What is the model number?

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JORD

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I have a black bodied, maple necked GOLDSTART SOUND strat copy.

From the L starting the neckplate code I know it was made sometime after 1981. From the decals I know that it was manufactured in 1984. From the fact that the neckplate code is L+5 digits I know it is a copy of strats made between 1960-1964.

Does anyone know what the model number of this guitar is? I would love to refer to it as something other than all this

Any reply will be appreciated
 
How does the decal tell you it was made in 1984 :eek: ?

Ian.


PS - afaik, letter "L" + 5 digits on neck plate only tells you it's later than the Springysound Strats made from 1978 to 82 (which had 7-digit date coded SN on neckplate, ie same SN code as gibson copies).
 
Yes, that's the point ... after 83 all those guitars have very similar if not identical Tokai logo, right up to present day. In summary - AFAIK there are 4 distinct logos, but only first 3 allow you to date the guitar, ie ?

1- very thin script ?7-okai spaghetti? logo used on first Springys 1978-82
2 - very distinctive black ?block? logo used only briefly in 1983
3 - rare ?7-okai? version of fat script logo (believed to be c.1983-84).

Fourth logo is the common fat script style with normal shaped ?T? (ie not ?7okai?). I think this is the logo JORD is talking about, it was introduced in 1984, however, afaik it has remained "unchanged" until today ? so guitars with that logo might be any date from 1984 onwards (though sellers always claim they're ?1984?). I put "unchanged" in parenthesis, because it's certainly possible that small details may have changed over the last 20 years, however, afaik any small changes are un-documented :-? .

Ian.
 
what does afaik mean?

do you know what the model number is for this guitar?
 
Yeah, sorry about those abbreviations (AFAIK, YMMV, 2:cents, LOL etc.) ? I?m really not that keen on them, but does save space & helps deflect possible arguments :-? .

Ian.
 
JORD ? to answer your original question ? remove the pickguard inc. pups & controls & look in the cavities/routes for an ink-stamp saying something like ?ST50-BB? meaning a black model ST50. Look also at base of pups, which should be stamped U, V, or E, or maybe VI or VII, the letters generally apply to different guitar models, do a search here to see which pup-letter is supposed to match which guitar model (eg search on U, V, E etc). Apart from that, all you can really do is guess from the construction & quality of finish, eg ST50 usually has 3-piece body, whereas ST60 may be 2-piece or 3-piece, and ST80 should be 2-piece ? the type of wood might give an indication too, eg Basswood, Alder, or Sen (Japanese Ash) but that?s tricky to judge on black guitar. :-?

Ian.
 

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