Tokai Gold Star Sound

Hi everyone! I got a black Tokai, Gold Star Sound probably from 1983. The 'lawsuit' model yes! It has not got the old reversed Fender 'F' styled logo on the headstock but the slightly newer logo. It's not easy to date the guitar exactly on the hand of the serialnumber. That is, I can find very little information on the net about it. It's got a black translucent (how do you spell this kind of..) finish and is already aging beautyfully. It's is all original accept for the potmeters and the 5-p-switch wich are USA strat and that goes for the sadles as well. It has the Kluson Deluxe tuners and a lovely CURVED FRETBOARD! Why do I hear nobody talk about the fretboards? I'd almost think this one is a custom! I'm very curious how many Tokai's there are out there with a curved fretboard. What more can I say here, it's like a strat. If you know the model... I rest my case

I play mainly blues and always through a tube-amp. The sound is rich, full and bright! Further more, something that needs to be said, it has a real karakter, it's got soul man! I play only strats actually, though there have been acceptions, always on the lookout for that great instrument with that great and big tone. Tone has to be big. It's gotta stand like a house and not get all muddy and vague when using effects. I mean the basic signal has to be good. And that is what this Tokai strat's got. It lives, breathes, howls, cries, moawns and acts very direct on the way you play. Like SRV can, I can also get the same kind of breakup and ehm.how do you explain this.. the same kind of tonal bite/moan/phasing in the sound. Tonal veriety with one setup so to say. It's all in your playing of course but I can say I played a lot of strats, the real deal, old, new, japs, you name it. But this Tokai sounds better than any other I've played. I traded the guitar for SRV signature that was completely reliced in a terrible way. Somebody just cut of the finisch with a screwdriver or something. Not a nutural aged look at all, just one fucked strat, shame shame shame! Also the neck was ehm..'reformed' to a normal C shape instaid of the original non-sematric V it was. The SRV sounded good with it's tx-specials and I really asked myself if this was going to be such a nice (and fair) trade. The SRV was a 91 or 92, unfortunatly not with the original Brazilian rosewood (do they really exist?) So I made the trade, also because both guitars have a relation with SRV. Like I said before it sounds really awsome! It sounds like a vintage strat, not a loss at all considering the SRV, like a true '62. I'm very happy with it, it's a keeper, gonna be my main axe, my beauty...you get the idea.

Pickups are original, setup is ajustable of course so that is just how you like it. In my case I play a lot with 0.011, big frets and lots of action. This one (I just got it a week) needs to be refretted. But It needs to be done good be course of the curved fretboard. I sertainly do not want to damage her in any way. (that sounds sick ya Sicko!...well for that I can say I do not sleep with them). The only thing I wonder is...is the neck original? It looks cheap, but feels great and like I mentioned before, its a curverd (rosewood by the way) fretboard. Also I noticed that the neck doesn't exacly fit on the body. Not that that bugs you when playing but it is somewhat strange I think. Also the bolts wich keep the neck attached to the body seem to be screwed in with an angle. Like this: //\\ Does anyone know more about this? Apart from that, the curved fretboard is a sign of great attention regarding the overal finish and the goal to built quality instruments. Apparently these guitars were meant to be workhorses, and not just an eyecatcher. I'll just take one point off here because of the neck to body construction.

Did I mention it's got a CURVED FRETBOARD? Yes, people I really could use some information on this. Since I got it recently I can't really say a lot about durability. It seems like it will last for a long long time. Strapbuttons are solid, potmeters and 5-p-switch are USA strat, and it's got Kluson Deluxe tuners that do the job fine. It also stays suprisingly good in pitch.

Is there any?

I've been playing for about 15 years now (only blues actually, lot's of srv/hendrix stuff, you know how that goes) and owned a lot of guitars. Still have around 15 of them continuously on hand. Love to trade once in a while with others. Always on the lookout for that big toned-guitar. The Tokai I have know is going to stay. It is in all these years the second guitar that is going to stay for sure! Other guitars have less karakter or lack that special feel. Also had a strat from 63, all original, with its own karakter, but it was way to jazzy for me. This Tokai however has got it all. Better than all of the fenders I have played, though I cannot denie that my main axe, a std USA strat, with one-piece maple neck and tx-specials also great sounds.

