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ampmaker

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Just got my Springy Sound back from being tweaked by a local luthier, and so I thought I'd take a quick group shot of the three BLOCK logo Tokais.

blockais2.jpg


By pure luck, there are three different shades of red: Goldstar is Candy Apple Red, Jazz Sound is Wine Red and the Springy Sound is Dakota Red (which I didn't think was an official colour?)

blockais1.jpg


The Goldstar I chose to be the least 'Stratty' - so it now has active EMG DG20 plus lots of bling to contrast with the scratchplate and metallic paint.

The Springy is more conventional, tonewise, although it now has noiseless Kinman pickups. I also have Master Volume and Tone controls, and the third pot is push/pull for adding/blending the middle pickup. lots more flexible. (Don't worry - I've retained all of the original Tokai parts for both!)

I've got some other unmolested Tokais, too. :) I'll post pix up later.

The Springy I have had for 30 years (!), and after about 3yrs of it being in bits, having it complete is like meeting an old friend again. Fits me very well (or vice versa).
 
love that goldstar in c.a.r. with the maple neck, is that gold hardware, or just
a trick of the light? is it for sale? :D
 
Yes, the CAR Goldstar has gold hardware. Still need to get a few screws for the pickups/switch/etc so it all matches. For sale? Never! ;)

Just by way of background, the Springy has a '50' sticker on the back, and has had it from new. But according to the info here, the custom colour and painted headstock should each have added 5000 Yen to the retail price, making it 60,000 Yen. It seems that Tokai did not alter the sticker to reflect the changed price, and I paid no more for this guitar than the standard ST-50s that the shop (Honky Tonk music in Essex) had ordered in at the same time.
 
Hi ampmaker,

MR is not a custom colour - it is one of the 5 standard colours. It should however have been 5,000yen more for the headstock.

would love to see the codes for both neck and body.

Peter Mac
 
Peter Mac said:
MR is not a custom colour - it is one of the 5 standard colours. It should however have been 5,000yen more for the headstock.

would love to see the codes for both neck and body.
Click to expand...

It's the Springy on the right that's in a custom colour: Dakota Red (that's the Fender name, I don't know what Tokai called it).

As the two guitars have recently been reassembled by someone who knows what they're doing (and I'm a klutz when it comes to guitars), I'm in no rush to take them apart and see the codes. But I may have some old pixs - I'll check and report back.
 
Hi ampmaker,

I have been through every catalogue from '78 - '89 and cannot find any reference to a shade of Dakota Red.
Tokai red shades were :
FO-Flamingo Orange ; MR- Metallic Red; CR- Candy Red*; WR-Wine Red; OR- Vintage Red

Fenders red shades pre-1977 were :
Fiesta Red; Candy Apple Red Met. ; Wine Red ; Dakota Red.

Yours may have been resprayed or be OR however Tokai only sprayed the headstocks in 4 matching colours. [OW, SO, MB, MR ]

Peter Mac
 
Hi Peter, well, of course, I call it Dakota Red because that's exactly what it looks like (I've seen several '60s Dakota Red Fenders over the years).

I presume Tokai called it something else, although I don't know what that is. It's definitely not the Flamingo Red nor metallic. Is Tokai Candy Red a metallic equivalent to Fender's Candy Apple Red (i.e. like my Goldstar)? Nor have I seen a Vintage Red - which Fender colour was that supposed to approximate?

It is a non-metallic blood red - it's a fairly deep shade (not pinkish or orange). It's 100% original, not resprayed; I know that because I bought it new in '83. The BLOCK logo - looks almost like a LETRASET print - is applied on top of the painted headstock (obviously!).

But it would seem that your info on painted headstocks is not the whole story.

I'll take and post more photos.
 
I`ve seen another one like it`s VR Vintage red.If you look under the hood you should find VR stamped somewhere.Gabe.
 
Hey Gabe - if you're right, then 'Vintage Red' must be Tokai's name for Dakota Red. Somewhere, I've got a photo of the Springy's cavity code, but it's not on this PC. When I next open it up, I'll post an update here.
 

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