Help With Made In Korea Telecaster

[CdnMint]

Hi everyone.
I bought a Tokai made in Korea Telecaster in 2005 from a store in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. One of the guys I jam with (didn't know him when I bought it) told me Tokai's are some kind of classic and sought after, but after some reading, I think it's only the Japanese one's from the 1980's. According to the salesperson when I bought mine, It was the last Tele Tokai they had, and had been sitting on the shelf for a couple years, so maybe made in 2002 or so? I was going to post pictures of it but can't figure out how to load the images. But other people have so there must be a way.
It's mustard color, and the front of the headstock says "Tokai Goldstar Sound" "The quality musical instruments of the world" and "Oldies but Goodies."
The back of the headstock has "Made in Korea" and "050989" Both of these on the back seem like some kind of transparent tape. I remember thinking when I bought it that it wasn't the greatest quality, the string saddles on the bridge rattled on the 6th and 5th strings, and the store fixed this buy putting some paper between them so they wouldn't rattle. That lasted all of a day. I just learned to put up with it. Other than that it does the job, but nothing special. Maybe I should sell it to the guy who thinks it's a classic!
If there's an obvious way to post my pics of it please let me know.
Ok after a reply, I learned how here they are
Thanks.

 

[Sigmania]

Goldstar was a Strat copy.

Sounds like you might have what we call a Fakai? They were imported in to Canada.

Look through this thread and see what you think.

Here are instructions for posting pictures.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=25951

 

[CdnMint]

Thanks very much Sigmania.
I followed your instructions and edited my post to include the pictures.
If Goldstar was for Strats then I really must have a fraudulent model, since mine is a Tele.
Reading the other posts seems like marketing and sales practices were a big hodge podge. What a mess.
Thanks again for your help

 

[Sigmania]

You’re welcome. Seeing the pictures now makes it more confusing. It’s not the serial number label I expected.

No idea of the age on this one. And yeah, it’s a mismatch labeling that a Goldstar.

 

[Sigmania]

Looks like a nice guitar though in spite of the label.

Hope it plays well and the neck is in good shape.

 

[Sigmania]

From what I’ve seen, that font and type of serial number is similar to Chinese models. So the made in Korea label is confusing like the Goldstar name on the headstock.

Maybe someone else here knows about it. I may be all wrong.

Any markings under the pickguard or in the neck pocket?

 

[Sigmania]

Looks like this weirdness was happening in 2005. These guitars evidently popped up on eBay at the time.

Consistent with the serial number that this is probably a 2005 Chinese fake pretending to be made in Korea? Head spinning.

Here’s a link to add more confusion.

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/tokai-goldstar-tele-legit-or-fraud.34892/

 

[CdnMint]

Wow, thanks for the great link. When I started searching last week It didn't come up, but it was probably just my own sloppiness. I wonder why or how Canada got chosen to be the recipient of strange forgeries.
After all these years I just noticed that the headstock doesn't actually say "Oldies but Goodies" - a common expression , at least where I live- but instead says "Oldies but Goldies." I wonder if someone was doing some word play, or if it was just a person in China or Korea not knowing the actual English expression, or maybe I just need to get out more.

 

[CdnMint]

I'll check out under the pick guard and neck pocket and report back (I'm not at home right now)

 

[CdnMint]

Nothing happening under the pickguard and neck plate -here are pics

 

[Sigmania]

Well, it looks like you have a mystery guitar. Hopefully you didn't pay too much. And sounds like you have gotten a lot of use out of it, so that's good.

I have heard that the build quality can be pretty decent even on the fakes. The issue was someone using the Tokai name to sell guitars that were not authorized. That said, some folks love them.

Btw, here is a Goldstar headstock from my 1984 ST70. Note that it is a decal.

And a 1983 TE70 Breezy sound. (Faber Guitars)

 

[CdnMint]

Very interesting, thanks.
Yes, I didn't pay much, it was about 290 Canadian back in 2005, which is about 220 or so maybe - ball park - US dollars. Outside of the rattling saddles, it's been a decent guitar, I've played and practiced with it a fair bit. Guess I got my money's worth.
Thanks again for all your help, very informative and much appreciated!

 

[CdnMint]

I mistakenly wrote 1995 instead of 2005 and then went back and edited it, but just in case you read the comment before I edited it, I bought the guitar in 2005.

 

[Sigmania]

Yeah I had been thinking 2005 the whole time. The first two digits on the serial are thought to be year made on many of the Chinese builds. That said, if you bought it in 2005 then it wouldn’t have been sitting around for years as he told you. Another head scratcher.

Have you heard of Dillion guitars?