2002 Model, made in Korea. 22 Frets, two tone sunburst, maple neck, 3 Singlecoils (stock tokai), strat'style vibrato, two tone/one volume, five way...(basic Strat setup. I've added an extra on/off switch to add the bridge PU when in the 4th and 5th position for some cool sounds (I will only judge the guitar from its stock form - not taking into account what the modification did to it!!!). Bought it with a cool hardcase for protection, but it didn't come with one.

My setup is: Vox Wah>FoxRox Captain Cocunut 2>Analogman TS-808>Boss DD-3>Boss TU-2>T-Rex Comp-Nova>EH Holy Grail Reverb>Marshall 1962 BluesBreaker Combo Reissue.
It's an absolutely beatifull sounding guitar. I played a Les Paul before, but began finding it a little too muddy sounding, I needed something more clear and penetrating to fit into my bands sound. I basically don't use my Les Paul any more, only for the very Hard Rock numbers in our set. The Tokai is so versatile, you can go from clean rhythm playing (using the bridge or the bridge/middle PUs)to soaring fat lead (Neck/middle PUs)just by flicking the switch. By adding various settings on the tone and volume pots you make it even more versatile.
At first I found the little bit of hum in the single PU-positions to be a little irretating, but unless you put on some Fender Noiseless PUS, you'll probably just have to deal with it - it's in the very nature of a strat!!!
The tremolo-system isn't great from the start. I had to do some adjustments, before I could get it to work, but then I found that I didn't even use it that much so just locked it down again - this adds some sustain, which the strat can lack (to some people!) when locked in the floating tremolo.
I totally love my strat, even though I was swearing to the Les Paul. Don't get me wrong, I still find the Les Paul a great guitar, but no matter what people say, you just can't beat the strat as far as versatility!!!

Having said it before, but to sum up:
I had to set it up for .10s, it came with .9s., but this is no big thing, really easy. Then of course there's the thing about the tremolo, but as a whole you can set the guitar up for any kind of action you would like.
The finish is nearly perfect, just a little mishap on the buttom horn of the guitar, where the finish isn't properly sanded down. Another thing is the matching of the three pieces of wood the body is made out of. At the junction between the top piece and the middle, you can see the line very clearly, a monir thing, but still... Anything else is flawless, nice rounded frets, nice looking sunburst.

This guitar will and have lasted playing live.
The nut could use a changing and perhaps the PUs at some point, but thinking of the price of the instrument, you diffenately have some money to spare for those things.
I had Schaller locking strapbuttons installed when I bought it so I don't know about the stock ones, they just seemed like strapbuttons???
I would diffinately use it without a backup. I would still bring my Les Paul, but only for a different sound and in case I broke a string - It happens on fenders, gibsons, any guitar!!!!

Haven't dealt with Tokai, but the store WoodSound in Copenhagen, Denmark is absolutely great!!

This is a wonderful guitar. I feel I've had a revalation, when I discovered it a the store!!!
If it was stolen: APB>Bounty Hunters>Hire Mercs.etc. SEEK AND DESTROY the guy who did it!!!
Diffenately uy a new one, it's the best deal on a strat, when comparing quality, price, features etc.!!!

This is a late eighties model (22 fret) I paid about 300 ponnds sterling for.Its a deep red colour with a maple neck. I just recently put 2 new single coils and a humbucker at the bridge (Seymour Duncans) it also got a refret and set up. The tech who did the work was blown away by the guitar and offered me #500 there and then. He let a few Strat lovers try out the guitar and told me they had there Fenders in for a set up in the hope their guitars would play like the Tokai. Although I have never been a Strat freek this is a quality player and has got me addicted. I use a PRS Custom as my main guitar but am playing this more and more. Its got all you would want in terms of features. This is a drop dead looker of a guitar.

