Tokai Gold Star Sound

I don't normally max a guitar out in a review, but I have to on this one. I traded a Greco Les Paul Copy for it and I haven't regretted it a bit. This is a perfect copy of a 1964 Fender Stratocaster complete with the truss rod adjustment at the base of the neck by the neck pickup and the vintage kluson style tuners. Other than the headstock decal saying Tokai Golden Sound you can't tell the difference in looks, playability and most importantly tone. Metallic wine colored, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, 3 ply pickguard, 6 point tremelo, 3 single coil alnico pickups, one volume and two tone controls with a 5 way selector switch. Superb guitar!

I play blues, blues based rock, classic rock and country and this guitar handles it all very well indeed. I'm running this guitar through a Laney VC30R, Laney LG35R and a Peavey Blazer 158. I occasionally use a Zoom G2, Boston DS100 Overdrive and Boston DS100 Distortion. It has your normal strat single coil 60 cycle hum. Bridge pickup is nice and twangy, mid pickup nice and glassy, neck pickup nice and bluesy. The in betweens give you your fender strat quack. What more could you ask for in a strat? Very versatile guitar and I love everything about it.

It's all perfect. This guitar was made in 1984 and has been very well maintained. Excellent shape.

It does withstand live playing about 5 nights a week. The hardware is all original and still hanging in there along with the finish which still basically looks brand new. Strap buttons are oversized and very good. It's very dependable, but I do take my Fender 62 Strat on gigs also and switch them out once in awhile.

I've been playing well over 40 years. I've got this, a Fender 62 Strat, an RJ PRS style guitar and several Epiphone and Gibson acoustics. Best trade I've made. These are hard to find, but if it were lost or stolen, I'd try to find another one.

Strat copy, sunburst 3 piece alder body, maple neck, rosewood board,
poly finished, like 63/64 Fender in appearance and feel. 7.25inch radius neck and vintage frets. Standard strat controls (5way) with poor quality electrics and pickups. Later script logo and pre CBS headstock suggest post '84 manufacture (Japan).
Very distinct early '60's Strat vibe.

Lovely warm acoustic tone when tried in shop, plugged it in to an amp, everything worked electrically in a lacklustre way, but a guitar of this obvious quality screamed upgrade me! Dull, lifeless low output sound. Bought for potential, retried at home with Vox Pathfinder 15R and Laney VC50, initial thoughts on poor electrics confirmed.
Fast forward 6 weeks,new tusq nut, reprofiled back neck shape with aged maple nitro finish, fret dress, shielded body cavities,O C Duff alnico 5 pickups, new CTS pots CRL 5way, Deaf Eddie Fat-O-Caster switch in place of lower tone control, volume and master tone, blocked vintage trem, re-assembled and set up and OH MY GOODNESS!
Through Pathfinder sounds typical good vintage strat with extra pickup combos (every one of 10 different, and useable). Through Laney
awesome! I have 3 teles and another strat copy (Hohner with lace pups) and this Tokai is still after 18 months the best sounding. Try as I may I cannot get any other of my guitars to sound this good.
My Tokai Breezysound (Tele) plays beautifully, sounds good but is on it's 3rd set of pickups (4th on the order) to try and get to where the Gold Sound is, and I prefer Teles!
Tonewise, in it's current spec. this guitar goes from Buddy Holly to
Joe Walsh to Clapton's Blackie/Brownie to early Hendrix, Country and everything else I could expect from a pre CBS Strat. Yes it's even got that zingy bite that I associate with the early maple board
models. A/B'ed this guitar against a couple of late (90's) USA Strats and it blew them away!
In modified trim I have to give a 10, but as I bought it alas????

Neck, fingerboard and frets all top class (if you appreciate vintage Strats).Body shape and contours right for imitated era. Set-up OK for a guitar 20+ years out of the factory! I've played a good number of Strats and copies, and owned a '62 original, over a period of 40 years. At today's values these Tokais (if your a serious player hankering after the vintage vibe) offer outstanding potential, and they are appreciating in value!

