My new ST-100

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siamackz

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Hi All,

I am super excited to share that after acquiring my first Tokai - an St-42 - I am now also the owner of an ST-100 :) I have written a detailed article with many pics of the guitar on my website here ( https://www.siavintageguitars.com/tokai-st-100). But here are some of the main features:
Date: 1980
Body: Sen 1-piece
Colour: GS or golden Sunburst ie two tone burst, nitro
Hardware: all gold plated
Fretboard: rosewood, laminate style
Pickups: Type A with “E” stamps
Tuners: Kluson vintage style
Neck: no flame
Model imprints: “ST 100” stamp in neck pocket, and “100” imprint on last fret of the fretboard

How does it play: the action has been set low with 11s tuned to Eb. Honestly, it’s as good as my St-42. I start my daily practice with the ST-100 of course but I cannot help myself from ending my session with the ST-42. I gotta say, these STs are just amazing. The ST-100 costed me 3x more than the 42, but I wasn’t expecting a 3x “better” playing guitar. For me, I wanted the ST-100 because it is a lovely piece of history. One can expect a 40 year old 7.25 radius with worn down and thin vintage style frets to play only so comfortably :) Of course, most of you are veteran collectors and so I don’t need to tell you what makes these old guitars special. I am so happy and feel truly privileged to have such lovely instruments in my possession. They truly bring me joy just to see them in my display space and ofcourse when I pick them up to play. I am now trying hard to bring my playing skills to a level that deserves such wonderful guitars.

ea5cc8_0beb81054f62441d95a8ac4d9e8a8493~mv2.jpg
 
Wow! Beautiful!

One thing jumps out at me. Rosewood board on a two tone burst.

When Fender was doing the two tone burst they had maple boards I beleive.

The first rosewood fretboards were slab construction (1959-1962).

Just wondering if there was a model for Fender with the two tone burst and rosewood veneer board?

BYjCTxZ.jpg


That’s a special guitar. Will be interesting to learn more about it.

Congratulations and happy NGD!
 
I just found this:

“… In 1959,Fender introduced rosewood fretboards on Strats that had 3 tone sunburst finishes and green pickguards.The 1959 and 1960 models were sprayed in such a way that often the red would fade completely because of a reaction in the colors and the guitar would end up being two tone sunburst.In 1961 Fender figured out how to spray a consistent 3 tone sunburst.I have seen a few of the faded 1959-1960 ones and they look really awesome like that....”

https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/2-tone-sunburst-with-a-rosewood-neck.27572/

However, note that Fender did not use a veneer board on Strats until August 1962.
 
So I guess it’s not a ‘54 Strat as your web site states. I would say that it’s actually not a reproduction at all because of the mixture of features of different dates (rosewood veneer board, V neck, two tone burst body, single ply pickguard). It's essentially a 50s body with an early/mid 60s neck.

I have an ST80 with a V neck, rosewood veneer board and metallic red body. Great guitar. Great player. But an unusual combination I guess. One of my favorite guitars.

Your ST100 is beautiful and I bet it plays well. Another piece of the Tokai story. Thanks for sharing
 
This may be the first ST100 I have seen with a rosewood fret board....

The mystery continues. 8)

Also note that the earlier Springys have a plug with the rosewood board, which is gone by the time this 1981 catalog came out.

c0Q5D7O.jpg


WMxQayf.jpg
 
Sigmania said:
I just found this:

“… In 1959,Fender introduced rosewood fretboards on Strats that had 3 tone sunburst finishes and green pickguards.The 1959 and 1960 models were sprayed in such a way that often the red would fade completely because of a reaction in the colors and the guitar would end up being two tone sunburst.In 1961 Fender figured out how to spray a consistent 3 tone sunburst.I have seen a few of the faded 1959-1960 ones and they look really awesome like that....”

https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/2-tone-sunburst-with-a-rosewood-neck.27572/

However, note that Fender did not use a veneer board on Strats until August 1962.

Ooh, this is very insightful, thanks for asking and answering :)
 
Sigmania said:
This may be the first ST100 I have seen with a rosewood fret board....

The mystery continues. 8)

Also note that the earlier Springys have a plug with the rosewood board, which is gone by the time this 1981 catalog came out.

c0Q5D7O.jpg


WMxQayf.jpg

Yes it’s very interesting… I thought at first it must be the ‘64 model in the catalogue. But then the string tree, truss rod type, and other features were inconsistent with mine. Then I noticed that all the catalogues, even the earliest ones, mention that all models are available also in rosewood. This is yet another instance where Tokai was willing to deviate from a period correct feature. The other is the three tone sunburst on my st-42 which was trying to replicate the ‘54 (which was only two tone right?).

