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

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.

Not applicable

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!