Tokai purple sparkle 1985 ST60 54 model reissued

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Too late. Now you’re stuck with it. Just like Cliff is saddled with his comic world tag and I am saddled with the time when I used to collect sigma guitars. :lol:
 
Hi Guys

I have a purple sparkle Goldie as well (rosewood board).
Got it cheap because it had a fender decal and had graftech saddles and wasn’t sure if it had had other parts replaced.

Has matching body and neck codes all electrics original
Replaced decal for tokai and found final prospec saddles
From Fabre guitars. So almost back to stock only part not original tokai are fender control knobs.

Keeping eye out for vintage tokai replacements

Cheers
Matt
 
I have tokai vintage control knobs available, I had to break down a 1986 MB metallic blue goldstar a few months ago, I’ve sold all the parts except the plastics. I broke the neck 🤷‍♂️
 
This is the other one.

When I get home I’ll post mine. TST60 54 purple sparkle.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ruhneiwbbgajvb6/Photo%2013-03-2021%2C%2012%2030%2023.png?dl=0
 
Oh man… I can’t imagine ever letting a guitar like that go.
 
Mine, black pickguard period correct 8 hole flat not bevelled with the soldering plate as it’s only stuck on to the original so easy to remove, kept original pickguard. All original, final prospec saddles, deluxe stripe tuners, added 50s bridge cover, period correct black flat back pickguard. Enjoy

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f0d78sk1epwhi83/Photo%2006-07-2022%2C%2022%2025%2038.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/195komhkhda5sj8/Photo%2006-07-2022%2C%2022%2026%2039.jpg?dl=0
 
Oh and it’s real Gold leaf glitter with black carbon crushed, purple clear coat and darker clear coat edge.
 
It would take a lot of money for me to sell this guitar as it’s probably the rarest tokai made unless it’s a custom order ST120 which you practically can’t buy ever anyway 🤷‍♂️
 
Yea I know, I’m very jealous of Cliff 😂😉😂.

I’ve looked at it a million times. **** I want it. I would hate even ask what the price might be but we know he won’t sell that one 🤷‍♂️
 
Hi Dan,

Thanks for your response I would take the goldie
Plastic parts of that’s ok?

Control knobs , switch tip , pickup covers , pickguard and trem cover

Let me know how ti pay

Cheers
Matt
 
I’ll dig out the bits today for you and let you know, it’s my mothers birthday so I’ll reply to the inbox tomorrow.

I don’t think I have the 8 hole flat 50s pickguard but o so have the 60s tokai 3 ply pickguard so let me know what reissued model you have.
 
Fender Custom Shop '61 Strat in magenta sparkle

https://twitter.com/creamcitymusic/status/1267633041079504902?lang=ro

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https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/ngd-sparkle-purple-tokai-tst-60.414619/

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Oct 26, 2016

Jofish:

After a near-miss with a Mary Kaye Tokai the other day (http://www.strat-talk.com/threads/thoughts-on-this-mary-kaye-tokai.413887/), I spotted this gem for sale. I love unusual colours on strats and the price was right so I went for it.

It's a mid-80s Tokai Goldstar Sound in an odd metallic purple burst finish. Under the hood it's marked 'SP', which I'm guessing is the colour code for Sparkle Purple?

Previous owner said it's all original aside from the pickups, which have been changed to Lollar Blackfaces. They sound pretty good, despite being a bit noisy when I'm not touching strings/metal parts (maybe something needs a bit of a clean?), and it's definitely up there with my other strats. Tokai certainly know how to make a great sounding and playing strat copy! The neck has a subtle V to it and is just lovely. The original case was a nice bonus too.

I owe a big thank you to resident Tokai expert @stratman323 for his advice on the purchase. I know he has one in Red Sparkle, so it will be interesting to see how the colours compare. It's very tricky to capture it on my camera as it changes quite a lot depending on the lighting.

Anyway, here are a few pics, including one of my pair of mid-80s Tokais with weird and wonderful finishes.

Time to get back to playing it!


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stratman323:

Here's mine - 1st pic, next to it's sister in what Tokai call Metallic Red.

Mine doesn't have the neat little brass plate under the controls, but I don't know whether this is because it's a later model (perhaps 1986?) & Tokai had dropped the plate by then, or whether it was removed by an earlier owner when they applied the shielding foil.


Jofish:

Very nice indeed, thanks for sharing! Definitely much more red than mine. They'd make quite the pair :D

Before today, I'd never seen a shielding plate quite like the Tokai one, with its little notches sticking out for the pickup ground wires. In truth, with the pickups being a bit noisy, I'd probably take the shielding tape instead!

I love that Metallic Red one too, the matching headstock really looks good.

stratman323:

I had assumed that yours was the same as mine & that you had misread the SR colour code. But it looks like you're right - it is a different colour, & the code looks like SP, so it looks like I've discovered a new Tokai colour that I never knew existed. Sparkle Purple eh? Well, well.....

There's always something new to learn in the wonderful world of Tokais. And I'm glad that this rare beauty has fallen into the hands of someone who will appreciate it. What with the pretty rare Breezy you have & now the only example I have ever seen of Sparkle Purple, you have two very interesting Tokais there.

:)

I wonder how many other Sparkle finishes were offered? And I wonder if I'm right to assume that they were a little later than the majority of UK Goldstars which seem to have been 1984/5, as far as we can tell?

Jofish:

Sorry, I probably added to the confusion there! I accidentally wrote the colour code down as 'SR' on the first post before realising and editing it later last night. But yes, it seems that it really is Sparkle Purple.

Reading a few old threads from the Tokai forum, I've seen people refer to their guitars as sparkle red, purple and blue but with no photographic evidence.

The most interesting thing I've found is this page from the 1985-6 Tokai catalogue. It's p.12 on the Tokai registry site and I think it goes along with your theory about the sparkle finishes being a little later. It's for the FV range (the author of Tokai Registry listed this model type as 'uh, not sure' on their page :D), which seems to be some kind of heavy metal range.

The finishes available are SR and SP with that definite burst. Maybe Tokai started doing this range and thought,'hey, why not try out these finishes on our strats, that would be a laugh!'



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1987/88 Catalog Specs

COLORS:

SKR-sky blue
LYR-lemon yellow
BBR-black
SWR-snow white
TRDR-turino red
GBR-gloss blue
GGR-gloss green
COR-copper gold
PWR-pearl white
CNR-clear natural
CBR-clear blue
CGR-clear green
CWR-clear wine
SGR-silver grey
BRR-blazing red
AB-all black
APW-all pearl white
ASB-all satin black
AML-all metallic light blue
ALR-all metallic light red
GM-gold metallic
SG-silver grey

Optional Colors on the models- M-1001/M-1002/M-1003/CM-801/CM-802/CM-1001/CM-1002/CM-1003:
SNR-sparkle navy
SRR-sparkle red
SPR-sparkle purple




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Aha, the 54 posted is my guitar in both posts, yes I bought it with lolar pickups but replaced the whole pickguard with a set of 1985 E pickups with soldering plate so all original again.
 
The two purple sparkle guitars, SN 21920 and 21921 have the Fender serial number system that ended in 1986. Possibly mid year.

stratman323's red sparkle TST55 SRR has the six digit serial number 2xxxxx. It is from 1987.

Related thread:

Six Digit Serial Numbers With 2xxxxx


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Here is the color chart for the 1987/88 catalog.

SNR-sparkle navy
SRR-sparkle red
SPR-sparkle purple


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