It's now a blocked trem Strat, 2nd only to a Telecaster for robustness, take it anywhere on it's own with confidence.
A tight fit (strap to buttons) should keep it on your shoulder, if in doubt fit straplocks.
The more you play it, the more you gig with it, the more it will show signs of wear, but no serious issues experienced or expected.

A well built 20+ year old Strat, but out of warranty should not need
lots of TLC. Sensible care and if you're practical learn how to sort out that scrathy pot/switch, fret buzz, intonation problem yourself.

Been playing off and on for 40+ years, have better ears than ability!
My decision to buy this guitar, as I quite rightly spotted it's potential.
I doubt if I could get this lucky again, right guitar, right pickups and mods first time (doesn't happen often).
If I could change anything, it would be for a maple board for aesthetic reasons (Buddy Holly lookalike Strat), possibly sunburst nitro refin on body (I don't really like poly).
Overall it has exceeded my expectations, playability and sound absolutely first class. In modified form it's a strong 9, as I bought it alas........

Generic tele features.

I don't get these reviews - my Goldstar Sound is horrible. It's the poorest example of a replica one could ask for. In every way, this is a cheap piece of junk except for one part - the tuners. The sound is hollow, thin, cheap and very very noisy. More noisy than any other tele. After replacing the pickups and getting a chance to look at the old ones, I can't understand how this guitar ever worked. The electronics are truly junk - toy quality.

Junk, pure junk. Neck is crookedly mounted so that the strings are not a consistent distance from the edge of the neck. The knob plate is mounted crooked and one of the screws is just on the edge of the wood so that it won't tighten. The jack plate is a stupid football plate. The nut is hollow plastic junk. The neck can't be adjusted to get rid of fret buzz no matter how you do it. The frets are cheap material that literally rusts. I've seen 50 year old teles that haven't been played and they don't look as bad as these frets in 3 weeks. The colour is a horrible milky yellow that covers up the grain of the multi-piece body that is neither alder nor ash - some crappy asian wood. The neck looks kind of good, but the maple slab for the fretboard is too obvious.

Durability - hard to say. I shouldn't fall apart if that's what is meant.

What support? Who is Tokai?

Bought it on ebay after talking to the merchant who assured me this was a faithful repro of 52 teles. Total liar this guy. See above.

Made in 84, alder body - only alder body's feel right for a Strat - comfortable C shape neck with a curved maple fingerboard. This one came from Japan, ie. not an export model, and came with a decent quality case . The tuners are Tokai 'Klusons'which are the nicest looking Fender ever used. The Sunburst finish is as good any Custom Shop or Anderson with the beautifully grained alder body showing through. The Strat is the finest guitar ever built, so the features are all you need in a guitar.

I like to play a mixture of Pop,Country Rock,Blues , most things that happened before 1980. Nothing sounds like a Strat, fitted with new strings, it chimes like a bell, no other guitar does that, and not many Strats do it as well as a Tokai Goldstar Sound. The pickups sound fine to me, although some of the reviewers here dont seem to like them. I tried some Texas Specials, but they sounded too thick and bottom endy. I think Tokai almost got it spot on with these pickups bearing in mind that this is a replica of a 57 Strat and to my ears, those were the best sounding Strats EVER.

I didnt get it new,but its set up for me now and its perfect.Bookmatched top? his is really what gets me, why would anybody want a bookmatched top unless they were buying a dining table? THIS IS A GUITAR,ie a musical instrument,,, you play it. Saying that,the see through sunburst finish is beautiful,the curved fretboard is a joy to play and the way the guitar is put together has to make you wonder why anyone would pay $2000+ for some custom, big Name made version. Sorry, but I love it..

Built in 84, no reason why it shouldnt last forever. As strings can break, its advisable to carry a spare if you're gigging

No idea, never tried them.

