New to me Goldstar sound

J.E.M. · Jun 27, 2011

Hello to all, been reading here for ages but I just bought my first Tokai so I joined up.

I?m in Toronto Canada and just picked up what I think is a 1984 model, it?s a Goldstar sound just not sure of the model.

I?ll post some pictures later tonight (at work) but I?m thinking it?s an st50 model as it has beveled staggered pole pieces ? tuners that look like the old fender ones with split ends ? stamped saddles that read ?final prospec?.

It?s a 3 tone burst with an all maple neck and seems pretty much all original, it?s a bit of a relic as it does have plently of not-to-serious marks on it.

It plays very well and I think it sounds great, I wondering what the stock pups were, just curious as I really like them.

Thanks in advance for any info offered, pics to follow shortly.

J.E.M. · Jun 28, 2011

Here we go...

CW · Jun 29, 2011

Hi, J.E.M. -

The black sticker at the bottom of the neck gives the model number. So yes, it's an ST50.

Unless the sticker's been changed - which seems to be pretty rare. It's much more normal for them to have come off after so many years.

Nice looking guitar!

All the best,

CW

J.E.M. · Jun 29, 2011

Thanks for that, I did figure out the sticker thing afterwards.

This guitar sounds really good and I?m interested in what the pups are, when I get around to some working on it I?ll post some pictures of the insides and back of the pups.

The only complaint I have is the frets, neck has shrunk a few thou over the years and you can just feel the edges on the lower side, but besides that it seems the fretwire used was small to begin with.

A refret is on the horizon at which point I?ll use larger wire and then I?ll have what I think is a perfect guitar.

mojo hobo · Jun 29, 2011

Need to see pictures of the pup cavities and the rear of the pickguard,and neck codes and body codes ,If that is a 57 goldstar copy it should have only a 8 hole pickguard ,single -ply ?
The knobs look original and the saddles ...by the headstock logo and saddle stamps very early transistion st-50 from late 83-84 .

MOJO HOBO

J.E.M. · Jun 29, 2011

Sorry i forgot to mention the pick guard is a replacement although I did get the original single ply white one with it along with the whammy.

I'm having too much fun playing it but when it comes apart I'll post more pics here.

Any idea what year of Strat this one is supposed to be a copy of - the 1984 Tokai catalog says the 2 tone is '58 and 3 tone is '64 - but the 3 tone has a maple neck so that sounds backwards.[/code]

jacco · Jun 30, 2011

I believe that a serial# without a letter in front of the digits is a 60s model, without letter a 50s model

J.E.M. · Jul 1, 2011

She's been apart and is back to playing, fretwork is done and the original pickguard is back on - took some pictures while it was apart.

It's been cleaned, has fresh strings and a set up. The only part to be replaced was the output jack, it was pretty poor, so in with a real one, and the truss rod was vibrating loose in the neck - set up took care of that.

The other interesting thing was the factory nut was actually quite high, I took quite a bit off and it requires a much lighter touch now, but 27 years with a high nut is something.

Can anyone tell me what the body and neck codes mean?

CW · Jul 2, 2011

Hi, J.E.M. -

I believe that they tell you that the neck has been replaced - or the body, depending on which way you look at it.

The number = number on the neck and body should match. The letters in the body cavity should be the colour code. I'm sure others will be able to interpret it for you.

All the best,

CW

New to me Goldstar sound

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