New User, New Toy, Old(ish) geezer

Hiya,
Became the proud owner of a 1983 Goldstar, yesterday.
Finished in Tokai's take on 'fiesta' red (whatever the hell fiesta red is - nobody really knows - even Fender can't get the shade consistent!), all original as best as I can tell - 5=12 stamped neck and body, block logo, five digit code on neck plate, 'Deluxe' Kluson-a-likes, 'Final Prospec' bridge saddles... yada, yada... and grey bottom 'U' stamped pickups.
I think it's a TST50 (the sticker's missing) and it's got plenty of dents and scratches, but most importantly, it has unbelievable resonance and sustain - really 'rattles yer ribs' (how I gauge a good instrument).
Little history - I started playing guitar 30 years ago, like most people back then, on a dreadful, cheap, plywood Stra copy. In '83 it was time I got my first good guitar. My local shop (Rhythm House in Stockport) stocked a full range of Tokais and Squiers, but all my heros played Yamaha SGs, so it was a toss up between a two tone Tokai, a white Squier (they had just started doing them in white, black or 'that' red) or ordering a Yamaha SG (nobody in the UK had any stock). I went for the Yamaha. I never regretted the decision, but after Rhythm House closed down a couple of years later I never saw Tokais stocked anywhere and regretted not having snapped up one back then. It's taken until now, though I haven't been searching that hard, for one of the right era to find me. For me, it had to be a block logo model...
I own far too many guitars - ESPs, Fenders, Levinson Blade, Yamahas, a Squier, a Burns, an Italia and a couple of Vintages - and was a little concerned. Were Tokais really as great as I remembered or was it just that we were so used to having to put up with either crap copies or paying proper money for the real thing back then???
I'm not disappointed. It IS as good as I remembered, if anything the 30ish years of 'living' have given it more character.
Not the most expensive guitar I own, and ultimately, not the best guitar I own, but it is without doubt, the best value for money and most historically significant guitar I own (alongside those Yamaha SGs maybe).
Without Tokai, there would be no vintage reissues, no Squiers, no Fender & Gibson Custom Shops, Strats would still have big heads, three bolt necks and dodgy quality and copies would still be made of plywood and have 5mm actions.

Cheers

nice introduction, congratulations on finally getting your first tokai, they are great instruments, and like you say, bang for buck, they must be unequalled.
why the big attraction to "block logo", they only used that decal for one year,
like you say 1983. the script logo's are just the same, great guitars.
welcome to the forum.
jonah.

welcome to the forum like your quote "Without Tokai, there would be no vintage reissues, no Squiers, no Fender & Gibson Custom Shops, Strats would still have big heads, three bolt necks and dodgy quality and copies would still be made of plywood and have 5mm actions. " have a few tokai myself & have to agree great bang for buck .

jonah65 said:

nice introduction, congratulations on finally getting your first tokai, they are great instruments, and like you say, bang for buck, they must be unequalled.
why the big attraction to "block logo", they only used that decal for one year,
like you say 1983. the script logo's are just the same, great guitars.
welcome to the forum.
jonah.

Click to expand...

Hiya & thanks.

The block logo... well, it's a nostalgia thing. Tokais are not easy to date and I wanted one from the year when I was drooling over them in that guitar shop. All their's were block logoed. Ideally, I'd have liked a two tone sunburst with a V neck. The colour is the only downside. I do like the colour, as it goes, but I wear glasses, have a big nose... you can guess what my nickname at school was... so a red Strat was something I've avoided owning over the years (I do have a soft spot for the Shadows as well)... closest I got is a Custom ESP in a Ferrari red with black scratchplate.
The surreal thing about it all is that yesterday I bought a near 30 year old, top quality instrument for less money than you'd pay for a new Mexican 50s Fender!?!

i hope your statement about a 30 year old high quality instrument for less
than the price of a new mim, can convince a couple of the 220+ readers of
my advert in the classifieds. :lol: :lol:
cheers, jonah.

like your story,
would be nice to see better pictures than those in the ebay ad

@jonah, I'll go have a browse at the classifieds. I'm happy to 'endorse' any pre '86 Tokais if they're unmodified. I have no experience of those after that year. People have a habit of assuming that all Squiers are as good as those early pre '86 Japanese ones, which they weren't, and anything that's been modified, whether it improves it or not, is not worth anywhere near the same as an instrument with all it's original bits.
I'm not a collector or a dealer, but there are things that people think increase the value of a guitar which actually make no difference or even harm it's value in most cases - gold plate when it should be chrome, pickup changes, being signed by 'famous' guitarists is another one that makes no difference.

@Len, sounds like you're familiar with the guitar? I'm in the process of tidying it up and giving it a setup. It's got a fair few little dents, which I could sort, but I'll leave alone. Just a case of giving the finish a T-Cut to take out the scratches, and bring the shine back. I've taken some photos already and will take one when I'm done. Not so sure how they'll look - it's not a restoration job, just a bit of a spring clean.