Is the Tokai registry dating information wrong?

[bluejeannot]

Ok. heres my problem.I own a two tone ,maple necked goldstar st, purchased in the mid 80`.The guitar is 100% original and un mucked about with. Here are some details, Round button 50s style string retainer,deluxe split post machine heads, correct pre 1985 headstock shape,final prospec vintage style bridge and wang bar, two piece light ash body.Grey backed ,white and black cloth braided,wax potted ,11V stamped pickups. 2=6=GSx stamped in the volume and tone cavity,2-6 in the front pickup cavity, a hand written F a bit like Fender F ,followed by 2-6 on the end of the neck by the cross head truss rod. last but not least, aneck plate with 6 ,yes 6 numbers. Now according to the Tokai directory,my guitar is either an ST40,which it plainly isn`t or a copy of a strat from 64/65-75', which again it plainly isn`t. My guitar with it`s golden sunburst ash body,maple neck and round string retainer,obviously is based on an early 50`s strat. What is going on then ,is my strat an ST5o, ST 60? , was it fitted with the wrong plate at the factory? Is the directory wrong? Am I wrong ,has the world gone mad?

 

[ned]

The World has gone mad... Just kidding.

The one thing you will learn is that the most consistant thing about Tokai is there inconsistancy, especially during the 70's and 80's. The other is the factory did basically zero documentation during this time.

As people produce enough evidence (> 1 guitar) of a variation I update the registry to reflect what is found.

 

[javelin70]

There are a few possibilities. The wrong neck plate was used in the production, this is probably what happened. Your guitar is obviously not a TST-40 since it has the deluxe Klusons, final prospec saddles and VII pickups. I own a Music Man Sabre guitar that has two serial numbers. The serial is supposed to be on the bridge whereas the Music Man Stingray had the serial number on the neck plate, mine has both! The guitar probably got the wrong neck plate in the production.

The other possibility would be that the guitar is not completely original but I doubt that since you have matching numbers on the neck and body. Was the guitar new when you bought it?

The VII pickups were normally used for the TST-50 strats, except for the very early 1984 models which seem to have U stamped pickups like the Springy's (my TST-50 Goldstar has U stamped pickups). Does the guitar have a two or three piece body? Is the tremolo sustain block made of steel (test it with a magnet)?

Mike

 

[bluejeannot]

Hi mike thanks for your input. The body on close inspection is made of 3 pieces of very light ash. The guitar itself weighs about 3kgs,the trem block is steel, and the guitar was bought by my uncle for ?175 in denmark st. London Ihave the original receipt ,which just says Tokai strat;no model name. I think it`s aTST 50 ,based on a 54 strat, what do you think?

 

[javelin70]

Hi mike thanks for your input. The body on close inspection is made of 3 pieces of very light ash. The guitar itself weighs about 3kgs,the trem block is steel, and the guitar was bought by my uncle for ?175 in denmark st. London Ihave the original receipt ,which just says Tokai strat;no model name. I think it`s aTST 50 ,based on a 54 strat, what do you think?

If it's a three piece body it probably is a TST-50. The catalogues for 1984 and 85 specifies alder for all models so it's strange if it's ash, are yo sure about that? The model should be '58 (U-shaped neck), TST-60 and 80 had V-shaped necks and were '54 replicas. The string tree should be butterfly if it's a '58 but it's not always consistent and sometimes people have changed them. My Tokai alder strats also weighs about 3kg's, all of them have one piece maple necks.

Mike

 

[bluejeannot]

Hi Mike.I think it`s ash ,although not very grainy, it seems alot harder and more resonant than alder. As I understood it Tokai used 3 types of ash on their sunburst and natural finishes,Sen or Tamo, on the high end models, and the less grainy swamp ash on the cheaper ones. I know this is true,because Ihave an84 L series st50 ,with a two piece body, natural finish, which is very definately ash. My friend also has anst50 2tone sunburst with a50 sticker ,2 piece body ,bought by him in 84 , and again very definately grainy ash!.By the way if you check the photo of the84 tst 60? in the guitar buyers guide 2004 ,in the magazine review section of the the directory(persona non Fender) ,youll find that the guitar has what appears to be a 6 number plate! what are your thoughts on this?

 

[javelin70]

It's strange, all 1984 and 1985 models are specified with alder bodies in the catalogues:

1984:
http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/tokai86_2.jpg
http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/tokai86_3.jpg

1985
http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/tokai859.jpg

The Springy's however often has ash (sen) bodies as far as I know. Personally I prefer alder because of the sound. Regarding the serial numbers I really don't know. All Goldstars I've seen have had either 5-digit or L serial numbers (except for the TST/AST-40 which has six digits). My current Goldstars and Springy have: TST-50 Goldstar: L serial, ST-60 Springy - 5-digit, AST-40 Goldstar - 6-digit.

Mike

 

[bluejeannot]

Bizarre,the 94 and 95 catalogues don`t even mention the natural which according to the inside of my 84 L series goldstar ,which has 9=6 N , is designated as N for natural. Have you checked out the 6 digit 84 goldstar in the " persona non Fender" article yet? Do you thnk TOGps could help us with these mysteries? P.S The goldstar in the article is very definately ash too!