AST-62 serial inconsistancy

I just bought an AST-62 off eBay (hopefully at a fair price) and was looking through the forums for further information on this particular model guitar. In the 'Tokai Fender Replica Time Line' it says that replica model years 56-60 have a 5 digit serial number. This guitar was declared an ast-62 and it has a 5 digit serial number on the neck plate. Shouldn't an ast-62 have an 'L' in front of the serial #?

Here's the link to the guitar & pics:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2384&item=7321977303&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW



Thanks,

Troy

Hi Troy - I think the AST62 logo refers to the Japanese price of the guitar, not the replica year. Ie the number 62 means it was originally priced at 62,000Yen, not that it?s a replica of a 1962 Strat.

Tokai guitars are almost all named like that, eg model LS60 cost 60,000Yen, and ST80 Strat was originally priced at 80,000Yen etc. However Strats like yours with rosewood fretboard & 11-screw guard are normally thought of as 1962-64 style (before 1959 all Fender Strats had maple Fretboard & I think 8-screw guards) :-? .

Ian.

I'm confused I guess. I was reading in the 'strat copy codes?' thread a post by Peter Mac that states '...the AST-56 and the AST-62 were not numbered after prices but the years they were replicating.' I guess that's the assumption i was under when trying to read the chart. ...just curious.

Would this guitar be a 1985 becuase of the logo and headstock shape?

Did you happen look at the pictures? I just noticed that a couple of the tuner posts look different. I hope i didn't pay too much for a old beat up guitar. :-? oh well, it will give me something to do and keep me out of trouble for a while.

thanks for the help & info,

Troy

Yeah, I thought I?d read that somewhere too (that?s why I was rather hesitant about it & said ?I think it?s?.?). Peter usually knows about these things, so maybe it is supposed to refer to the production year, though that?s certainly not the case on other Strat models such as ST45, ST80 etc. I don?t see why the ?A? should change things, because I think that just indicates an American export model (ie with altered headstock).

The Registry contains lots of detail, which is generally correct, but remember it?s only a guide. Personally I wouldn?t want to interpret every last detail of those plate numbers as Gospel (hey I?ve got into ?debates? along this route before, so don?t shoot me on this stuff lol) :-? .

Ian.

Both AST-56 and AST-62 were price at the same money at retail(see Tokai articles section).I had a AST-56 maple soft V neck it was a good guitar witha a very good neck,not much chunky being a V shape.Reliable and good sounding guitar.Odd thing was a L serial number at neck plate I bought it secondhand.

Hi Luis, Troy ?.yeah, I?m beginning to think I?m wrong on those AST models ? perhaps AST62 is supposed to indicate date rather than price (ditto on AST56, indicating 1956 model?); ha, knew I should have looked it up before I replied lol :lol: . OK, all I can say is seems unusual & inconsistent to me, because other Tokai Strat & Tele models are all numbered by the price :roll: .

But afaik the only important distinction between 57 vs. 62 is the rosewood board (rosewood was introduced in 59 as option on both Strat & Tele ? earlier guitars had 1-ply guard with fewer screws, but imho those things are trivial & don?t amount to a distinct model change ? earliest Strats had 3-position switch of course, but again not really a model change) :-? .

Ian.

Most guys know the following website/link, but for those who don?t it?s an excellent source of original detail on those early 50?s & 60?s Strats & Teles http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html#intro .

Incidentally, just on that rosewood fretboard ? occurs to me that first examples from 59 had thick rosewood cap with a flat base (so called ?slab-board?), but around 1952 that changed to thinner rosewood board with curved base. On Teles, the switch to rosewood (ie without skunk-stripe) meant that Maple Capped boards were offered as unofficial option (ie 2-piece neck without skunk-stripe or plug). I suppose those changes would be properly regarded as distinct model differences, though I don?t know if Tokai AST62 has slaboard, & afaik Tokai have never produced a Maple capped neck?

Ian.

Ian.

I just found this web page tonight when hunting around for further Tokai info, and maybe you guys have seen it before (and I'm not sure how reliable the source is or where he got his info from).

About 7 paragraphs down it talks about the tst-56 and tst-62 models being targeted towards the market in the USA. Maybe he meant AST?

And not that it matters much if it reflects price or model year...it's just kind of fun to go the 'hunt' for info and see how much a person can find...

One other thing I was kind of wondering about was why doesn't Tokai distribute guitars in the US?


-- Troy


Here is the link and paragraph to the article:

http://www.flyingvintage.com/gcmag/srv.html

"Tokai wanted a piece of the solid-body electric guitar market in the USA and began selling altered versions of these early replica Strats that would not violate any existing manufacturers trademarks. Early into the 1980s, Tokai introduced the TST-56 and TST-62 models. The TST-56 emulated the '56 Strat with a maple neck and the TST-62 likewise resembled the '62 Strat with a rosewood fingerboard. A January 1983 Tokai USA Price List indicates either guitar was offered at a retail list price of $570.00 with a tweed case. These guitars deviated significantly from the earlier Tokai guitars. Most apparent was the headstock's logo and outline changes to avoid looking like the pre-CBS Fender headstock and decal. Tokai added a flat side to the normally rounded knob at the end of the headstock and the logo was changed with 'Tokai' in fatter script with a regular 'T', not a backward 'F'-style letter. The model number is in block letters and doesn't resemble the original Fender Stratocaster decal. Overall, they were still an excellent value in 1983. "