Good observation about the plug disappearing. Practically, it makes sense, it’s redundant because the truss rod is inserted into a channel on the neck before the fretboard is glued on
 
Congrats nice looking guitar, and a rosewood board, great find. 8)
Rosewood board Springy's are heavily outnumbered over here (EU).

@siamackz, are you sure it ain't a faded 3-Tone Sunburst?
 
felixcatus said:
Congrats nice looking guitar, and a rosewood board, great find. 8)
Rosewood board Springy's are heavily outnumbered over here (EU).

@siamackz, are you sure it ain't a faded 3-Tone Sunburst?

Thanks felixcatus!
 
siamackz said:
Sigmania said:
What's the code on the neck? I don't see it on your site.

The neck doesn’t have any stamps like my st-42 does, it only has the “100” imprint on the last fret. See below:
ea5cc8_33c1ee72926a47bfb431e8662b54ee95~mv2.jpg

That is very interesting.... Especially in light of the fact that the rosewood veneer board is such an odd neck to have on this guitar.

I wonder if something happened to an original flamed maple neck and the neck was switched? Maybe it got broken? Who knows? And then this one was provided at the factory and stamped and hardware switched out?

I'm guessing, but that is two very unusual things about this neck (rosewood board and no neck codes).

You my friend have a mystery. Play the hell out of it. It is beautiful whatever it is.
 
It does have a pretty pronounced V shape to the neck like my and felixcatus' ST80R with the rosewood veneer board it appears.

My ST80 is more pronounced of a V than my ST100.

But my ST80R is an '81 and no skunk stripe...

7S73DUA.jpg
 
Sigmania said:
siamackz said:
Sigmania said:
What's the code on the neck? I don't see it on your site.

The neck doesn’t have any stamps like my st-42 does, it only has the “100” imprint on the last fret. See below:
ea5cc8_33c1ee72926a47bfb431e8662b54ee95~mv2.jpg

That is very interesting.... Especially in light of the fact that the rosewood veneer board is such an odd neck to have on this guitar.

I wonder if something happened to an original flamed maple neck and the neck was switched? Maybe it got broken? Who knows? And then this one was provided at the factory and stamped and hardware switched out?

I'm guessing, but that is two very unusual things about this neck (rosewood board and no neck codes).

You my friend have a mystery. Play the hell out of it. It is beautiful whatever it is.

Is it so rare to have a laminate rosewood board though? Because the early catalogues have say that (a) rosewood is available for all models (b) the fretboard is laminate unlike the slabs typically found

However the “100” imprint is curious because (I) it’s not in the same font or imprint style as the one on my 42 (II) why would it get worn out the way it has, who hangs out on the last fret all day? Lol. The imprint is not a crude handmade one though. It’s definitely using tooling if some sort.

Does your ST 100 have a similar imprint to mine?
And, is the truss rod an Allen Key style or Phillips screw style?
 
Btw, here is Peter Mac’s comment on necks in another thread. Sounds a lot like an ST80 neck from 80/81.


Peter Mac said:
Hi Guys,

From my experience, all 21 fret SpringySound necks are 7.25 Radius. Neck shape does vary however.
Maple necks are 1 piece and are either a '56 soft 'V' or a '58 vintage 'U'
Rosewood boards tend to be veneer style with a vintage 'C'. In '81 Tokai introduced a '62 Slab board with vintage 'C' this neck was also used for the USA models TST-62 and AST-62.
The only exception I have found to these occurred in 1980. ST-80 models with R'wood veneer boards were given a 'V' neck instead of the 'C'. This is the only Year this happened and they can be distinguished from other R/W necks by the "A" stamp after the number code at the base of the neck and the Allen truss rod. It is interesting to note that Fender never produced a V neck with Rosewood board so why Tokai did - even for the one Model/One Year scenario - as they were not replicating any vintage Fender neck.
I do own one of these ST-80R Springys and it is my No.1 strat. I does have Texas Specials and VIP pots with Emerson PIO cap though, still every person who plugs it in and plays it is smitten by how great the neck feels and the monster tone. Most believe it is an old Fender until I point out the Name.

Hope this helps
Peter Mac


http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=196126#p196126
 

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