Tokai Goldstar TST50 Springy Sound in Fiesta red review v TST50 Springy Sound from 1983

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

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.

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.

Seiko 5 automatic watches - the design classic you should own!

The classic Seiko 5 - 50 years of great style

The great Seiko 5 in blue

As the Seiko 5 Series approaches half a century of production, this icon of watches has remained little changed. 

Some might call it retro fashion, I just think of it as a piece of great design in the vein of Bauhaus - where the beauty of the design was equal to the functionality.

For me, the Seiko 5 does both. The case looks modern and streamlined and surprisingly enough, is still available in an almost unchanged format from the originals.

Seiko 7009 - 4040 like mine

Years ago, in 1983 I purchased a 7070-4040 and I think it had to be about the best all round watch I ever owned. The finish was excellent, it kept perfect time and was reliable as anything. 

Recently, I decided to see what was around and found some old 4040's with the  blue face which I purchased. You can still find some decent used ones out there and also some of the Seiko 5's from similar model ranges. 

Modern Seiko 5 SNK with Blue face

I don't think you can go wrong here with one of these

Really for the money you can't go wrong. I personally think the blue face ones really look the nicest and those with the jubilee bracelet like the one above look best. The modern SNK version I think looks a good modern day alternative to a 4040 and they seem to enjoy good reviews.

Old school Seiko 5 6319 in blue from the early 1970's

Best of all, these don't need a battery, they are just powered by your movement! 

Check out Ebay for Seiko 5's, they are a good buy at the moment but interest is starting to pick up on them.