Tokai Breezysound Telecaster

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.

Tele copy in Candy Apple Red w fosewood board Lefty.
Uaual tele spec and I think a vintage 7.5 radius fretboard camber, probably basswood body. Rated 6 but iy is all I need in a guitar of this type BUT I would like height adj on the neck P/U

I tried a R/H model in the shop prior to ordering this one and everything sounded good.
The L/H model I got had a faulty neck P/U which didn't allow the 1st string to sound, also the pots were wired R/H which is a pain

Neck lovely just a superb big ol 62 Tele feel, frets a bit rough.
Body had joins in the wood visible showing laminates spoiling completely the Candy Red finish. The bridge surround was rough and had coarse tooling marks on it.

Really Bad Quality

Can't comment as this guitar was rejected in the shop

E-mailed Tokai agent straight awayand no reply yet

It was a reject, it should never have been sent to the dealer.
In fairness to Sound Control I was there when they opened the box so they had no chance to attempt rectification, but the flaws were so serious that a new one is on order

OK I don't have great technical knowledge but will describe what I can. This is a new Breezysound, bought in Sept 02. Is is sunburst, with Rosewood neck. 21 frets. All standard as made by Tokai. Has white ribbing around body. I'm told it's a '57 copy. But I may have got that wrong. Body is two piece, I think it's Alder but might be Ash. Usual pick-up / switching combination.

I play a variety of styles. I'm mostly playing rock / R n B stuff at moment but also do alot of open tunings (Richards' style etc) and other things (Johnny Marr type jangly sounds). I play clean. No effects, other than the gain on the amp and reverb. I really believe that you don't really need much else, and too many players hide behing multiFX etc etc. Back to basics - and they don't come much more basic - in the very best sense - that this Tokai Breezysound. You can see - and hear! - why Fender got so uptight about them!!

The sound is just great. It sounds like a Tele. What more can you want? I tried one or two others, including a US Tele and a very cheap Chinese Squire, and this Tokai sounds more like a Tele than those. It has great range, the tone controls actually do something useful instead of just "muffle on / off". I'm told it would sound even better with Fender or Seymour Duncan pick-ups. But it would be more of the same I understand. So same sound just better and more of it. I understand that Tokai keep the price down by using slightly poorer quality pick-ups. As I say, to me it sounds fine, but it might sound better with "real" pick-ups in it. If so, just how good can this guitar get?

Whay can I say? I really don't know how thay do it for the price. I'm told the whole guitar is is CNC machine made virtually from start to finish. Human beings choose the woods and put the strings on at the end. Guess that must be how they reduce costs. It is truely beautiful. It is much better than the US vintage-copy I recentry looked at (and thatw as very good!!). At risk of sounding sad it is so nice you could hang it on the wall and just admire it all day.

However, it begs to be played and luckily, to me, sounds as good as it looks.

It's new so can't comment yet. It hasn't been gigged yet but will be. I don't anticipate any problems. It stays in tune faultlessly. It's real easy to tune to as the machine heads are so well made. As I say I use alot of open tunings and switching between them is a doddle.

I have had no problems with Tokai. Before I bought this from my local shop (Noiseworks in Coventry UK) I contacted Tokai factory and the UK distributor, both of whom replied the next day (email). So they seem fine to me. It's a shame the Tokai website is so poor and very out of date as it really doesn't reflect the quality of this guitar at all. I see much lower quality manufacturers with afr sexier sites.

I've been playing on and off for 25 years. I've owned an original 1982 Squire Strat, one of the first lot over here in the UK, as well as US Strats. If this was stolen a very big part of me would be gone. I would be heartbroken. I've lost one or two things in my life that I've always regreted ( that 82 Squire being one of them ) and you'll have a very hard job wrenching this out my hands.

Just bought this from the Music Live show at the NEC, Birmingham UK. It's a blonde tele with the most lush maple neck you could ever wish for. I have been looking for a great playable Tele for sometime but the best i could find from Fender cost #1,200. The bridge is vintage with through body stringing adding to the overall quality.

I play a variety of styles and have a Les Paul, strat and Mesa Boogie RectoVerb. This Tokai completes my collection. The neck pickup is warm and jazzy when the tone control is used whilst the brifge pickup gives that distinctive tele twag, great for Ska.