I play it through a mesa boogie 22 with a direct to a marshall 20/20 into a mesa EV cab. I use it mostley for funk / disco but it has all the sounds. The seymour single coils are excellant giving a really nice woody tone, in combo with the Humbucker It gives a great bite for lead work. You can add plenty treble if required but I prefer a mellower tone. I would give this a nine going by the opinions I have heard but since I am just getting into Strats it gets an eight.

This was a good player out of the store but with a set up and lately a refret it has gone up 25%. It has a low action but I prefer a bit of give for percussive rythmn playing. The quality of the woods and build is very good. The pickup upgrade has worked nicely and as the basic guitar is so good it was a good move.

Always been reliable although up until lately was only a home guitar. It has stood up well as its over 15yrs old and almost mint.I use it live now without a backup and its been fine. The paint job is A1 and the neck has taken on a well used quality look and feel.

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Been playing 20 years play PRS and Boogie. This is a real pleasure to play and is getting used more and more. I would never swop this for a Fender as it is a quality piece with loads of class. Its good to see the Fender Strat lovers get jealous. As its an older guitar with a few upgrades it would be nearly impossible to get a replacement so I hope to take good care of it. I was always a bit sceptical about "copies" as how could they be better than the originals. This Tokai is better than any sub #800 strat I have seen thats good enough for me. I cannot comment on Custom shop stuff as I'm not interested.

This is an '84 Goldstar Sound, last year of the 'lawsuit' fender headstock. Candy apple red with rosewood fretboard, tremelo, staggered polepieces on the pickups, standard Strat setup with no mods. The hardware does a good job imitating the '57 strat style tuners, bridge, etc. I'm told that mine is the TST-50 model with the U-shaped neck. The neck doesn't feel all that thick to me but then I've never been able to compare it to the c-neck Tokai. In any case the neck is the best I've ever held; straight, solid, and plays like butter. No skunk strip on the neck by the way.

Ahhhh the tone...Wonderful. I couldn't put it down last night. Nails that vintage strat sound in all 5 positions. Unlike others here I love the original pickups, wouldn't swap them out for anything. I will say that the bridge pickup was a bit piercing at first and I had to adjust the pickup away from the treble strings to save my ears. I play it thru a Fender Blues Jr with the gain up pretty high and the tone (if not the playing) was nice, texas hot, SRV blues. Sounded great with a soft pick attack and dirtied up nicely when you wailed on it.

I bought this used from someguy in the Navy who goes over to Japan and buys these Tokai and old Japanese Fenders Used and sell them here on ebay. This one looked like it hadn't been played for a number of years and needed some tlc. The ground wire had come free for one thing and it was NOISY until I soldered that back in place. Overall though the finish is excellent. The pickup wires are cloth covered. Also, rather then foil shielding the controls are shielded with a solid brass plate. Overall you get the feeling your playing a quality instrument.

I've already mentioned how much I love the neck.

I'm not crazy about the tuners, they've become loose over the years and probably weren't that great to start with. Also the trem unit doesn't inspire too much confidence in me, but then I've never been a fan of tremelos, I'll probably block it off in the near future. Otherwise the guitar feels very solid.

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I've been playing for 16 years or so and have owned many different guitars. When I first got the Tokai I admit I was a bit bummed. I felt like I might have paid too much, there were more dings then I would have liked to see, it was noisy, etc. But now I couldn't be happier. I've owned several strat style guitars including a 80's American made '57 reissue, a G&L Legacy, and a '88 japanese Strat. All were good guitars but this one just has that 'can't put in down-play til your fingers hurt' tone.

But less I get too carried away with Tokai-mania I will say that the current crop of American Series strats are pretty darn nice, there's a lot to be said for modern tuners, bridges, jumbo frets, etc. Also I had a Route 101 strat that was a surprizingly nice under $300 guitar. Bottom line is that today strat shoppers have many choices available to them and the tokai is what worked for me.

Late 80's strat replica, made in Japan. Has everything you'd expect from a strat, s/s/s, five position swith. Solid alder body in off white color, one piece maple neck. The tuners are original Tokai but not Kluson type. The neck is round and quite thin, the finish is like most Tokai's - excellent, plays like a dream. I've replaced the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Little '59 humbucker and the middle with a SD Hot Stack (stacked humbucker), the neck pu is still the Tokai single coil.

