1979 ST-60 Springy - Jimi!!!

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Oshbosh

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Hi,

just wanted to post some photos of my (hopefully!) 100% original 1979 ST-60.


















I will be selling this soon and will post more shots later including internals etcbut just wanted to get the photos up and see what everyone thinks as i think this is one of the prettiest Springys i've ever seen, the grain on the body makes it look like its on fire, pure Jimi!!

This is a 2 piece body but the bookmatching has been done so well its really hard to tell. Super cool serial number too, 0012354, almost in sequence!!

Oshbosh[/img]
 
Looks like a 1980 serial number.

A few anomalies to me:

- Odd that it has a rosewood neck but a single ply pickguard - it should have a 3 ply one for this type - would be interesting to see if there are 11 holes underneath.

- Stamp on the fretboard is missing.

- Round string tree should be butterfly for this neck afaik.

- Decal looks applied on top of the lacquer - should it be underneath for this year? Can anyone else confirm? I see pics on the internet of both.

- Dots on 12th fret are too far apart - again I can see conflicting info on this. All my Tokai strats with rosewood boards have the markers closer together. Again, can anyone with more knowledge of this year confirm?

Would be interested to see the insides - do the body and neck codes match? Are the pickups U or E stamped?
 
My 80 springy had a single ply pickguard with rosewood board - as is period correct to Fender with a two color burst. Three color bursts generally had 3 ply guards as the 60's fenders did.

Mine also had no stamp on the fretboard and mine did have the butterfly string tree:







 
Suki said:
Very interesting - so I guess the only way to ascertain whether or not this is a ST-50 or an ST-60 would be the E pickups?

S

ST60's show up with both E's and U's too. :wink:

But yeah, that pretty Springy needs to be opened up to see what's under the hood - neck and neck pocket too.
 
OK - so in this case, what other identifying feature does an ST-60 have over an ST 50, bearing in mind many burst finish 50's had 2 peice bodies?
 
Suki said:
OK - so in this case, what other identifying feature does an ST-60 have over an ST 50, bearing in mind many burst finish 50's had 2 peice bodies?


http://www.tokaiguitar.de/1.php?pageid=13&tplid=2
 
We all know there are some anomalies with Tokai's - I didn't catch the V neck reference for the ST60's in the link I sent and I'd have to say I disagree with that. Everyone of the three ST60's I've had (and I still have a 1978) came with C shaped necks.

It's pretty well accepted that MOST ALL 60's had C shaped necks and that V necks were found on ST80's - in fact, it was one of the things that helped determine the difference - which puzzled the hell out of me because the one ST80 I'd owned (stamped fretboard) was a rounded C profile - it was later determined that it probably was an ST70 and stamped incorrectly.


So it's not an exact science - there are some quirks but I think we all grasp the basic identifying factors.
 
Hi Jonah,

that was my bad - I did those pages years and years ago.

For the record . . .
Springy ST-60 had 'U' necks and 'E' pups with poly finish.
Goldstar ST-60 had 'V' necks with 'E' pup and poly finish.
This refers to Maple necks only.

The chart was originally for both models but has since been seperated.

IMO, the bodies for both 50's and 60's were the same construction-wise.
There are examples of Springy 50 with 2 pce and 60's with 3 piece bodys - especially when it came to alder.

Alder is one of the few Premium tone woods that is not affected by a multipiece body tone-wise. It is not the case with Ash or Mahogany, which is why people make a big deal about it being that those two are quite expensive.

Peter Mac
 
Are the rosewood necked Springys the same spec as the maple ones? eg v for ST80 & 100, U for ST50 & 60.
 
.
.
. they are kind of similar but not exact.
It all depends on the Fender Year being replicated ie 1954, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966 or 1972.
Different years, different features, different specs. Different pickups and different neck shapes for different fingerboards.

IMO 1980 - 1982 was the most accurate Models - not nessesarily the best construction woods - but the details were exact Fender.

Peter
 
Thanks for the reply. :)

If I was to get a '79-'80 ST80R would the neck profile be similar to my maple neck ST80?
 
Just had another look at the neck and there is a 60 imprinted into the last fret, quite faint but its definitely there

Just need to open it up now and hopefully all will be well.

thanks for your help!
 
Hi Mojo,

The short answer is no. Rosewood necks have a different shape to maple necks - regardless of the model.
The vast majority of rosewood necks are a '64 type C width rounded neck, although in 83/84 some ST-80R did have a slight 'V' to them.
The only other exception was the ST-70R which had a 'U' neck, B width slab fingerboard.(1960-62)

Peter Mac
 

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