Ive been playing around 30 years, grew up with the Beatles, Stones, Kinks etc. The Strat really is the perfect guitar. Ive owned almost everything, loads of MIJ copies, real '71 and '72 Les Paul Customs, several late 70's Strats and Teles, a 'Smith' Hardtail Strat[too heavy] a Strat Plus,an Ovation Breadwinner, a couple of Rickys including a 'Pete Townshend' Gretsch Single Anniversary, Gibson 335's, Yamaha AS 1000, and 2000,Ibanez Artist 335's, a '49 Gibson L7, several Harmonys and Silvertones plus Guild,Taylor Gibson, Alvarez and Martin acoustics. Some Ive sold, some I still have. The Strat though is the one guitar to have. Much as I like my Gretsch and L7, if you really want a guitar you can 'dig in' to, the Strat is it. A Tele comes a close second, but the shape of the Strat is just so much more comfortable to play. As I said, Ive owned around 25 different Strats including a few Tokai Silverstars, but the Goldstar is the 'Star'.'70's USA Strats were always too heavy with 'oar like' necks, Plus's dont really sound like Strats, Silverstars were copies of '70's Strats, they were actually better, but why copy them in the first place? - I guess it was a good idea at the time. I rate this guitar as good as any 'Strat' available, I even put together my own Strat using a beaten up '74 body, a custom built '62' neck with a Brazilian rosewood fretboard and Seymour Duncan Antiquity's [Ive tried loads and they are the only after market pickups that sound like early 60's Fenders]. My Strat sounds amazing and I based it on a real '62 that belonged to close friend, but the Goldstar Sound really nails a '57 down to a tee. I owned a Goldstar a few years ago, and stupidly sold it.I wont make the same mistake again.

Standard '63 copy, nice glossy black with white scratchplate, maple neck. rosewood board. Probably made around '82 with an LXXXXX stamp on neck plate.

I'm really going to upset a few people now. Early Jap guitars and especially Tokais sound shallow, and I'll explain why. The Japanese didn't take enough trouble over the pickups. The woods and hardware are brilliant, the pickups suck. I was playing Bristol England's top rock venues in the Eighties when Tokais were becoming popular, and the word then was - great guitars, very brittle sound. The 63 copy Tokai pickups are underwound and not potted which means shrill and loads of feedback. I have rewound mine with 7000 turns of 42 gauge Formvar and potted them in Paraffin and Beeswax, and refretted the instrument. The resultant guitar is early Fender perfection - as good as #1800 custom shop, at a fraction of the cost. Just bear in mind you won't get singing sustain from the 60's formula - ever Fruisciante uses Seymours on his '63

Fret edges a bit dodgy, everything else A1, with top quality hardware and careful assembly. Action was just dire on my S/H version and I had to pack the neck pocket and play games with the truss rod -but it's an old well used guitar and time takes it's toll

Make no mistake. these Tokais were built as top quality pro instruments. I smile when I see 70's Fenders fetching four figures on the net when they were the pits! -the only fanous 70's endorsee as far as I know is Walter Trout. With TLC this guitar will last forever and increase in value.

N/A

Been playing 40 years. If you don't mind a bit of work or attention to/changing the pickups. these Tokais can be the holy grail! If you do change the pickups they'll probably de-value but be more useable. As a guitar technician and teacher I can confirm that old guitars can be prone to problems - neck alignment etc. so take care, but If you break away from the tacky Fender range (see my Highway 1 Telecaster review) you can get a great (and superior) Japanese guitar like the Tokais for small money. Mine sits alongside my Mike Stern Yamaha as a pro instrument, and is basically all the Strat you'd ever want.

65' strat copy (law suit) made in 1984. Black finish. Original as shipped by tokai in 84. Three single coils, wang bar, logo looks like it says fender from an alarmingly short distance away. You know the scrore! Great woods, very light, slight flame on the maple, very dark rosewood board.