With the original pickups it sounded like a strat should (maybe slightly warmer than most strats), with the Duncans you get a different sound, the Little '59 has an output that works very well with single coils and it sounds like a vintage humbucker. The Hot Stack has a different sound with more treble. The Duncans also are very quiet without any hum at all. I mainly play rock and blues and with this pu configuration I can get almost any sound I want. I'll probably replace the neck pu with another Hot Stack. The switch and pot's are as always on Tokai's excellent. I have never had to replace a pot or switch on any Tokai due to malfunction. The tone and sustain is excellent.

Well, I bought this one used but the guitar was setup properly. I have lowered the action a little bit. There is absolutely nothing to complain about when it comes to the guitar itself, the workmanship is excellent.

The guitar is from the late 80's and has probably been played a lot, there are a lot of small flaws and dents but the finish is still good. The alder body is excellent and so is the neck, the frets are still very good and the clear coat on the fingerbord is still intact. The chrome is also excellent. I play this guitar a lot and I have never had a broken string, I would trust this guitar in any situation. This is a very well built guitar and it will last many years of playing.

I've had no reason to contact them, I've had no problems with any Tokai!

I've been playing for 30 years and I've had many guitars, at the moment I have a few more Tokai's and also a couple of other guitars. The Tokai's are my favorites. If lost I would try to find another Tokai strat. Tokai seem to be able to put guitars together that you feel at home with immediately. I've bought Tokai's without having seen them and I've never been disappointed. I bought this strat unseen and unplayed and it's now my main guitar.

This guitar is a 1983 Ford metallic blue strat copy with a rosewood fretboard . The headstock has a matching blue finish reminiscent of the Fender 'The Strat' model of the early '80's. It's a strat. No more, no less. Three pickups, tremolo, you get the picture.

It always sounded like a strat. No surprises there, but the original pickups (in common with the rest of the hardware) were not up to the quality of the basic body/neck/fretting construction. I replaced the pickups with Seymour Alnico 2's which improved the sound greatly, although I have to say that the pickups are not built to a very high standard. I've had 2 of them fail on me over the years, and I'm not heavy handed. I own many guitars and have never had any other pickup failures. The guitar sounds good through a variety of amps/pods etc, although I could do without the hum.I can hear Kinman calling.....

The action and playability of this guitar are really good. I've never had to have it refretted. The original machines were piss poor, and were replaced early on by Schallers. The bridge saddles, similarly, have been superceded by Graphtech stringsavers. I cannot recommend these highly enough. They have significantly improved every guitar I've fitted them to, and I've never, ever broken a string on a Graphtech-equipped guitar. Strat owners will particularly appreciate this factor! The whammy works well, with tuning stability greatly aided by the above refinements, in concert with graphite string trees and the use of powdered graphite in the nut.

I've used this guitar professionally for 18 years. It is a tough, durable, 'proper' instrument. I regularly use it live and in the studio alongside Fender and Gibson guitars. It more than holds its own. Its extremely versatile tones make it my 'Swiss army knife' in the studio.

Never needed it.

The above price should be taken with a pinch of salt; I've spent at least as much again on parts for this guitar, as most of the original hardware on the guitar was not of a particularly high quality. As it stands now, with all the above improvements, it's as good as any other strat I've ever owned or played. I've used it on at least a dozen albums and countless TV shows, gigs and other sessions. I use lots of other guitars, but this one is often the first one I throw in the boot of the car.

Japanes Strat copy, 3 piece ash body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, vintage radius and frets, brown sunburst, 3 single coils. Bought it new in a guitar shop for Hfl. 1000,-(USD 400),traded in a Mexico Fender Srat that just wasn't it. Compared it with an American Fender that was more expensive,it had a more "modern" neck that played somewhat easier. But soundwise the Tokai pissed on the Fender. Great vintage Strat sound.

