1982 Tokai Springy Sound ST80

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abopp

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Hi,
I just received my 1982 ST 80. Really nice guitar. The Sound is resonant but reacts kind of "mild" to dynamics. It is my first strat that reacts that way. Usually they were either not resonant (kind of death) or when resonant then they were very crisp and dynamic. This is so amplified and acoustically. So I started to wonder what this instruments are made of. The neck is V-like thicker neck, very similar to real vintage guitars I played. What is the wood used on the body normally? Basswood? Ash? I doubt that it is Alder due to the sound.
Then I noticed that the tuners don't have that little hole inside to lock the strings better when installing. Also saddles are black and seem to be different than original fender parts. Were all ST80 from 82 similar in use of parts or is there a consistency? What would you consider to be the weak parts in the instrument? What would you pimp it with? Thanks, I hope you can help.
 
'82 springy body lumber is most likely what is commonly referred to as Japanese sen, which seems to be similar to common ash.
that's my guess.
AFA pimping the guitar, I would just leave it as original as possible but that's just me.
Congrats on the ST-80 :)
 
I have two ST80's..... both have the vintage style tuners with the hole in the top to tuck your strings. Black saddles?
"Different than original Fender parts"? Not sure what you mean by that.... shouldn't be any Fender parts on it at all.

To my knowledge, all vintage Springy's prior to 83/84 have Tokai stamped saddles. You should also have round string trees. Do you have an 80 stamped into the last fret or a sticker on the heel of the neck that says 80?

As Hiro said above, the body wood is probably Sen (Ash) with a fairly pronounced grain .... they really used nice wood on the majority of them.

Have you opened up the guts to see what's inside in terms of pickups, body stamps, etc? Would be great to see some photos to see exactly what you have there. It does appear to have been modified based upon your description.
 
guitar hiro said:
'82 springy body lumber is most likely what is commonly referred to as Japanese sen, which seems to be similar to common ash.
that's my guess.
AFA pimping the guitar, I would just leave it as original as possible but that's just me.
Congrats on the ST-80 :)
Click to expand...

Thank you :) meanwhile I figured out that this must be Japanes Sen which changes the sound. Actually all video examples have this "smooth" touch. Some propose to change pick ups for thicker sound. Perhaps someone made experience with that?
 
Play it for a while, tweak the pickups select the right strings. Then if your are not happy consider changing the pickups. I never understood the "I have a new guitar and the first thing I'm going to do is change the pickups"
 
I will do that but I am always sort of trying to get down all my options while my mind is busy analyzing what is happening. It always is a way to realize what is it I like and what influences the sound in the end. So far I have changed pickups in one guitar and that didn't change really that much. But on the other hand I replaced a vintage Jazzmasterbridge with a modern mastery bridge. That bridge stayed five minutes before I resold it on ebay. Some things really have tremendous effect on sound. Still trying to figure this out.
 
The E series pickups that came with ST80's are excellent, lower output vintage p'ups. You may prefer a more modern higher output wind.
Yes, play it for awhile... put new strings on it, get a proper set up with intonation, string and pickup height, etc. You might be surprised.
 
Here I am back. The frets were really at the bottom. I had them replaced. Now it sounds much more resonant than before. Definetly a killer guitar. The luthier did a great job. When playing open strings or bending notes the guitar swings comletly freely. When pressing strings I still kind of hear a light sound supressing effect. It took me two days to get concious of this, so it is not a big issue. But since I love this guitar I want to improve everything to the max. I definetly won't change the PU they sound really great now. But I want to deal with this light compression effect, especially playing acoustically. It must be something mechanical. Nut and frets are perfect also the setup. It either is the wood which I doubt, because I don't feel it with open strings nor bending. When I hit the note hard the sustain doesn't increase at a certain point. I suspect that it is a problem in the bridge/Tremolo part. I would like to try to replace the saddles first. Does anyone know if that works with normal vintage fender saddles? It looks like there is no option to admit pics :(
 
Pictures have to be hosted on a picture site I used it not difficult.

https://imgur.com/

you can use Fender saddles I think it uses 2 7/32 American spacing but if it was me I would keep it all original
Keeping my eye out for an 80
 
Thanks! Meanwhile I replaced saddles and springs with real Vintage, changed the PU. I put in my Abby 57/62 Pu handwired and changed electronics.
Now it is like I wanted it :)
 

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