I got this guitar on ebay. I took a risk and purchased the guitar without playing it first (something I never do as how good a guitar is is subjective to say the least) I threw caution to the wind and got one based on years of first rate reviews and hear say. In general these guitars have reached a cheeky, best kept secret type vibe. The sound is ridiculous for the money. Sounds better than my 73 strat. Sounds better than my modern USA strat. Sounds similar to my friends relic. All possitions are bright, loud and posssitive, tone controls work as they should. It's the first strat where I regularly use all the possitions in the course of a gig. Most strats I've had sound much better in one or two possitions and the other 3 possitions are naff.

It's a pre cbs strat right down to the truss rod access. This guitar is 21 years old now so has earned it's own relic vibe. Parts are cream, paint is chipped, wood is dark. I polished the frets and set the guitar up with 11s as the previous owners 9s just wer'nt cricket.

It's Lasted 21 years, it's got the key to the door!

I'm now on the look out out for a les paul and telecaster, (love rock and breezy sound) from this era!

As far as I can tell it is a 1981. Made in Japan. 21 fret rosewood fretboard. Sunburst. I was told it is a 62-63 re-issue. Typical Strat 5 way switch, S/S/S pickup congifuration. Original Tokai pickups (grey plastic) Hard tail bridge with the vintage tuners. C neck. As far as rating features go..? it is just a stratocaster.. what features? So I will give it a 6.

These guitars are incredible.. I have read some of the other reviews expecially the one and only review listed under Sunburst Tokai Strat and my experience was somewhat similar to his. Some guy phoned me up and asked me if I might be interested in trading a Tokai Stat for a Tele special I had for sale in a local paper. I basically told him I am always open to look and that I had never played a Tokai so bring it on over. Well when he got to my place I plugged in the Tele for him to try out while I unpacked his Tokai.. this thing was all beat up.. the frets were wore down pretty low.. it had all kinds of scratches, nicks and dings with a fair amount of belt buckle rash.. without even trying the guitar I said to him.. no offence but I am not interested in your guitar.. he said oh really..? why not? I said look at this thing.. my tele is like mint (94 model) and this thing looks like hell. He said well don't you want to at least try it? I said well since you bussed it across the city just to possibly make a trade I will at least give it a listen.. well I plugged it in and honest to God the first chord I strummed.. the exact words that came out of my mouth were.. Oh Fuck.. kind of like oh shit.. he said ya.. nice isn't it..? I couldn't believe it.. it was another one of those Tokai stories I have read in these reviews that says the same thing.. I have not played a Fender that comes close.. literally the nicest Strat I have played in both soound and playability.. for those that haven't played one.. do yourself a favor.. and pick one up while you still can as they are getting more expensive every day as more people catch on to how great they are.. in one word.. Fantastic! I didn't give him the Telecaster for his Tokai Strat but I did give him a 76 Aria Lawsuit EB-03 Gibson copy Bass guitar and an 80s Solid wood acoustic guitar.. worth at least a grand combined.. I really did have to have that guitar..! Now I am always on the lookout for Tokais over and above Fender anyday of the week.. I play mostly ambient, world.. some blues.. folk... pop and some classic rock. I use a small Fender Vibro Champ, a Tech 21 trademark 10 with a Digitech RP7, a Behringer V-Amp Pro, a MXR Dyna comp, a RC Booster pedal and a Studio Projects VTB1.