With the original PU's, great vintage clean sound but a little lacking in sustain and power. Replaced the pickups with Fender USA PU's. Give me more output and mids. Great Hendrix/SRV sound.
I use it for blues/rock, it's perfect.

Flawless workmanship and finish. The neck is typical vintage Fender, probably 7 1/2 inch radius and thin frets, so you have to work a little harder than on a Les Paul. As it gets worn in by the years, it gets better and better.

No complaints. Srats are durable guitars anyway.

No service needed. When the time comes to refret, i think i'll order for a bigger radius and bigger frets.
VERY little info on the Web. Guess it adds to the Tokai/Fernandes/Burny mystery....

I've been playing for about 20 years, had about three Strats before, a great pink Fernandes(=Tokai?), a red Squier(so-so) and a white Mexico Fender(so-so). The Tokai is here to stay.
Great guitar, just gets better over the years. In Europe these Japanese copy guitars were well available, in the USA they are scarce and sought after. I saw a Tokai LP copy on a Dutch classifieds site some time ago for HFL 800,-. Let it go! Damn!!
ANY INFO ON TOKAI GUITARS IS WELCOME! CONTACT ME BY E-MAIL!

Creme strat-copy with nothing different that I can tell...especially the sound. Tremelo, rosewood neck, tri-color pickguard etc... whats to say...feels sounds looks like a start.

Used this with Fender bassman a '68? or '66, fender champ, princeton..all tube amps...even my little modiied epiphone 15 tube practice amp....MAN O MAN. I have stood this with real fender strat circa '67 and '73 and a music man sabre, shadow-strat, ibanez roadstar, just about everything else I can't think of...anyway, this tokai truly sounds as good or better...its unbelievable i know..ya just gotta play it...also, it sounds just as good as the real "lawsuit" tokai strats with the full-ears (this has a pointier ear) anyway, those "lawsuit-only" strat dweebs pay waaaaay too much for the same guitar, this'n smokes

The action, fit and finish was set up OK but it was a floor model so don't really know...all I know is I set it up in an hour and ripped from then till years later...its very reliable and very easy to set up..like a strat naturally...hey it is a strat-killer for the money

Lasted 20 years, and still like new...granted I have a couple of these so the frets don't wear as quickly, but never have refretted or anything..just tune and play...it even holds its tunage well...ummmm fantastomatic

They are around I think, but don't expect to find them easily...I can find hardly anything on the web...maybe they are coming back???
Anyway, you don't need them for anything...this is a dumb category.

been playing for about 25 years or so....these used to be the best kept secret ever in guitars...coupla others left but don't want to let-on just yet as I am still looking for them! basically, these should be revered with the early deans, early hamers, early gibson and fender and certainly the best japanese guitar ever made...maybe early yamahas too...but nothing comes as close to equaling or surpassing the early fenders and so forth...one damn fine guitar...to bad it has been "discovered" i can't afford them now...but hell, i have 2 and will sell one for a reasonable price...if interested contact me..probably 600 bucks or an interesting trade...lopezmartinb@lycos.com

This is a pre "lawsuit" copy of a '54-'56 Fender Stratocaster (7-1/2" radius maple neck, round string tree, 8 screw pickup guard) only the beautiful candy-apple red finish deviates from Fender vintage. The pickups are stock Tokai single coils. This guitar was made in Japan.

I've compared this guitar head-to-head against many Fenders and all I can say is Tokai kicks ass. I like playing John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Plug this baby into a tube amp and all that raw tone is there in spades. Listen to SRV's recording of "Lenny" to best appreciate how this Tokai sounds. Incidently SRV endorsed Tokai early in his career and I've always believed "Lenny" (the guitar, not the song) was actually a Tokai with a Fender logo slapped on. I have no proof of this, but the red in Stevie's guitar is more consistent with Tokai than Fender.

Plays like a dream. Some people don't like the 7-1/2 radius neck but you would never use this guitar to play Eddie Van Halen anyway, I like the neck particularly for the way it lets you get your thumb involved. The Kluson style tuners work perfectly and the trem is typical of all Fender vintage setups. The candy-apple finish is shiny with metalic sparkles, although Tokai could probably have sprayed on a few more coats.

