Springy sound versus goldstar

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bambony

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Many apologies if this has been heavily discussed but I could not find it through searching the forum.

Subject says it all but I thought Springy Sounds were the better guitar but I have just seen pictures of Mike's (Stratman) goldies and they look just the same quality.

I am undergoing a bit of Tokai GAS thing and wonder what a Goldie might add to my arsenal.

Many thanks
 
Same guitar, different name! In some respects the Goldies are 'better' they have steel block trems the earlier Spriny Sound's didn't :D
 
Yes it's been discussed many times, but it's the question I wanted an answer to when I joined the forum, so I can hardly blame you for asking it too!

A Goldstar is a Springy made a few years later is the simplest explanation. Springys changed a little over their lifetime & so did Goldies, but the difference between a 1982 Springy ST50 & a 1984 Goldstar ST50 is......the decal on the headstock. Simple as that really.

This very good article should answer most of your questions:

http://www.tokairegistry.com/tokai-info/Andrew%20Munro%20Article-July2008.pdf

If you still have any questions after that, let us know.

By the way, please add your location to your profile - it helps to know where you are. Goldstars were more common in some parts of the world than they were in some others, & the models changed too.
 
Just noticed you have a block logo TST50 - I assume it's a Springy? Did you know that a few months after they made yours, they were making identical block logo TST50s that were Goldstars? Shortly after that, they dropped the block logo & brought in the Goldstar script logo that you know.
 
stratman323 said:
Just noticed you have a block logo TST50 - I assume it's a Springy? Did you know that a few months after they made yours, they were making identical block logo TST50s that were Goldstars? Shortly after that, they dropped the block logo & brought in the Goldstar script logo that you know.
Click to expand...

Yes it's a springy I bought for ?160 in '82/'83. I think I even have the receipt somewhere. It has a set of EMGs SAs not for the sound but I was gigging non-stop in the 80s and was sick of stage hum as my tones ranged from ultra clean and funky to Adrian Belew type mutilated but controlled feedback. I might put the originals back in soon as I don't gig anymore.

My location is added and I shall read the article.

Many thanks
 
Cool, well if you're in London, you should have a good choice of Goldies available, if you want to buy one.

I bought a new (script logo) Goldie ST50 in Allbang & Strummit in Covent Garden for ?189 in December 1983 - probably one of the first script logo ones to go on sale, though I didn't realise it at the time. Do you remember where you bought yours?
 
hi
i got a 1978 -79-80-81 springy sound and it got 3 goldstars ,,,,, and the body on the older ones are more contured ,,,, after 82 the egdes are more sharp .... dont know if it is?becourse the got a cnc router .... but the older ones are more vintage :D :D
all the best
otto
 
muccax said:
hi
i got a 1978 -79-80-81 springy sound and it got 3 goldstars ,,,,, and the body on the older ones are more contured ,,,, after 82 the egdes are more sharp .... dont know if it is?becourse the got a cnc router .... but the older ones are more vintage :D :D
all the best
otto
Click to expand...

Interesting - I can't say I've noticed that.
 
hi
try and find a springy from 79 and compare it to a 83 goldstar :)
on the ones i got you can easy see what i mean
and from 82 you dont see any st42-50-60 with ash (zen) body
only alder body ,,,
and on the older ones(78-80) the paint sink into the wood ( and it is not nitro i am talking about ) but from 81 the paint looks like the same as greco used ,,,,
that is just my small collection so i might not be tru with all tokai


all the best
otto
 
I have two 1980 Springys - they seem to have the same body contours as an '84 Goldie.
 
stratman323 said:
Cool, well if you're in London, you should have a good choice of Goldies available, if you want to buy one.

I bought a new (script logo) Goldie ST50 in Allbang & Strummit in Covent Garden for ?189 in December 1983 - probably one of the first script logo ones to go on sale, though I didn't realise it at the time. Do you remember where you bought yours?
Click to expand...

I remember Allbangs well. I think I bought it in a smallish shop in Romford but I could be completely wrong as I live nowhere near there; they just had the cheapest Tokai Strats at the time I wanted one.

How many Strats do you have Mike? it must be over 10! Is there one that stands out? I played a '66 the other day that a friend bought for ?8,000. I actually wasn't expecting it ot be great not being Pre-CBS but it did have a bit of something magical over my Tokai. Certainly not ?7,500 more... of course in 20 years time his strat will be worth incredible money and the Tokais are barely keeping up with inflation!

I have a Gibson ES335 which has quadrupled in price since I bought it less than 20 years ago.

My love for Tokais is based on the fact that you get an awful lot of guitar for a tiny amount of money and they are hugely playable. The Cat's eyes I have just bought for ?270 including shipping is excellent value. I am after a Tokai Jazz right now.

