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gjlp

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Mar 13, 2006
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Hi all,

Great forum you guys got here.

Last week i bought a Goldstar Sound tst-55 (i believe it's an 1984, right?). I fell in love with it immediately. It has a great feel to it, and the looks and sound are awesome. This guitar is a serious competitor for my Fender '62 RI.
I know that the tremolo is not the original one. This one comes from a fernandes the revival strat, but i don't think that matter soundwise. The sadles are stamped "REVIVAL F.S.R.G".

I do have a pickup question. i've been reading about U and E stamped pickups. I took the scratchplate of and my pickups are unstamped flatpoles with plastic covered wire. Is this common for this type or are they replacements?

Pics are taken with a cellphone. I'll make new ones asap


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Hi, welcome to the forum! Your Goldstar Sound looks quite original to me, but since I'm no expert on Strat copies, someone else might comment on that. I guess you have already found the infos on the main site about Fender copies. Another way of finding out more is to use the forum search, because a lot has already been discussed in the past, also the different pickups on old Strat copies.
 
That is a great looking guitar, I like that color, I have never seen it on a Tokai before. The pickups should have staggered alnico magnets and cloth covered wire. It seems that the earliest (TST-50/55) Goldstars had "U" stamped pickups and the "VII" (Vintage MkII) stamped pickups. The spec in the catalogs from 1984/85 I have says "Vintage MkII". The "U" pickups measure around 6Kohms and the VII pickups 5,6-5,7Kohms. My 1984 Goldstar have the "U" pickups. The trem is probably of the same quality as you say, probably even made by the same manufacturer (Gotoh). The bridge saddles should be stamped "Final Prospec" on the Tokai.

Mike
 
Thanks guys.

I did use the search but i could find only 1 topic with information about flatpoles.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5253&highlight=flat+poles

It has been seen before but i don't know if they are stock or replacements. For now i'm going with replacements. I think i will soon replace them with another, slightly overwound set. I will also put new pots in there and do a complete rewire, cause the ones that are in there now are doing some crazy things :wink:. It's also not properly grounded.

It's a great guitar with crappy electronics at the moment :).

I'll keep you posted.

Again, sorry for the crappy pics!!

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yeah get those pickups outta there! my buddy has a TST-56 with Fralins in it and it sounds as good as the best post-CBS strats i've ever heard.
 
The pickups actually looks like Tokai pickups but the ones used on the cheaper TST/AST-40's. The pots and switch looks like the originals. Do you have any problems with the pots? They are usually very good, I have not replaced any of them on my Tokais. You should definitely keep the Mitsubishi switch, they are really good.

Mike
 
Well, the switch indeed feels very good and solid. I'm going to keep it for sure.
I really don't know it the pots are the problem (i hope not, cause it would be nice te keep them), but when i turn down the volume the bridge and middle pickup are going quiet (not silent) and the neck pickup stays at full volume. When ik close the 1st tone pot thet neck pickups goes quiet and the other two stay at full power. It could be the wires, but everything seems to be connected right. Maybe you guys know what it could be.

The pickups are actually not that bad. The bridge and middle are 'ok' but the neck pickup is totaly missing that twangy sound that you want from a strat in 5th position :)

I'm thinking van zandt rock or something like that
 
That sounds like you got a "custom" wiring job on that one! :lol:

You might want to hunt down a schematic for the "usual" wiring configuration before replacing the pots. If they aren't noisy, they don't need replacing.

The neck pickup should sound less trebly than the others, not more.
The bridge pickup should be the most trebly.
 
Pretty custom indeed :), but the pots are not noisy.

I'll give it a try tomorrow. I already downloaded a schematic from seymourduncan.com
 
hi
nice guitar
is there anything stamped inside the cavity something like 12=1 OR SOMETHING SIMILAR AND A LETTER WHICH WILL TELL WHAT THE COLOUR IS
the saddles ive never seen that stamped on a tokai it is usually TOKAI ON THE EARLY SPRINGYS, THEN FINAL PROSPECT ON THE LATER SPRINGYS AND GOLDSTARS. AND NO MARKINGS ATALL ON THE NEWER GOLDSTARS.
PICKUPS I CAN RECOMEND KINMAN AVN'S , TO MY EARS THE BEST NOISELESS
PICKUPS THERE ARE.THEY ALSO HAVE A NO SOLDER HARNESS WITH ALL
NEW CTS POTS AND 5 WAY SELECTOR SWITCH WHICH DROPS STRAIGHT INTO THE PICKGUARD
 
mike martin said:
hi
nice guitar
is there anything stamped inside the cavity something like 12=1 OR SOMETHING SIMILAR AND A LETTER WHICH WILL TELL WHAT THE COLOUR IS
the saddles ive never seen that stamped on a tokai it is usually TOKAI ON THE EARLY SPRINGYS, THEN FINAL PROSPECT ON THE LATER SPRINGYS AND GOLDSTARS. AND NO MARKINGS ATALL ON THE NEWER GOLDSTARS.

Yes both the body (cavity) and neck are stamped with such numbers. I don't know exactly what it says cause the guitar is assembled right now. I'll check it as soon the pickguard comes of again, probably tomorrow.

The bridge is not tokai for sure. It's from a fernandez revival. I'm cool with that cause it has the looks and sound, and like javelin said, it's probably made by the same manufacturer (Gotoh).
The machineheads are stamped 'deluxe'
 
1=2 is the lowest number ive ever seen, that is def a tokai body probably a springy body with a number like that but dont take that as gospel. the SO after the number represents the actual coulor . dont know what that code is. yso means yellow sunburst old. b is for blue. bb is for black but i cant find any reference to SO. maybe some other members can give you some info on that
 
Well, today was the day. The wiring was pretty messed up. I rewired the pickguard based on the seymour duncan scematic and ik works fine now. I also took the old pickups out and put a set of Oberg pickups in. These are overwound with a reversed wound middle pickup. The pots and switch where fine so i left them in.

It sounds great now. :lol:
 

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