Cry Baby, so draw your own conclusions. I'm going to give some vintage Fender pickups a try and see if they can lift this guitar into the to-be-buried-with category.

Amps: Kustom valve and Marshall tranny. Mostly pure and simple, but with occasional contributions from a Cry Baby wah and 80s Boss chorus.

Beautiful, low action with no buzzing. Has obviously been worked hard - there's a bit of fret wear near the nut and most of the middle of the neck frets are polished to a high shine - but it's wonderfully playable. Someone clearly spent a lot of time and care fitting the frets, and I can't fault the overall look and feel of any significant part of the guitar. No particular buzzing or crackling. The cosmetic stuff doesn't interest me.

Like I've said, this is a plank. Rugged finish, dings, chips and dents, but loads of character. All the hardware is solid gear: domed pots, top hat selector, and the Gotoh vintage-style pegs keep the thing perfectly in tune for hours on end. Almost needs to be dropped occasionaly to make it feel at home. Bullet proof.

Everyone with experience seems to suggest that Tokai are rubbish in this category, but I can't see myself ever needing them. Even if it falls apart tomorrow, the guitar's already more than earned its keep.

I've been playing for over 25 years. My other guitars are an intensely sexy '81 Ibanez AS200AV semi and a mid-70s nylon string Ovation. Since I've had the Tokai, the Ibanez has hardly been out of its case. I can't play anything that doesn't sound good on the Breezysound - maybe if I was a serious jazzer or metal geezer I'd be happier with the Ibanez, but the Tokai suits me just fine.

With some decent pickups, this would be close to the perfect guitar. If it were stolen, I'd definitely try to find another. If I had loads of dosh, I might consider a really old Tele, although I'd probably end up buying a house instead.

Stock Japanese Breezy Sound. ca. 1979. Blonde maple neck, tobacco sunburst alder body.

great sound. mostly use both pickups, but each has excellent tone. This is the guitar I always wanted.

Best off the shelf tele I ever picked up. Has held same low action for 23 years. Body wood is not matched well, so the back isn't very nice with unmatched laminated wood showing through the glossy finish. Also this guitar had a serious ding on the back from falling off the hanger at the store, but I never look at the back

I added a Hip-shot Bbender, drop-D-tuner. Also, turned the switch plate around (I kept hitting the switch accidently playing rythm) and removed the tone pot which I didn't use. I've had a few offers over the years, but will take this one to the grave. It would be a big loss if it was ripped off.