Any info on how to indentify my goldstar strat?

[musicisum]

I dont have the pickups as i sold them on ebay for ?20 when i got it and stuck the kinmans on though i think i should have held onto them for such a piddly amount of money! Still have the original 3 ply white scratchplate and back cover but seem to have unwittingly turned it into an srv strat lookalike. Its one of the best sunbursts i have seen and looks like an ash body but not totally sure, its a one piece though. Its got good tuners and a big solid steel block on the bridge. No sticker on neck only numbers 4-27 same as on body. Serial is L31236
Any ideas on how i tell what year and model it might be?

Here is a link to the pics:
http://flickr.com/photos/14421150@N05/sets/72157602300795640/show/

Cheers in advance for any help.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks to me like a Goldstar from around 1984, though others will know better than I do. Looks like an ash body to me too. Is it heavy?

Personally I'd prefer it with the white scratchplate, but that's a personal choice. Have you had it long?

Mike

 

[musicisum]

Had it about 4 years and bought it with no knowledge of tokai but just because it plays so well and sounded good. The kinmans are better than the stock pickups from the noise point of view (there now being none!).
The change of scratchplate was just to make it look less generic though i found out later that its now very srv...try to be original and thats what you get! Still got it so if it can go back if i fancy it one day.
I didnt know that the strats they made varied between lower to high spec which is why i am interested to find out where this one sits, not that it matters really. Cheers for the info on age, i thought it was around the mid 80s.

 

[musicisum]

Oh as to the weight its not too bad but a bit heavier than other strats i have lifted.

 

[Anonymous]

There would have been a sticker at the base of the neck by the neck plate giving the model number - these often got removed. My first thought was an ST50 (the most common), but if it has a one piece ash body, it might be a higher number than that, which is good.

Any pics of the back of the headstock? I assume it has proper Kluson copy tuners, so it can't be an ST40 (the cheapest Goldie they made I think), but a pic would confirm that.

Interesting that it's heavier than most Strats. I have two otherwise identical Teles, one "premium" ash (blonde) and one alder (Candy Apple Red), and the ash one is noticeably lighter. The alder guitar also has a much fuller sound - the ask one is thinner sounding, yet the pickups should be the same.

 

[musicisum]

Well i might be talking rubbish about the weight i guess...have never thought about the weight until you asked and its been a while since i played another strat. Its probably ash and it certainly is no les paul on the weight front. Oh, it does have the deluxe tuners you mention. What did they go up to if st40 is the lowest model?
Thanks again, David.

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look at the registry, there are scans of the catalogues there.

http://www.tokairegistry.com/

The 1985 catalogue shows the Strat copies going up to ST80:

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

though it reckons they have alder bodies, so maybe we're both wrong? I've never seen figured alder like that before, if it is alder. The 80s had the Dimarzio pickups, so lets hope yours is a 50 if you let them go for ?20! Personally, I'm not too blown away by the V1 pickups on my 84 ST55 (55s were 50s with custom colours).

Ash can vary widely in weight. My Tele is very light, but some of the 70s Strats were nearly as bad as Les Pauls - it's a very variable wood.

Mike

 

[musicisum]

Thanks again Mike. Im sure the person who got the pickups is happy, and the kinmans i stuck in were an instant improvement to my ears at the time hence my selling. And there was me thinking all this time that this was a cheap strat copy which just suited me-to find out now how highly regarded they are is great. Wish i had held onto those pickups though!

David

 

[Anonymous]

Well they are relatively cheap Strat copies, they just happen to be very good ones! Do you mind me asking how much you paid for it? I'm just curious, that's all.

If you do ever decide to sell it, the upgraded pickups probably won't knock anything off it's value, but I doubt if you'll get back what you paid for the pickups. Keep the original scratchplate just in case.

And if you don't sell it, there's no problem. Enjoy it. Hopefully someone who knows more about these than I do will offer an opinion about the body wood, and which model it is.

Anyone?

Mike

 

[musicisum]

I paid ?170 for it around 4 years ago. I dont think i will find myself a tokai tele for anywhere near that judging by the prices on ebay.

Cheers again for all the thoughts and info. David.

 

[Anonymous]

That's a bargain, well done. No you won't get a Breezy for that! Not a genuine one anyway...

 

[bluejeannot]

This guitar must be an 84 st 80, Ihave avery nice st55 in natural,2 piece bodyand very definately ash.I don`t care what the85 catalogue says !