Strats are the most popular guitar in the world for a reason and this one has never let me down. It's my main axe and I've never had to actually use my back up in a gig (also a Tokai Goldstar Sound - but a rosewood neck '62 model).

but it only deals with Tokai Talbos (a guitar I would love to get my hands on).

I LOVE this guitar, if it was stolen or damaged I would probably seek Doctor Kevorkian. I've been playing for about twenty years and although this guitar doesn't suit all of my styles, this is the one I spend most of my time with. I'm into blues jazz and rock. All my other electrics are Tokais (I used to have a Tele) and I have a Fender Tube Deluxe amp and occasionally use an Ibanez Tube Screamer, Digitech Wammy peddle, VOX Wah, and Digital Delay.

The guitar which I am reviewing is a Tokai Gold Star Sound 1958 Fender Stratocaster replica. This guitar was made in either the late 1970's or the early 1980's. This is one of the fabled "Lawsuit" models. This guitar features all of the qualities that made the alder body,maple neck Stratocasters so desirable.The Gold Star Sound guitars came stock with Gotoh Kluson copy tuners which hold up admirably to extreme whammy bar abuse. I have the guitar set up so that I can get a 4th up-pull from the open g string when I pull up on the bar. This instrument has 21 frets,a big fat slightly rounded one piece maple neck with a skunk stripe and it had a 7 1/2" radius when it was built. I had Orange County Luthier,Joel Grant,reradius the fingerboard to 12" and refret the guitar with 6105 frets. I've owned several 1950's maple neck Strats and this guitar can hold it's own with the best of them! I also had Joel install a set of DiMarzio's "Virtual Vintage" pickups and I had the bridge pickup wired up to the middle pickup tone control. I believe that this is a necessary modification that enables more flexibility in terms of high end roll off on the bridge pickup.

This guitar covers all of the familiar Stratocaster territory. Great clean sounds,in all positions,you name it this guitar can do it. It is extremely resonant,and when played acoustically,it has lots of sparkle and upper harmonic detail. I play a broad range of musics from Drum and Bass style ala LTJ,to extremely aggressive post industrial metal,to Johnny Smith to Jimmy Bryant. This guitar can hang in any of these musical environments with the requisite tweak of the tone control. Why pay $8,500+ for a 1958 Stratocaster? Leave those guitars to dentists and venture capitalists. This guitar is crushing!

We all know how much abuse Fenders can take,and we know how great an old beat up Strat looks. Witness the "Relics" popularity. This guitar has to be crowding 20 and it looks much like a 1958 Strat would have looked in 1978. This guitar is solid,it stays in tune and it looks great. I don't have to worry about dogging it and that is a welcome departure from my usual fetish orientation with guitars. Would I use it on a gig without a backup? Hells no! There is no such guitar that can handle that sort of resposibility.

I didn't send my 1957 one piece ash body Strat to Fender when I got the fingerboard reradiused and refretted.(Yes,I actually did this to vintage guitar because I played it.) I don't need Tokai's help with this guitar either. I don't even know if Tokai exists in it's original form,so this has been a non issue for me. This guitar is as solid as they come and I imagine that it will remain that way.

I've been playing guitar for 26 years. I have lots of custom built guitars,and I play primarily 7 string guitar. I got this fuitar so that I would have a good beater strat.The Tokai more than fills the bill. If this guitar were stolen I would be hating life because these guitars are scarce! I bought a veneer board 1964 Gold Star Sound Strat from Scott Hager and that was the only "Lawsuit" Model strat that I've seen for sale in years. These guitars were a labour of love by some seriously retentive Japanese guitar manufacturer,built at a time when Fender was making 25 pound ash body boat oars. This guitar was the wake up call that Fender needed in order to become a serious name in the guitar biz. I would take this guitar over any guitar that Fender has built in the past 30 years,with the exception of the guitars that Mike Stevens built during his tenure at the Fender Custom Shop. If you have been looking for a vintage stratocaster and you don't want to spend tons of money for a guitar that is held together with 4 philips head screws,then this is the move!