The Action is first rate, straight out of the box and into a gig, no problem. The overall finish is far better than the majority of Fenders and knocks any current model Squire or Mex in to a cocked hat; quality at a superb price. Remember Tokai, as i understand it, used to make the best of the Japanese Fenders. In fact, the new Tokai Love Rock comes with the same paisly pattern as on the new Fenders !

Excellent, I am a new fan of Tokai

not needed it yet.

I puchased my Telecaster, in 1983/4 from a guitar shop in Swanage Dorset.It was brand new.It has a solid body with fantastic wood finish with a slight wave effect hard to explain.21 fret maple neck with a really slick action all original fittings except for the neck pick-up,the orginal died on me just as I was starting to record some music, so I replaced with a Fender Telecaster pick-up

This guitar is relatively verstile, from a mellow warm sound to a good clear bright sound. I play it through a JCM800, a great guitar for blues etc. I own a 69 Les Paul and Fender usa strat, and others and this axe is as good as them all.

My guitar fell out the box playing great, but the quality of the bridge could have been much better, slight rusting early on but never got worse.It's not as good as my US made guitars. All other build quality and assembly is excellent.

My guitar has been gigged loads, and never let me down it's still in good condition for it's age with no loose bits, you can definately depend on it

no

I have been playing for 20 years owned my Tokia for about 17/18yrs. There is nothing I dislike about it and would sell it, well not yet. If stolen I couldnt replace it I havnt seen the same finish on any other telecaster to date.

Dont now what year this was made probaly early 70's though. Its got 21 frets, One Volume, One Tone telecaster style 3 selector switch body of the guitar is very soft too soft it dents VERY easily its finsih is a beautiful very dark red with creamy lines arounding the outsides absouloutly beautiful and the quality of the body well exceeds what i paid for it and it worthy of many higher end models. It has great tuners always stay in tune very solid. The only downfloor to this guitar is its bridge i bought this guitar and it was rusty which im sure i could get cleaned up if i tryed but the horrible coil shape ''crosses'' really let its looks down

Well i bought this guitar second hand and i dont know much about the pick ups but i do know that the bridge pick up and give out good resonating tone and the bridge is avergae nothing speacial im going to change the pick ups and hopefully transform the guitar.

This is where it excels Tokai have stoped at no expense to give this guitar ultimate quality and saying that this guitar is probaly about 30 years old and still plays abousutly beautifully with no problems with it show class Stunning

God this thig is too realible solid as a rock never goes out of tune and having known the person i bought it off he gigged with it for over 10 years with no problem brill

Never Had to deal with them

Ive been playing only a short time (1 year) but this is true quality i run it though a basic G15R CD with no effects and its sustain is brill i love the body nd beauty of this guitar but its horrible bridge let it down also it has a few knocks which slightly ruin the apperancce of this guitar was stolen i doubt i would but another one though for two reasons
1)dont think i could get me hands on another one
2)i want something with a bit more class mabye a les paul or sg copy

My email is rockon2k@hotmail.com so any qurys email me also if you live in England i live in wolverhampton and are interested in selling the instrument

Early 80s breezysound,3 x tone sunburst,rosewood neck,two single coils,volumne and tone knobs.
Also comes with vintage type tuners and medium size frets.

This was the main weakness of the guitar when I bought it.

Excellent playability and build quality but the pickups were lifeless.
5 out of 10 until I dropped in a pair of brand new fender vintage tele pickups (at a cost)and the guitar is now transformed.
Great for blues,rock,hm you name it yet still retains tele tones.

These tokais (the early ones)are well worth seeking out.The attention to detail is amazing and the finish first class.
This guitar had been well used now for 20 x years and yet it still plays like a dream and is aging beautifully.
hose guys at tokai really did pull it off with these copies.

This is my main gigging tool.Sounds great,looks the part,never ever goes out of tune and a guitar that you never want to put down.

There is a tokai factory website and I have e-mailed them twice but no-one ever replies.
Having said that I dont suppose nothing will ever go wrong that I cant get fixed.

Ive been playing for nearly 30 x years and own a number of guitars , mostly all fenders USA one of them being a vintage.
Im using telecasters for gigs and I take the best one of all as my no1.
This tokai !!.

