Help identifying springy sound

[joe2517]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to forum and I'm hoping to buy my first Tokai soon. I've been looking at what my local guitar shop has listed as a 1982 Tokai Stratocaster but because the decal's been removed I've been having trouble working out what model Springy Sound it actually is and whether it was made in 1982. I do know that the serial number is L14612 and I've taken a few pictures of it:

http://s1269.photobucket.com/user/joe2517/library/Tokai?sort=3&page=1

Any help/advice is really appreciated.

Joe

 

[Peter Mac]

Hi Joe,

Chances are it will be an ST-55. It looks as though it was Sonic Blue originally but has faded to a surf green-ish finish.
Body would be Alder, pickups should be grey bottom with a 'U' stamp.
Body will have stamps also (eg: 5=2 SO X) in the control cavity under the scratchplate. The 'L14612' serial number would have a rosewood fingerboard but the number would put it closer to either a late '82 or early '83.
Without all the stamp and pickup info, it is harder to be more precise.

Peter Mac

 

[joe2517]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your help. The current list price is ?695 (about $1150) which seems quite expensive for one of the cheaper models. Is this a good deal; how does the ST-55 compare with the more expensive models?

Cheers

 

[Peter Mac]

Hi Joe,
The St-55 is the same spec as an ST-50. It's the custom colour that adds the extra 5,000 yen to the price.
Overall, ST-50's are the workhorse of Tokai. Nearly all bodies are multi-piece Alder(early ones also used Sen) and cut and routed the same as the high-end models. The major difference is really the pickups and the laquer.
ST-40~60 used poly and higher models used N/C.

For that price, I could buy an ST-80. Way too expensive. I would expect around GBP 400~470 depending on the originality, condition and colour

Peter Mac