New Member, New *to me* GoldStar -- Need some help with ID

Hi All,

Glad to find this site -- great information here!

I just picked up what I believe is a 1984 Tokai Goldstar -- serial# 19734.

I was wondering if someone would help me ID the model and color -- looks to be a mid to late 50's replica with maple neck and single ply white pickguard. Do I need to open it up to get model info or is there another way to identify this?

The color is interesting -- It's faded, but it seems to be some kind of metallic pink/red color -- perhaps a faded Candy Apple Red or metallic burgandy mist or fiesta red?

Here's a link to a few photos -- any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks -- Prudy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43171766@N00/2359118206/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43171766@N00/2358287525/[/url]

It seems Fiesta Red to me, but I think you should open it to see the ink stamp in the control cavity ! :wink:

Hi, thanks!

I will open it up -- in the meantime, I found an old thread here that has what looks to be a "Pearl Pink" metallic finish that's very close to mine. Could that be the color?

Anyhow, I'll open it up and take a look...

OK --

Pickups are 'grey' bottom and have a VII stamped on the bottom.

The only other indicator I see is a sticker with 3.2. PP Z on it.

???

Should be something like this:

In this case the BL means Blonde.
Sorry If I have taken this picture from other thread.

Hi --

OK, that's similar to the sticker that's on mine, but my color is "PP"

Pearl Pink would make sense, perhaps, but not sure what the Z means.

hey i recognize that blonde!!!

i think the z means export.

kmarccoco said:

hey i recognize that blonde!!!

i think the z means export.

Click to expand...

Eh eh...
Sorry If I have used your pic !

Its all good!!!

K Marchese

Goldstar? Perhaps.
Fiesta Red TST? Perhaps?

Detailled Pics please. Rup


Anyway, as Ken said : it's all good! 8)

mentally not mine any more. sic.

Hi Prudy,

the guitar is a TST-55 in Salmon Pink, probably an 85 or later year build and is a 58 replica.
That is according to the Serial number, pickup and body stamps.
Hope this helps . .
regards
Peter Mac

Hi,

than you Peter -- that's great.

If you get a chance, can you please elaborate on what exactly that means? Aka the TST and the 55?

Thanks!

Prudy

Hi Prudy,

OK . . . TST was the designation of Goldstar Strats used for Export to Europe, Australia and Asia. [ AST for US models ]
55 means the RRP in yen = 55,000 yen RRP. This was the way of telling the quality of the guitar, the higher the number, the better the quality.
Keep in mind that Tokai 'entry level' guitars were already on par with standard Fenders and Gibsons so high level models were totally awesome.
By the way, Salmon pink was a big seller for Fender L-series guitars in 1963 and 64 but quite uncommon after that. The guitar you have is really a rare combo, so good score.
regards
Peter Mac

Just to add to a couple of points Peter made:

ST55s were simply a custom colour version of the ST50s, which came in a limited range of colours. The custom colours (usually metallics) justified the higher prices.

Even entry level Tokais may have been on a par with 70s Fenders (probably better, in fact), but one significant difference when compared to the pre 65 models, and also the post 82 US re-issues is that most Tokais came with a polyester or polyurathane finish, whereas the Fenders I mentioned had nitro, which is more expensive to apply, and ages and breathes better - this is why Tokai only used it on their top of the range models, and they still do today.

Finally, Salmon Pink is one of the great Fender legends - they never had a colour called Salmon Pink. Most older guitars that get called Salmon Pink were actually Fiesta Red, which faded over time to a pinkish colour. The reason that this colour was so popular in the early 60s is simple - Hank Marvin from The Shadows. It is often said that he had the first Strat in Europe, and it was Fiesta Red. As a result of this, Fender found that the most popular colour for Strats in the UK was Fiesta Red, at least for a few years.

I wasn't aware that Tokai had a colour called Salmon Pink, though I will bow to Peter's superior knowledge of Tokais if he says there was one. All I can say is that it doesn't appear in the 1985 catalogue, but there is no mention of the colour code PP either.

Mike

Thanks guys for all the great info -- that explains it all.

Prudy