Tokai TST50 Goldstar TST50 review
Tokai TST-50 (lower) from 1983 with a 1959 Stratocaster I restored
Not much has changed since 1983 - except the decals
Back in 1983, I purchased a Tokai TST-50 Springy Sound Stratocaster, as an avid Hank Marvin fan, as it was about the closest I would get to Hank's legendary 1959 Fender Stratocaster.
My quest to find a 1959 Stratocaster took me around 16 years and came in the form of a guitar that needed restoring, now complete and pictured above.
However, the Tokai from 1983 really was about as good as you could get back then for what I could afford. Weighing in at £199 or £250 with the case, a 1959 in Fiesta red was about £5000 if you could find one. That seems like peanuts now!
A pity I didn't back then as today it would be worth around £40-50,000.
The TST-50 from that era featured a 1958 C shape neck, it was basically as good a replication as you could get of one of Fender's golden era guitars, made before 1966.
Tokai were acknowledged even by pop players as great guitars and some were even used by big names over Fender, they were quite amazing. I did find the pickups were rather weak on my own 1983 original.
But, a big legal argument ensued because these guitars were too close to the Fender original and better than Fender's then current 3 bolt neck guitars which had lost their way due to cost cutting.
In the mid 80's, Tokai seemed to disappear from the Stratocaster style guitar market, they later on reappeared with a changed headstock shape Stratocaster style guitar many years later.
Cut to about 2010 and Tokai have come back with a very much nuts and bolts replica of the Stratocaster, right in the style of the Fender Stratocaster.
So I decided to try a new one, to see how they compared to the 1983 one, which I now have a pair of, both in fiesta red.
The new TST50 Goldstar-
Little unchanged from the 1983 guitars
Little unchanged from the 1983 guitars
One good upgrade Tokai made has been the use of Gotoh vintage pickups, they are stronger than the ones on my 1983 guitar. They give a good sound and have enough power in for the sort of instrumental playing I do and for general pop music.
The revised decals
The neck is still the 1958 C shape which I prefer and is easy to play with the vintage wire type profile frets. Tokai install a spacer under the string tree which I personally like. These were on the 1983 guitar too, a modification I have done on a number of my other Stratocaster guitars.
The neck on the modern Goldstar is slightly deeper than on the 1983 but the difference is negligible and only noticeable if you have an original old Tokai to hand to compare.
The Goldstar is still an easy guitar to play when set up correctly. I use it for a few different styles of music and find it works well.
The Goldstar is still an easy guitar to play when set up correctly. I use it for a few different styles of music and find it works well.
If you are considering one, I would say go for one, the build quality is very good, playability good, sound is good. For a made in Japan guitar, it offers great value.
I don't think you'll be disappointed. And being built in fairly limited numbers, they are a good investment too. You rarely get a bad Japanese made guitar and I am very pleased with the one I have.
