Tokai strat pickup stamps: what do they mean?

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brad347

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Okay, so I have the "E" stamp on my pickups on my TST-56, which I understand is possibly the same that they used on the ST-80 Springy Sound, I know there are also "U" stamp pickups, and probably others.

Has anyone cataloged a list of pickup designations, and what they mean, which ones were made by which makers, and which ones are the most highly regarded?

Inside the control cavity, I'm HIGHLY impressed by what I see! Cloth wire, neat solder joints, wires routed neatly. Awesome. It looks like i'm the first person to ever be in here since it left the factory.

Stamped in the control cavity is

7=2 GM Z


What in the world does this mean?

Thanks!
 
This may be bad form but i'm bumping this thread. Anyone? I tried to search the archives but I'm finding nothing substantial. Anyone....?
 
Have a look at this link

http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/oldies_p2.jpg?PHPSESSID=fb93156f9358c8296f0915547d5fe8e0

I think this is in a scandanavian language ???

It would be great if someone could translate it

The 'E' Stamp pickups were DiMarzio VS-1's - usually on ST-80's and above. These are considered the best. 8)

The 'V' Stamped pickups were the mid range pickups :lol:

The 'U' Stamped ones were the next down the pecking order. :)

Below this there are ones with grey back with no stamp and then there are the Korean versions with additional bar magnets on the base. :cry:

The stamps in the neck pickup cavity indicate the lot number and the colour code.

There should be a very similar marking on the end of the neck below the truss rod screw. Take a look and report back :wink:
 
Have a look at this link

http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/oldies_p2.jpg?PHPSESSID=fb93156f9358c8296f0915547d5fe8e0

I think this is in a scandanavian language ???

It would be great if someone could translate it

The 'E' Stamp pickups were DiMarzio VS-1's - usually on ST-80's and above. These are considered the best. 8)

The 'V' Stamped pickups were the mid range pickups :lol:

The 'U' Stamped ones were the next down the pecking order. :)

Below this there are ones with grey back with no stamp and then there are the Korean versions with additional bar magnets on the base. :cry:

The stamps in the neck pickup cavity indicate the lot number and the colour code.

There should be a very similar marking on the end of the neck below the truss rod screw. Take a look and report back :wink:

Check out this link too:-

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3342&highlight=stamp
 
Awesome.

I knew these pickups sounded KILLER.

I guess the TST-56 must've been pretty near the upper range of the line in '84 then.

I checked, and the neck and body have matching numbers 8)


I saw a guitar on Ebay that was listed as a CAR st-70 that had the "U" pickups. Suspicious....


Anyway, thanks again for all your help.
 
chrisheyes said:
I think this is in a scandanavian language ???
It would be great if someone could translate it
Click to expand...
The "Oldies" catalog is in German and probably designed by the German distributor in the mid '80s, Bochen & H?rle in Munderkingen. So which passage do you need to have translated? It's a rather bad scan, so the parts on the left side are hard to read. Furthermore I'm not sure how accurate these informations are or if they were only correct for the German import models (e.g. claiming Korina wood on the Flying V copy etc.).
 
It would be great to have the columns translated for the body wood, neck wood and the pickups

Thanks for confirming the language and offering to do the translation Hans-Jurgen :D
 
chrisheyes said:
Thanks for confirming the language and offering to do the translation Hans-Jurgen :D
Click to expand...
****... :x :wink:

Body wood:
ash 1-piece
ash 1-piece
alder 2-piece
alder 2?-piece
alder 3?-piece
ash 1-piece
alder 2-piece
alder 2-piece
alder 2-piece
alder 2?-piece
alder 3?-piece

Fingerboard/neck wood:
Maple
Maple
Maple
Maple
Maple
Rosewood
Rosewood
Rosewood
thick rosewood
Maple or rosewood
Rosewood

Pickups:
VS-1 DiMarzio
VS-1 DiMarzio
ST-Vintage
ST-Vintage
ST-Vintage
ST-Hot
VS-1 DiMarzio
ST-Vintage
ST-Vintage
ST-Vintage
ST-Hot

I hope this helps, it's difficult to make out the model numbers though. They start with the ST 120-54 at the top, and the one at the bottom probably is the ST 50-64. The neck shape had either the "V" or "U" profile being either one piece of maple or with a rosewood fingerboard (2-piece).
 

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