SOLD Tokai goldstar sound MIJ Strat with upgrades

James1981

Excellent Japanese Made Strat which more than holds its own against the USA made American fenders. Swamp ash body, maple neck with Rosewood board.  10” radius on a traditional 25.5” scale with medium jumbo fretwire. Wonderful 2 tone sunburst finish. Upgrades really make this example particularly unique - Radioshop ID (increased dynamics) Chris Buck pickups. These are amazing vintage handwound pickups (outputs in the image with certificate of authenticity). These sound sound wonderful with a warm yet clear sound that bites when you dig in. When fitted the following was also completed; CRL (USA made) 5 way switch, all pots changed to CTS 250k (audio log taper), sprague orange drop 0.022 capacitor. The inner cavity was lined with Monte Allums adhesive copper foil for shielding purposes. To make the most of the electronic upgrades the following was also fitted; Wudtone CP holy grail tremolo bridge with HG-11,20 vintage saddles with non protruding screws along with a Wudtone 1080 cold steel trem block. All retained with 5 RAW low tension springs to aid with sustain. This makes the bridge a modern 54mm spacing. Fitted with Gotoh SD91-mg vintage tuners. image is only screenshot I can find of the fitting on the cavity parts so apologies It’s not great.

A genuine and great sounding Strat in excellent condition- 2 very small dents to the rear shown in images. Supplied in original tweed case which is in good condition with a little corrosion to the rear hinges (does not affect functionality).  This is a 2010 model and was about £800 prior to upgrades, which total around £400. Asking £675 delivered to U.K. mainland or £650 collected. 

Gone but not forgotten- sold 31/10

Switch625

Mmmm that's lovely

Bennyboy-UK

Thats really nice

hollywoodrox

Rather beautiful , 

Jonathangus

@lovestrat74 ;

lovestrat74

Jonathangus said:

@lovestrat74 ;

That is rather stunning @Jonathangus ;but a little out of my "Squier Silver Series" budget right now!

Out of interest @James1981 what is the neck profile like? And how much does it weigh?

James1981

@lovestrat74 the neck profile is a c profile, slightly thin but not in the realms of shred. It feels substantial in my somewhat smaller hands but in a good way not in Les Paul 50’s style baseball bat way! It’s quite a narrow neck which again contributes to the ease of playing - it’s the only guitar I have which feels comfortable playing thumb around chords. It’s a little over 3kg (7lbs) so light but definitely not so light as to feel like it’s not present! 

lovestrat74

James1981 said:

@lovestrat74 the neck profile is a c profile, slightly thin but not in the realms of shred. It feels substantial in my somewhat smaller hands but in a good way not in Les Paul 50’s style baseball bat way! It’s quite a narrow neck which again contributes to the ease of playing - it’s the only guitar I have which feels comfortable playing thumb around chords. It’s a little over 3kg (7lbs) so light but definitely not so light as to feel like it’s not present! 

skikdi53

Very nice guitar, but as usual with Tokai guitars, it is not possible to know the exact model.
Just looked at the 2010 catalog, not found any strat with ash body, all are in Alder.

goldtop

skikdi53 said:

Very nice guitar, but as usual with Tokai guitars, it is not possible to know the exact model.
Just looked at the 2010 catalog, not found any strat with ash body, all are in Alder.

Goldstars with the 'swamp ash' aesthetic were often (always?) made out of 'sen' - a Japanese native tree species which IIRC is related to the american ash. Might come down to the model number?

James1981

The model I believe that s called the TST50. A quick search engine check reveals the spec as;

Product Description

Body: Swamp Ash

Neck: Canadian Hard Maple

Nut: Bone

Fingerboard: Rosewood or Maple 1 pce. neck

Pickups: Japan Vintage (Gotoh)

Machine heads: Japan Vintage (Gotoh)

Bridge: Japan Vintage (Gotoh, Tremelo)Available In Vintage White, Blonde, Yellow and Golden SunburstsVintage Tweed Case is included in the price
This was in production in 2010 (it has been around for quite some time - mid to early eighties).