Hi Vadim,
This is by no means an effort to offend you or your friend - just a statement of observations borne of knowledge.
Body : truth be told I am a little shocked. The body looks genuine 1978. All the hallmarks are there for a high-end body, possibly ST-80. The neck pocket grain is ash and the control cavity has no shoulder [required for 11-screw pickguard] Ash is quite porous and tends to soak up the finish, leaving it irregular and not smooth, hence the introduction of alder. The shot of the front pickup cavity clearly shows the finish absorbtion by the grain - alder would not be so violent.
By 1979 all ST and SS bodies, ash or alder, had the cavity shoulder.
My conclusion would still be Partsocaster : St-80 body+electrics with St-50 neck
regards
Peter Mac
Hi Peter, I am pretty certain having just taken possession of this guitar and had a preliminary inspection, that it is 2 piece bodied, sen ash 78 st 60 Springy, fitted with E pickups and factory fitted st 50 neck.
The reason I am certain it is factory fitted, is that that the black paint of the drying body, ( BB Tokai colour code) has left a strong outline on the heel of the neck where it interfaces with the body. .Both the pattern of the body paint in the neck socket and the pattern of the black paint imprint on the base of the neck heel, match exactly,hence this could have only happened when the paint was wet ,seeing as this guitar has not been resprayed,this must mean at the factory.
Why an St 60 was fitted with an st 50 stamped neck one can only speculate. maybe they ran out of maple V necks and fitted a u neck.Maybe it was a mistake, maybe a customer preferred a u shape to a v neck who knows. But I am certain this guitar has both it`s originally fitted neck, E pickups and A stamped plate
.Furthermore, the neck is period correct with the allen key truss rod adjuster and the correct neck screw hole spacing .Where on earth would someone find an 78 maple neck to go with the 78 body?
Its not totally impossible I suppose, but there are not enough spare 78 s around, I would have thought, to produce a stream of period correct spare parts. Seeing as the guitar is most likely poly not nitro I haven`t tested it yet, but it feels like poly, then taking account all the evidence it can only be an St 60. Gabe .