TST-40 Goldstar

[Freddy Floyd]

Hi all,

I've been looking for a Tokai for some time, as I have a love of old Japan made guitars. I finally took delivery of a Goldstar TST 40. I beleive it is 1984 but stand to be corrected. This is the classic 'being sitting in a cupboard' for 30 years. It's in perfect condition other than one little knock on the top horn. Couple of questions - is this as per spec for a 40? It has the standard tuners for a 40 - on that point has anybody taken the covers of these and had them as open back tuners? Any way have a look at the pics and any informaation would be much appreciated.

https://plus.google.com/photos/109008915424720520807/albums/5948885193827006737

Cheers
Mark

 

[jonah65]

nice looking axe.
just a couple of points, a '40' had ceramic pickups with the magnets fixed
on the back of the pup, these have probably been upgraded, a usual thing with 40s, but not original.
someone has hacked a groove out to get at the truss rod adjuster.
a 'z' in the pup pocket, thought to have been used on higher end strat copies,
maybe this throws that theory out the window.
6 digit serial number, don't know if this is right, pete mac will know more, as they are usually 7 digit or prefixed with an L over here.
are the tuners 6 sided ?
looks genuine to me, nice one.

 

[brokentoes]

Welcome to the forum and nice tri-burst !!

 

[Freddy Floyd]

Thanks Toes.
Jonah - well this is why I put this up. This guitar is as purchased in mid 80s in the UK. The fellow who purchased it new, played it for a year or two, left it at his mothers and immigrated to Aust. 10 years ago on a visit back home he dug the guitar out and brought it back to Aust. I emailed him yesterday to ask if he had it serviced because I noticed the chiseled out section - still had wood chips inside the cavity, also I asked if he swapped out the pups and the fret finish was a bit rough. He said he never had it serviced as he hardly played it. He put new strings on when he brought it out to Aust. 10 years ago but that is it.
What I have noticed is the following:
Has the 6 sided tuners (not in picks as I took them off to polish the headstock and to service the tuners as they were quite stiff);
Two piece body;
Nitro finish;
Alninco pups instead of ceramic;

From my reading 40's shouldn't have these specs but it's not uncommon for Tokais to surface with options that don't align to what we expect. The original owner has been very helpful so I have reason to disbelieve what he says. I plugged it in to test electronics before pulling it apart and was very happy with what I heard even with 10 year old rusty strings!!

 

[jonah65]

poly finish on a '40' the nitro finish was for '80's and above.
uk '40's had the ceramic pups, with the obvious magnet stuck on underneith.
strange one this, pete mac is the guy to verify tokais in your neck of the woods.

 

[Freddy Floyd]

In my post above it should read I have no reason to disbelieve the seller

Thanks Johah. Tested finish and it's not nitro. Looked like it was but I should have tested it first. Trem block is not steel either.

Anyway guitar is back together and plays really nicely. I think I may swap out the tuners as they are pretty ordinary even after being cleaned and oiled. I'll try for something that will fit in the existing holes and I'll keep the original tuners.

I'll try and contact Pete Mac to see if he has any thoughts on the pups and codes.

Cheers
MRC

 

[Freddy Floyd]

Hi all, just thought I would close out this post with a final comment and link to some finished product pics.

I spoke with Peter Mac and he was able to tell me the following items about the guitar:

The strange pickups are actually from a Silverstar SS-60 model. About the equivalent of TST "E" pickups. Peter feels these would have been installed in Japan not after market which explains why they didn't line up to what was expected in a 40 that hadn't been tinkered with.

Even after servicing the tuners I still didn't like them and Peter recommended some Kluson Style tuners that fitted straight in; and

Tokai used ST 50 bodies hence only the one join up the centre.

2 Other people have played the guitar and really liked it. One being my guitar teacher who could only shake his head and comment that there are some super good deals out there.

Finally some picks of the finished product. Note that she still has plastic under the control knobs. I'm leaving it there at the moment.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109008915424720520807/albums/5953825582208297217


Cheers and special shut out to Peter Mac for his awesome advice, knowledge and allowing me to quote him on here. javascript:emoticon('')

Cheers
Mark