Prior to starting this thread I did a search on the codes. I thought it could be interesting to bundle these comments in regard to this subject.
Quote summary:
Pro matching codes:
-?The number on the body (either control cavity or neck pickup cavity) should match the neck butt number- if they don't match they are from 2 seperate fiddles.?
-?On all of the early eighties Goldstars I have had taken apart and photo'd ALL of the original Tokai Goldstar Neck butts and bodies have matching marks- ie:
Neck Butt #always matches either the Neck P-up Cavity # or the Control Cavity #?
-?I'd say that they are not a matching neck/body.?
-?But if the numbers don't match in the control cavity and on the neck but - I'd say not original?
-?I'd say if it's a Early eighties GoldStar Sound and the numbers on the Neck Butt and the control Cavity don't match-it's not original-anyone that says it's not uncommon for a mismatch on Goldstar Sounds are delusional?
(ANSWER: ?So on what evidence do you base your claim that if the numbers on the Neck Butt and the control Cavity don't match-it's not original-anyone that says it's not uncommon for a mismatch on Goldstar Sounds are delusional? Can you point us to any evidence to back up this assertion?
Remember, this is the guy who insisted that he wanted to buy a Springy, but only if it had the model number stamped into the fretboard (1978 or 79) and also with FINAL PROSPEC saddles (post 1981).?)
-?My own theory is that it's possibly a mongrel, hence the neckplate, the mismatched body and neck codes?
-?check if the neck and body codes match. It could be a replacement neck on A St50 body but until we get the codes we are only guessing?
-?I believe that they tell you that the neck has been replaced - or the body, depending on which way you look at it.
The number = number on the neck and body should match.?
Con matching codes:
-?For me definitively not! These are production codes and not matching codes.
I got that info from the president of Tokai. I posted that fact in several postings before...?
-?In the past I was meaning that would be matching codes. To match and fit the correct neck into the neck pocket of the body. I met two month ago the president of Tokai. I told him my meaning. He was laughing and said: "Oh no, instead of Fender ... our tool machines were working very correct in the eighties. There were no need to use match codes"
-"Our tooling and output is consistent enough that we don't need to match codes" - ie. you don't have to pick a body + neck from the same production run in order for the parts to fit (unlike Fender did!).?
-?I don't believe it's a bad thing if the codes don't match. It's the rule.
Out of all the Tokais I own (or owned) only one (a 1984 TE50) has matching codes (9=9).?
-?I am virtually certain that my black Goldstar is totally original, it even has the 50 and MADE IN JAPAN stickers on the back of the neck. It only has a body code of 18BB, so there is no way that the neck code of 4-27 could match that. I also have a white Goldstar, & the neck and body codes of 5=12 match up. However it has what looks like it might be a replaced decal, so is less likely to be all original than the black one.?
-?Even with old Fenders, it's not uncommon to find necks and bodies that are several months apart - Strats were assembled on a production line basis - necks and bodies from different production runs were paired up and bolted together. It seems reasonable to assume that this happened with Springys & Goldies too.?
-?They aren't date codes, & they often don't match, so that doesn't help?
-?I thought it was accepted that these were not date codes, i have seen 7=0 on a springy, so what month or day is 0??
-?why have you suddenly suggested that these codes are date codes, after months, maybe years of posts where it has been generally agreed that they are NOT date codes??
-?I own two springys, St 80 and 100, neck body numbers do not match, but they are original..?
-?Don't worry if the neck & body codes don't match - they often don't.?
-Neck 4=10 ? body 4=8, the guy who e-mailed me from Tokai, Adachi san , told me the 4 is the month and the 8 is a production schedule number. (I asked Tokai about the numbers stamped in the neck pocket and pick-up cavities and was told they are internal codes no relation to production dates.)
-?The body and neck codes DO NOT have to match.
Mismatches are so common it would've been an industry in itself just swapping the parts around?
PS all comments can be found on this forum (should anyone find it inappropriate that I?ve posted these quotes, let me know your reason and I will delete this post).