Tony
 
muccax said:
hi
try and find a springy from 79 and compare it to a 83 goldstar :)
on the ones i got you can easy see what i mean
and from 82 you dont see any st42-50-60 with ash (zen) body
only alder body ,,,
and on the older ones(78-80) the paint sink into the wood ( and it is not nitro i am talking about ) but from 81 the paint looks like the same as greco used ,,,,
that is just my small collection so i might not be tru with all tokai


all the best
otto
Click to expand...

You are quite the expert Otto! Apart from the contour is there a qualitative difference? Are some of your Tokais significantly better than others or are of similar quality? I find Fenders range quite significantly, or at least they certainly did when I was more into guitars in the late 70s/80s.
 
and from 82 you dont see any st42-50-60 with ash (zen) body
only alder body ,,,
and on the older ones(78-80) the paint sink into the wood ( and it is not nitro i am talking about ) but from 81 the paint looks like the same as greco used ,,,,
that is just my small collection so i might not be tru with all tokai
Not true about sen bodied Goldies Otto,check out Mike`s (once mine)natural Goldie If that`s alder I`m a Dane :lol:I`ve owned several ash bodied Goldies over the years.If you want see as tripped sen bodied Goldie check the laughingly named La Gioconda,under the heading Raving bonkers..........in the E bay section .Gabe.

all the best
otto[/quote]
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tokai-GoldStar-Sound-Stratocaster-Made-In-Japan-1984_W0QQitemZ110597046845QQcategoryZ112670QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DDLSL%252BSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D8%26pmod%3D110591372502%252B110591372502%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5077114479716079374
 
Not really much of an expert, Bambony!

It's Sen, not Zen, and yes, there are sen ash Goldies later than '82 as Gabe has shown with his link to our favourite ludicrously priced Goldie.

The rest is conjecture. I'd take Mike's (Stratman323) word for it as he's been through what seems like hundreds of the things, or wait for Mark (Villager) or one of the other vintage traders to step in.
 
bambony said:
How many Strats do you have Mike? it must be over 10! Is there one that stands out? I played a '66 the other day that a friend bought for ?8,000. I actually wasn't expecting it ot be great not being Pre-CBS but it did have a bit of something magical over my Tokai. Certainly not ?7,500 more... of course in 20 years time his strat will be worth incredible money and the Tokais are barely keeping up with inflation!

I have a Gibson ES335 which has quadrupled in price since I bought it less than 20 years ago.

My love for Tokais is based on the fact that you get an awful lot of guitar for a tiny amount of money and they are hugely playable. The Cat's eyes I have just bought for ?270 including shipping is excellent value. I am after a Tokai Jazz right now.

Tony
Click to expand...

Well it's more than 10! :lol: Probably a reaction to only having had 3 guitars for nearly 20 years - now I want to stretch out a bit. :wink:

Apart from early 60s Strats (which I would have a room full of if I had that kind of dosh), the nicest Strats I've ever found are the early 80s Fender US 62RIs. Apart from the rich warm tone & the thin nitro, it's the very slim necks on the 62s that I love - they are perfect for me, & I have a couple of them. If I didn't like slim necks though, I would probably hate them!

The trouble is, they are not cheap (they never were....). Let's just say that you could probably get 6 or 7 80s Goldies for the same price as an early Fullerton RI. So that's why I have one or two Goldies - they're nearly as good, but a hell of a lot cheaper. Best bang for the buck, as you said. Plus the nostalgia value that my first decent guitar was a Goldie, so it feels kinda good to come back to what I started out with, & discover that they really WERE good.

Having a few supposedly identical Strats with different pickups in is also an interesting way of seeing which pickups suit me best.
 
hi
a lot of the older ones are sen ( sorry my mistake,,, not zen )
but the later ones only the natural and higher end model are sen/ ash
in 78 al ot of the lower models are sen and in 82 they are alder
and i stand by my description on the body contures ,,,,,, try feeling at the cut for the arm at the front at the body on a 78 and a 82 :D :D :D
i dont own 100 tokai ,,, so i cant be sure it apply to all to tokai ...
but i am only trying to help .... not being a smart *** :D :D
all the best
otto
 
bluejeannot said:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tokai-GoldStar-Sound-Stratocaster-Made-In-Japan-1984_W0QQitemZ110597046845QQcategoryZ112670QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DDLSL%252BSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D8%26pmod%3D110591372502%252B110591372502%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5077114479716079374
Click to expand...

I wonder what colour the sky is in this guy's world?
 
It gets worse - it was only ?1000 until some folks from here told him some unwanted truths about the guitar!
 

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