Can't say how well it was when it came from factory as this baby is from about 81. For a guitar this old and well used I was more than impressed in the quality, pickups, wood grain, The pickups are fantastic and electronics were perfect other then your typical single coil buzz which is pretty standard on any single coils. I now understand why this guitar was as used as it was when I got.. after the guy left I ended up playing it until almost 4:00 AM.. I just couldn't put it down and the neck is one of the nicest and easiest playing necks I have ever played.. at the top of this review page they posted: BE CRITICAL! Nothing is perfect. Superficial, glowing reviews will not get published. Well I can tell you there is nothing superficial about these guitars.. they are really amazing instruments and in all honesty there is nothing on this guitar that I can say about it that is negative.. NOTHING! I have played some $3000 US Strats that couldn't touch it.. I love my Tokai and I am always keeping my eyes open for them.. I intend to buy one of their Tele copies as well as their love rocks which is a Les Paul copy. I have also purchased one of their Talbo Blazing Fire Models from 84 with the aluminum body which I will review later.. another incredible guitar.. I really don't know if all of their guitars are this great but if they are then they deserve all the positive reviews they get! And I hope Harmony Central doesn't pull this glowing review because it is simply the truth about these guitars.

This guitar looks to me like it has withstood twenty some years of live playing..:)and still going strong. I would have to say very reliable and solid in every way.. most definitely would use it on a gig without a backup.. this is the kind of guitar you just might nickname old faithful..:)

Never needed to deal with the company.. although I am tempted to try one of the newer Tokai Guitars out simply because they are quite inexspensive and if they are half the guitars that these 80s guitars are then you would still be getting a great deal..

Been Playing for 33 years.. I have to much gear to mention.. 18 or so guitars.. I won't get stolen because I watch it like a Hawk.. but yes if it were lost or stolen I would for certain get another one.. as I mentioned above I am always looking for a bargain on a Tokai.. I have a Talbo and I just purchased an 86 Custom Edition Strat which I will submit a review for after I have explored it for a few weeks.. it is supposed to be here tomorrow.. yipeeee.. another Tokai to explore..:)
Kind of stumbled on this guitar and glad I did.. as I will certainly continue to buy Tokai guitars.. even over Fender.. although I am a fan of the Japanese Fenders.. but Tokai would be my first choice..!
I hope my review doesn't contribute to making these guitar even harder to acquire.. or I may kick myself in the butt for sharing what I perceive to be one of the best kept secrets.. Tokais Really Rock!

Yep, this is the law suit Strat (c. 1983 - 1985). It is a copy of a 57 Sunburst Strat as used by Buddy Holly. The neck is the vintage club style neck, quite chunky but with a curve that fits the hand oh so comfortably. I have quite small hands but I like the support that this neck gives me. It is not a fast neck but is superb for chords, Shadows melody lines and anything requiring clarity and musicality rather than mindless noodling. Changing between chords is very quick and acurate. Basically it is a better neck than any Fender I've ever tried.
The guitar doesn't have the same quality tone wood as a top Fender though, nor the same top shelf hardware, the neck is an absolutely superb though. I have replaced the pick ups with Kinman Blues pick ups and put new machine heads in. I have also replaced the frets with a fret wire which was the same guage as the Tokai original (roughly medium). This had to be ordered in specially.
To some up, it's one of those special strats that really brings out your own personality and voice.

The best sound on this guitar is the in between sound between bridge and middle pickup. Funk, Knopfler, disco it's all there. I changed pickups to Kinmans but the basic character of the guitar in each position is still the same. I find the bridge position a bit too harsh sometimes with the volume pot on full although this could be to do with action etc. Remember, if you customize these guitars with new pickups you are still adding them to Tokai volume and tone controls! I wonder how far to go really.
The guitar has great acoustic resonance, through the body stringing and a lively neck. I.e, the rest is down to the electronics.
I use middle pickup for songs like Proud Mary, New Kid In Town (country rock etc) The neck pickup for Jazzy stuff, The bridge for telecaster like stuff, (in fact the Kinmans bridge unit is very telecaster like.)
I would prefer Fender custom shop 50's though as the Kinmans can be a little muddy but that's being hiper fussy.
To sum up, You can play any vintage rock track authentically. Ideal for a covers band.

