Springysound?, Goldstar? What the hey?

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Beatlefreek

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2001
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Canada
Pardon my ignorance, but I really know very little about Tokai guitars ? except their reputation.

Can somebody please tell me what exactly is a Springysound as opposed to a Goldstar or a Silverstar? Does it represent a different year or model? If so, what?
I figured out that a Breezysound is a tele. Love Rocks are ... well, duh.

And what do those all those ATE, AST, or what have you, indicate?

And is there yet a consistent, reliable code prefix to distinguish Korean-made from Japanese-made?

Thanks in advance.
 
I just found out what the difference is between a Springysound and a Goldstar ? age. So that one's taken care of.

But I'm still working on figgerin' out what the letter prefixes mean. That would also include the numbers, as well. Like what would an AST50? Or AST33, or whatever, refer to?

I'm sorry, I just don't quite get how it works.
 
Thanks Gregert.

I think I'm beginning to piece more of this together.

Springysound is what the strat models used to be called.
Goldstarsound is what strat models were called after '83/'84.
Current AST models are what used to be Springysound/ Goldstarsound guitars.

Breezysounds are what the tele models used to be called.
Current ATE models are what used to be Breezysound guitars.

I still have questions though.

What does TTE and TST indicate?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but an AST57 would be a replica of a 1957 Fender strat. An AST62 would be a replica of a 1962 Fender strat. Yes?

But I've also come to understand that AST50 indicates a Japanese-made guitar, whereas an AST33 would indicate a Korean-made guitar. The question then is, How does the '57 and '62 distinction figure into the 50 and 33 in the model code?

Is it perhaps that a AST57 or 62 would represent a vintage replica whereas a AST50 or 33 is a replica of a modern standard strat (made in either Japan or Korea, respectively?)

I can't find that explanation in the GUITAR section.
 
This is getting too complicated for me........
A wild guess is that TST means Tokai Strat and TTE Tokai Tele.
Other than that,- I haven't got a clue. :-?

Experts, where are you in this hour of darkness?!
 
Gregert:

I know. The explanation of the model codes are not as clear as they could be. But I think I've figured out at least a partial answer to my last question.

I think the TST designation refers to strat models that still had the Fender replica headstock (the TTE would refer to the teles). After the headstocks were changed, I think what they did was also change the model code to AST (ATE for teles) to indicate guitars with the now modified headstock.

So ...
Strats: TST (replica headstock) AST (modified headstock)
Teles: TTE (replica headstock) ATE (modified headstock)

But I still can't figure out how the '57, '62 vintage year codes work in with the 50(Japanese-made) and 33(Korean-made) codes.

Calling all experts... what the hey.


p.s.: I think you're right about the first "T" standing for Tokai. What the "A" now stands for ..... "altered", maybe? Or maybe even "American" since I think the modified headstocks came into being specifically for the American market. But I'm just taking a guess.
 
The 50 and 33 represent list price in thousands of yen.
eg: LS120=120,000 yen
Perhaps the '57 and '62 replicas were also priced accordingly, but I'm just guessing with regards to the re-issues.
Peter Mac prolly knows, seek him out. :-?
 
OK, lets see if we can break this down in 100 words or less

This only applies to Tokai made prior to 1990 and Traditional Series

ST is for pre65 Str@t replicas, SS is for post65 Str@t replicas, TE is for '48 ~'68 Tele replicas;
add "T" for export models except USA which gets "A" and changed headstock.
models ending in 0 or 5 (ST50) indicate Yen price( x1,000's), models with other numbers (57,62) indicate specific year of replica - but these were USA market only.
Going out on a limb here i would suggest that the AST57 and 62 were of similar build quality to the ST60
Current AST50 replicate 1958 and 1964 Str@ts

are there any more questions?

Peter Mac
 
Hi, Peter.

Thanks for the info. You're always most helpful.

As you know, I've contacted you directly about this model code thing, but just for the the benefit of the Forum (and to make the questions and answers archiveable), there is still one question to be answered if you can.

Is there any way of distinguishing a Japanese-made Tokai from a Korean-made one from the model code (or serial number) alone?

Thanks again.
 
Hi Beetlefreek,

to answer THAT question.....

from what I can gather, the Korean AST's do not have serial numbers

Japan only makes 1 model of Str@t (AST-50) now so all the others are Korean.

hope this helps you.

Peter
 
To further complicate things I can add that the japanese AST-50 doesn't have a serial number either! On some of them "made in japan" is stamped on the back of the neck (heel), probably on the 2002 models. I just bought a new surf green/maple neck AST-50 and there is no made in japan anywhere and no serial number, it's probably a 2001 model. The guitar is great, the pickup switch is not of the same quality as in the 80's otherwise it's as good as the old ones! It has an alder body and a one piece maple neck with the paint tinted yellow to look old, nice! The finish is great with the alder grain already showing through the paint. The tuners are Kluson type, probably Gotoh (the korean ones seem to have cheaper tuners).

I don't know how they are able to produce such high quality guitars at these prices (50000 yen) in Japan today. I mean, the price in Japan is the same as for the TST-50 in the 80's and the quality is almost the same, incredible! The LR70F (Love Rock II) I recently tested impresses me even more, for 70000 yen you get a very nice, high quality guitar with a flame top! The finish on the LR70F is superb, and it plays wonderfully. The price of this guitar is the same as the JSX70 I bought in 1986 (Jackson type guitar with explorer type headstock, bolt on neck). Viva Tokai :D !

Mike
 

Latest posts

Back
Top