I estimate very early 1980s. The Tokai logo is applied using crude letraset transfers. Herein lies a story.
I once lived near a guitar shop where the repairman used to work on the first Tokai's as they arrived in the UK. Fender were so alarmed at the quality that they took action which forced Tokai to change the logo from a dubious Fender homage to a crude 'Tokai'. This also compelled Fender to start the Squier operation to meet the challenge.
So what do we have? Solid body, I suspect its alder. Nice C neck with rosewood board, thin frets, traditional Tele bridge and tuners. Th finish is two-tone 'tobacco burst' with body binding. Oh, and it didn't cost me a penny - a mate had it scheduled for onstage demolition, but I talked him out of it.

The original back p/u was a bit shy, a Seymour Duncan Alnico does the job nicely. The original neck p/u offers an open, slightly underpowered option. The mixed sound is total Tele chime - open, glassy and deep with sweet, sweet top end. The solid body keeps the botton end tight. I play this guitar through loads of things - sansamps, Fender Twins, practice combos. It always sounds great.

When I got this guitar, the frets were turning green....
However the build quality is exception. Everything from wiring (where you can cheat) to finish (where you can't) demonstrates a commitment to quality. The action has settled at medium - this and a set of 11-48s gives you that Tele slice, but with weight and articulation

I use this guitar with no backup. It is completely dependable, as the original designer intended. Its the AK47 of the guitar world - no bits to break off or trem unit to make string breaks a complete disaster.

Never spoken to Tokai. I'm sure they're nice people.

I have wanted to say this for a long time. Compared to a solid body Jap Fender the Tokai cleans up. These guitars are just somehow more musical and sweeter sounding. I really like Fender guitars, and consider myself a 'Tele man' for life, but I firmly believe that the Tokai Breezysound is the best non-US take on the Telecaster you can buy. I recently saw a pristine Breezysound for sale in Denmark Street, London. The price? #450. So if you find one, get it..because everybody else is sure looking.

Bought new in London, 1989. Blonde body, maple neck. Picked it up in the shop and it played at least two notches above anything else I've ever owned. That was before I'd even plugged it in.

When bought, it was equipped with Tele-style pickups (which were OK for Tele sounds but I wanted something a bit more versatile - hence mods), a three-way toggle switch and one Vol, one tone pot.

It now has a Dimarzio stacked humbucker at the neck and a Seymour Duncan similar at the bridge. (sorry, can't remember the exact models - writing this at work). It really rocks! I replaced the volume pot with one that rolls off the volume faster and incorporates a push/pull swicth for coil-tapping both the pick-ups (depending where the selector switch is).

Neck is pretty narrow and has a significant curve on it, but it is also thin. It's great to play, esp for bending.

Only one proviso, really - as has already been mentioned, the body is made out of rather soft wood, so it picks up every ding going. I gave up trying to keep it pristine years ago.

I play rock, rock'n roll, blues, rhythm & blues and a bit of country, and the guitar copes with the lot. It's me that has the problems. I play through a fender twin or a Laney LC15 valve combo. Loads of treble, very little middle, about half the bass, about half the gain usually does it for me. Play through a Boss multi-effects pedal (the old one with real knobs that you can twiddle between songs!) using a bit of overdrive and delay for solos.

Mostly I play with both pickups on. I find the bridge pickup just a bit too hairy on its own except for the fullest-on rock 'n roll. The neck pickup does the business for anythinng jazzy or mellow. Coil tapping on the middle position gives me the country/Robery Cray blues range of sound.

The only problem I occasionally get is sudden feedback if I crank up the overdrive too far. I'm actually teaching myself to do without it.

In the shop, the action was A1, and has remained that way. The only flaw is a slightly improperly fitted pick-guard (which also covers the pickup fittings and wiring). The colour is a kind of washed-out blonde showing the grain clearly - attracts a lot of comments, all complimentary, even now.

It goes on and on. With the proviso of the soft body, I play it everywhere (though sadly that's only about 4 gigs a year these days, but it used to be twice a week). I can depend on it, and I always play it without a back-up.

Never dealt direct. Bought it from the London RockShop in Camden Town, who gave me a Fender case to go with it.

I love this guitar. Because it's not a big name Gibson or Fender, I don;t treat it with the kind of fake reverence that some guitars get. That means I'm not afraid to take it apart, muck about with the pickups, try new configurations (I want to try swapping the pickups around). I've learned more about guitars and how they function becasue of that. I don't know if I'd get another if it was stolen - I haven't seen Tokais around for a while - but if I caught the guy who pinched it...