Help identifying Springy Sound

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Nov 17, 2017
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Hi All,

Fist time poster so please be gentle..

I have just purchased what I believe in part to be a 1980 Springy Sound. I say 'in part' as I'm not sure that the neck is original.

I have added the pics to an album in iCloud which hopefully you can access below:

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0Y5qXGF1nsHwP

What I do know about the guitar is as follows:

- 2 piece body (was told it is Sen Ash but I lack the knowledge to confirm this)
- Maple neck / board with round string retainer. The neck did have a sticker on the base near the body but was completely illegible so have removed it.
- Serial number on neck plate is 0014792
- body is stamped in neck and middle PU cavity 12=1 GS
- Neck it stamped at the butt 2=2
- PU's are grey bottomed E's and pickguard is marked with a letter A
- saddles and tuners are marked as Tokai
- not sure if the body is a poly or nitro finish

My confusion as to it's originality lies in the following:

- I was under the impression that the neck on a maple board should have been a V profile, but it's more of a fat C or U shape. Definitely not a V.
- The pickguard is a WBW 11 hole, and I would have expected a maple board guitar to come with a single ply 8 hole pickguard.
- the neck and body codes don't match.

I have a suspicion that the guitar was originally shipped with a rosewood board, but for whatever reason the neck was changed at some stage. I don't think that the neck is original and the pickguard has been changed as the holes in the body for the pickguard look to be in the right places - I think if it came with an 8 hole pickguard at least one of the screw holes would have been out of place.

I have no idea what model the guitar is - the body at least I would have thought is an ST-60 or 80 (finish dependant), but no idea what model the neck is from.

I know there a lot of serious Tokai experts on this forum so hoping that one of them could throw some light onto what I have here. I should say that whatever it turns out to be doesn't really bother me, as the guitar looks, feels and sounds great - and at the end of the day that's all that really matters.

Thanks,

Karim.

PS - let me know if you can't access the photo's and I'll try something else.
 
Lord of Broghton said:
Hi All,
- I was under the impression that the neck on a maple board should have been a V profile, but it's more of a fat C or U shape. Definitely not a V.
- The pickguard is a WBW 11 hole, and I would have expected a maple board guitar to come with a single ply 8 hole pickguard.
- the neck and body codes don't match.

I have a suspicion that the guitar was originally shipped with a rosewood board, but for whatever reason the neck was changed at some stage.

Welcome, looks like a nice guitar to me. Very clean.
I think we can rule out ST-80 here, sorry.

-Not all maple necks from that period have the same profile. ST-50 and ST-60 are U-profile and ST-80 V-profile necks.
-at that time Tokai usually marked their ST-80 necks and bodies with the letter A as well. (A = higher grade) So what you have here is most likely a ST-60 body (ST-50 would have U-pickups, no A-stamped pickguard and often more pieces of wood for the body). You can test the finish for nitro with a drop of acetone, it will melt the finish. Poly won´t react ( do it in a hidden spot under the pickguard or neckplate of course)
But I´m pretty sure the body is an ST-60 because of the missing A stamp, pickups and pickguard look clean and unmodified, no need for a test really.
-the neck is from a ST-60 or ST-50, poly finish (there´s no difference to be able to distinguish a maple ST-50 neck from a ST-60 neck)


Your suspicion that someone swapped the necks with a maple ST-50 or ST-60 sounds logical to me. The 1981 catalog only shows 11-hole pickguards for RW-board strats. The codes on body and neck are not matching or even close which could be a hint for a swapped neck as well. But I think there´s no secure answer if the codes have to match for a factory original Tokai strat.
You never know what might have left the factory back then ... :)
 
Hi Len,

Thanks for responding. Glad to see I was on the right lines anyway. Really doesn't bother me what model it is (50,60, 80 etc), as the thing sounds so good and feels so nice - it puts a bigger smile on my face than many other guitars costing 5 times as much!

So, in all probability an ST-60 which would have come with a rosewood neck, and then at some stage a previous owner would have replaced the neck - maybe he preferred maple over rosewood.

Either way, she's a cracker!

Thanks once again Len,

Karim.
 
Hi and welcome, congrats on a very nice looking Springy.

I think you and @Len have made some good conclusions, pointing out (mostly all) the right Tokai features/characteristics.

Except for;

Lord of Broghton said:
- the neck and body codes don't match.

Codes don't have to match (not even be close), for a Tokai to be all original (this doesn't automatically mean yours is).



Len said:
The codes on body and neck are not matching or even close which could be a hint for a swapped neck as well. But I think there's no secure answer if the codes have to match for a factory original Tokai strat.
You never know what might have left the factory back then ... :)

There is. :wink:




PS @Lord of Broghton, is it a 2 or a 3 Tone burst?
 
Hi felixcatus,

Thanks for your reply. It’s colour code is GS so I guess it’s Golden Sunburst. It looks 2 colour to me, but it could have been 3 but faded with age. Also, I’m slightly colour blind so I may not be seeing any subtle tones.

Thanks,

Karim.
 
Thanks brokentoes. Yes, she’s unbelievable. I’m still amazed that these can be had for such reasonable money. A very dear friend of mine has all manner of custom shop Fender and Gibson guitars, but always ends up playing either his Gold Stars or his Love Rocks, and this guy - probably like so many forum members here - knows his tone.

Sadly though, one of the greatest tone machines of all time passed away today. RIP Malcolm Young - we salute you....
 
Hi bluejeannot,

Thanks for your comments. I take it Tokai did produce springy’s with maple necks and 11 hole pickguards then? I assumed their maple neck guitars only came with 8 hole guards - you learn something new every day!

Thanks.
 
Yes they did.The A stamp on your pickguard is the sign of authenticity.Im very,very envious!
 
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