I've never been able to get this neck completely free of fret buzz but I don't care really as it's the best neck I've ever played. I bought it second hand and when I tried it the music just started coming out of it basically. I had a feeling that it was playing itself. before, I'd had a cheap guitar that was shagging my hands and wrists up. This guitar enabled me to keep playing.
If you are starting out, do yourself a favour, buy one of these off Ebay and learn on a professional instrument which is on a par with a quality violin etc. Yeah sure, buy a Fender later if you can find a neck as comfortable!!!!!!
The electronics all work well, good selector switch and responsive tone pots etc. The bridge needs replacing but that's so cheap.
Many guitars are just machines. This is a musical instrument.

This is a totally dependable gig worthy axe. I had to replace the strap buttons though which were coming loose but I will do anything necessary to keep my left hand happy and fretting in the manner to which it is accustomed!
You will need a guitar with a humbucker for the really raunchy stuff but all you need to do is get a Gordon Smith GS1 (which is absolutely brilliant) for that.
O.k, finish etc is not on a par with a 4 figure Fender but music is about sound not looks.

In world war II we hated the Japs. Then Tokai came out. Now we worship them. I'd love to meet the person who built this guitar but would probably have to communicate in sign language. Who was Mr or Mrs Tokai anyway? What does 'Tokai' mean? How did they get hold of Buddy Holly's Strat? It's great that music has made us all friends again.

This is the strat that you play before you can afford a custom shop Fender. As it's only a copy you don't feel too bad about adding other pickups etc. In short, you can customize this guitar into the axe of your dreams with the comfort of knowing that you'll be playing those tunes on that fabulous neck.

Sorry folks; Again, I've blundered and now discovered that this Tokai is true to the old-school Strats with the truss-rod access in the heel of the neck.

So, YES IT DOES HAVE A TRUSS-ROD. It's just that it's an absolute son of a bitch to get at, just like I imagine the old Strats, Teles etc would have been (or are if your lucky enough to have one).

Strat; Korean made in early 2000, I think. Two-tone sunburst. Trem.

Heavenly. I bought a Strat purely because of 80's Adrian Belew/King Crimson, and with a little chorus this thing pulls off the Crim' perfectly.

But that's not to say that it's a one trick poney. The difference in tone switching between the pick-ups is phenominal. They're all highly useable right from the bridge through to neck.

However, I personally find the bridge/middle and middle/neck settings to be the best.

I play through a 55 Watt Rivera and Amplitube when recording, and it's all gold (especially on the Eric Johnson setting).

I can give the tremelo plenty of grief with some 'Frame by Frame' and 'Elephant Talk' action and it stays in tune (That's a big complement if you don't know King Crimson, or even if you do).

The only downer in sound is the buzzy pick-ups when in OD. It's the nature of the beast with single coils, but it was pretty pronounced when going through a Boss compressor pedal (hence the desirability of the bridge/middle, middle/neck settings).

Other than that, warmer than a normal Strat (as mentioned above and fine by me-probably due to the rosewood fingerboard) and pure gold- it beats an early 90's Fender Strat I played against it hands down.

Setup was fine-maybe a we bit low, but it was set up with 9's which is this guitar's ideal gauge as I'll mention bellow.

No flaws, and everything in it's right place. Except maybe the input jack, which on just about every guitar I've ever played, tends to come loose. Haven't these people heard of rubber washers? Metal doesn't grip metal!

As stupid as this sounds, I didn't discover that this guitar doesn't have a truss rod until 6 months after I biought it and decidedto try some heavier guage strings.

That's right, there's no way to increase or decrease the dip in the neck, which really frickin' sucks, because you have to then tweak the infuriating bridge to get it buzz free (if only they could have a Tune-o-matic bridge with a tremelo -oh right there is- a Bigsby).

I'm guessing that either, A) the craftsmen and woman at Tokai have such good faith in the quality of their work, that they feel they don't need a truss road (which is a fair call), or, B) it's a cost cutting measure, and a real shame, because, again, it would put this guitar into the league it deserves to be.

Solid.

N/A

Without a truss rod 8.5 out of 10. With a truss rod 11/10