Tokai Goldstar sound strat

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

paulos

Active member
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Location
London UK
:D Hello, I was wondering if any of you guys might be able to educate me? I happened into a guitar store off charring x road the other day (Andys) and came across a tokai goldstar sound strat, sunburst, 3 way pickup selector, maple neck. It has a fender style headstock, and filled in gold lettering for tokai. It totally blew me away and I had to buy it!! it plays like a dream and has a really amazing tone...incredible resonance. the shop told me it was a 50's copy made in the early 80's..I havn't been able to find a serial no (where should I look?)...I paid quite a bit for it (as you do in these shops), but after playing it for 10 minutes my heart started to hammer and I just couldn't imagine life without it!...anyway I still think I've bought an amazing instrument for the money. I'd love to know all about it that i can find out. Can anyone help? Many thanks..Paul.
 
thanks LondonBarry, there's no serial no. on my neck plate so I'm guessing maybe that I'll have to take the neck off?...although I've just spent a couple of hours setting it up ..so I'm not that keen to do that just yet! : :-? ...anyway, after set-up it's playing even better...I'm toying with the idea of upgrading the tuners and trem..maybe even the pickups..although i don't want to alter a great instrument just for the sake of it...any thoughts?...btw are the original springy sounds generally thought of as being the best strat copies? or are the goldstars rated just as highly?
 
Paul,

Upgrading tuners and pickups will definitely give you more playable instrument. If you are for example gigging, new locking tuners will do wonders. But, if you mainly play at home or just occasionally jam with friends etc, then don?t do it. Just for the value of your instrument.
The more original you keep it more value it?ll have in the future.
Btw, how does your neck backplate look? Is it black with no markings or chromed? In my opinion Goldstars are just as good strat copies as springysounds. It all depends more on the specific instrument. I?ve played few really good ones which will easily stand neck to neck on Fender?s originals.
Good luck to you and your new guitar. No matter what you?ll find out of the year of manufacture etc. keep your own opinions about playability the first. If you like the sound and feel of it, then enjoy it. No matter if it?s a vintage or not!

Cheers :D
 
:D thanks Marko...the neck plate is unmarked chrome...I'm not intending to gig this guitar, just use it at home for fun and recording, so yeah, I think you're right, there's no real need to change the hardware. You're so right about about the other stuff too..I bought it for it's sound and playabilty and because it's the right guitar for me ...whether it's a great vintage or rare isn't important!..I was amazed at how good a guitar it is though, it really was better than all the usa strats i tried out (especially the neck) and a hell of a lot better than the mexican ones!
 
I've come to the conclusion that it's an '84 or '85 model, still havn't a clue as to whether it's an st-40,50,60 or whatever yet...I've got the bridge floating nicely now (a whole lot of wobbly fun!) and I havn't been able to put it down for weeks (my bass playing is suffering terribly!!)...also, I'm obsessed with the idea of trying out a springysound and a v-neck in order to see what the difference is (could it be any better than this?!)...I'm taking the precaution of hiding my credit cards and money till this 'tokai fever' has left me!! :D
 
Hi. I too just acquired a Tokai strat, but it`s a 60`s version. I am unable to find pictures here that match the one I found. It has " super edition " and " special series " on the headstock that resembles the Fender headstock. 3 tone alder burst roswwood fingerboard with Kluson deluxe tuners and it looks to have a steel block. I got mine here in Japan and it may be a domestic model which is why nobody here has offered any info on it yet.
This is my first Tokai as well am I am as impressed as you. Already sent e-mails to get info on 2 others I saw. Yikes.
 
Hi Sneaky. It sounds like you've got a really high-end model there, with all that nice hardware etc...I'm quite jealous of you as I'd love to roam around the guitar shops of Japan trying out lots of different models. Sadly, early tokais seem quite rare here in the UK (and expensive!)...enjoy your guitar (you lucky thing!)...if you happen to come across a 50's springy sound, sunburst, with a v-neck that plays like a dream, please feel free to drop it in the post to me! :D
 
You bought your guitar for exactly the right reasons. Head says "Fenders MUST be better", heart and ears say - no they're not!
 
Back
Top