 

[CdnMint]

No, sorry I've not heard of Dillion.
I'll just mention one other thing the salesperson told when I bought it. I wasn't keen on the Mustard color, and as I mentioned the salesman said it had been sitting on the shelf for a while for that reason - not that popular a color, but it was the last cheap Tele they had, and then he said they were not going to get any more in, because Fender was going to start exercising their trademark rights, so no more cheap Asian guitars. So better buy it even if you don't like the color because no more will be available. Of course, I'm not saying he was right, we all know some sales people will say what they need to in order to make the sale, whether true or not, or maybe he was just misinformed, or maybe he was right. I wasn't interested in the guitar industry and I was not that concerned. I just wanted a cheap Tele, and the store was right by where I worked, and I didn't want to drive all over the city.

 

[Sigmania]

Interesting story from the salesman. I think he was off by 20 years. That whole thing with Tokai and Fender happened in 1982 roughly that resulted in changes to the headstock and logo apparently.

Tokai was in negotiations to build guitars for Fender in Japan. The contract was awarded to Fujigen instead. Tokai later got the contract in the 90s I believe?

Tokai modified its headstock in 1985 for markets where Fender had legal protection. The modified headstock became the American version with an “A” in the prefix. So the TE model for the American version was called an ATE.

Tokai contracted to have Tokais made outside of Japan on their budget models, taking advantage of cheaper labor in Korea for a time apparently and to this date in China.

There also have been guitars made with Tokai on the headstock that may have been made in the same factories as the ones legitimately contracted, but went out the door illegally after the relationship ended, or out a side door and were not reported? Black market essentially.

It is a bit of the Wild West in some areas, so it's not clear what happened. We just know that these guitars surfaced in the mid 2000s with no credible explanation as to why they have Tokai on the headstocks.

The falsely labeled Tokais and some of the stories people used to pass them on just goes to show that some people will say and do anything to make a buck.

Dillion of Canada was apparently involved in importing the fake Chinese/Korean labeled Tokais. See earlier posts.

You got a decent player for cheap. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sigmania]

Interesting thread:

https://www.guitarscanada.com/threads/my-canadian-fakai.32867/

And

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24437

https://reverb.com/ca/item/516647-tokai-goldstar-sound-52-reissue-tele-telecaster-style-guitar-butterscotch-w-fender-std-gig-bag
As much as I respect Gottfried's opinion on most things Tokai, I think that he is wrong on on the question of this so called "Goldstar" tele.

The first reports of of these mis labled Teles date from the early 2000s there have been very few since, leading me to the conclusion that these guitars were made in the early to mid 2000 time period and not later. The budget Tokai teles to my knowledge were not manufactured in China at this date, but were, as is generally aknowledged, manufactured in Korea.

Futhermore 215 collector's Tele has the 3 saddle bridge,whereas the Chinese ATE52 tele from the Tokai catalogue has a six saddle bridge,as has the Korean tele in the Reverb ad. This not definitive proof, but it pretty strongly suggests to me that your guitar was made,as has been suggested by rogue Korean manufactures maybe after their legitimate association with Tokai had ended and without authorisation from Tokai .

It is significant that the authorised Korean teles serial numbers terminated at the letter E prefix ,whereas this rogue Goldstar tele,s serial number starts at F.(one year later?)

This unauthorised production mirrors the way in which the notorious Canadian Dillion Fakais were produced in roughly the same era.

As the wording of the ad from Reverb states, "Tokai Goldstar Sound 50's Tele-Style Guitar in a beautiful Butterscotch finish w/Tinted Maple Neck...w/Maple Cap Fingerboard , has that '52 Vintage Reissue Telecaster Vibe! all the way at a much more affordable price. Manufactured in Korea (2002-2003) no longer produced. This Tokai is in NEW condition or should I say New-Old Stock, and it has been tucked away for years with no issues whatsoever. The plastic film is still on the pickguard. Tokai Guitars have been regarded as fine quality built instruments throughout the industry for many years. Included is a New Fender Standard Gig Bag and a set of D'Addario Strings. These Tokai guitars are very hard to find especially in this condition. ***IF YOU LIKE FENDER, TRY ME***".

I think that your Goldstar tele is from Korea like the one in the Reverb ad to which it bears a striking resemblance,(even down to the 3 saddle bridge,maple cap and the Daddarios!) and was manufactured a year or so after the official licensed Korean Tokais ceased production in the early 2000s and so is to all intents and purposes, a fake.

 

[CdnMint]

Thanks for the links. Very interesting. What a tangled web. It's unfortunate that the store I bought mine from is no longer in business (Mother's Music). Maybe if they were I could ask them to go back in the records and see if Dillion shows up at all.