A Gold Goldstar Strat

[Dazzle]

Having made the big, big mistake , many years ago of selling my Tokai Strat, Father Christmas finally answered my prayers and brought me an 80's Goldsound Strat

Its a gold colour, a finish I've not come across before. Has anyone else got one this colour?

 

[Anonymous]

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[Dazzle]

No its not got a matching headstock. I've only ever come across a metallic blue one with matching headstock - can't say I'm much of a fan. Think they look a bit tacky!

 

[Anonymous]

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[Dazzle]

Well you've gotta admit sparkly metalic blue is tacky full stop red on the other hand is a different matter entirely, it's just a classic colour!

 

[ramsale]

Nice backpedal! :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

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[Dazzle]

Apparently, before my missus purchased this guitar she did some poking around on the fantastic registry site and she thinks, and who am I to disagee!! its a TST55 in Shoreline Gold circa 1984.

And whats more, the guy she brought it off had already registered it and submitted some pics to the site. They are listed under Keith Macpherson in the Tokai Pics section.

 

[Novosel]

Dazzle, I checked out the pic of your guitar on the registry - EXCEPTIONAL!! Your missus can shop for me anytime! :wink:

 

[james]

Good score Dazzle. I think TST50 + metallic paint = TST55, so you're right there. I'm up to about half a dozen sightings of the horrible 70s Ford metallic blue jobs, but not a single gold one so I reckon its pretty rare. I know a dealer down here in London who told me he knows a collector who has a Goldstar or Springy in every colour.....except one - you guessed it, gold! Apparently he's willing to pay big money for one too, so I don't know what your missus paid for it but I think you rejoined the Tokai owners club in style!

And I'm sure you're Dakota Red guitar is very nice Barry :wink:

 

[Dazzle]

I've tried to brow beat the missus into telling me exactly how much she paid for this beautiful beast but as usual she's gone into my lips are sealed mode!

I think, she thinks I'm gonna sell it, which I'm not as I am a very happy with my new axe All she will say, is that it was less than ?350 including a Fender hardcase. If this is true, I think she did alright considering she doesn't know much about guitars 8)

A question for you Tokai experts out there - I took it to my guitar tech over the weekend as its in dire need of a setup and he seemed to think it would have originally had gold coloured hardware on it. Personally, I think he's wrong - any views guys?

 

[Anonymous]

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[Peter Mac]

Hi guys,

You're right Barry - I do know but after Dazzles and James' cruel comments about metallic blue guitars (my Springy is metallic blue) i am going to keep my lips sealed...maybe.

( he awaits apology......)

OK,OK..the blue does not photograph nearly as good as it looks in real life.
Anyway, assuming your guitar is a TST-55 GMR, they did not have gold hardware. The colour GM is gold metallic and should be stamped in the body cavity. I do not believe it is Shoreline Gold though as Shoreline gold was closer to Goldtop than Gold Metallic IMO.
The painted headstock guitars are a different model altogether, not TST-55's and were offered with gold hardware and a choice of 4 custom colours - and that blue is Lake Placid Blue - not Metallic Blue

regards
Peter Mac

 

[tokaigeezer]

Dear Peter Mac

I share your pain, regarding the rather snippy dismissal :wink: of this very nice color. My AST-56 in metallic blue more than fufills my lust for anything in Lake Placid Blue. It seems a little lighter than LPB but I've grown to really like it, especially against a maple board.
Thanks for the information!

 

[Peter Mac]

Hi Tokaigeezer,
Thank you for the support.
I went through my records last night and found that (in Australia at least) the Gold Metallic outsold the Metallic Blue almost 3 to 1, making MB a rarer colour.
Of course FO (Fiesta Orange/red) outsold every other custom colour by heaps but we all expected that anyway. Hank B Marvin has a lot to answer for.
Dakota Red was a very rare colour as FO and MR were much more in demand, as far as I can tell none were imported into Australia.
Barry, what is the colour code in the guitar body cavity???

regards
Peter Mac

 

[Anonymous]

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[Peter Mac]

Hi Barry,

Under the position switch is where they would normally stamp the colour code and then spray around it.
Dakota Red is 'blood red' - no sparkle at all, very flat. MR (Metallic Red) was very common as it was 1 of the 5 standard colours and was also blood red but with metal flake while Fiesta Red has a more Orange hue to it. Tokai did have a CR (Candy Apple Red) but they were not imported here either.

Fender colours did change from the 60's to the 70's because of the CBS takeover, I have Fender catalogs from 1982 upwards that do not show a lot of the colours Leo offered, i think this is another reason why the old Strats are so reverred.

let us know whar the code is when you get a chance.

Peter

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

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[james]

Good pic Barry - the guitar looks great. Good nick too for a 20 year old too!
OK, I'm sorry about the metallic blue thing guys - its just not my bag. I'm not bluist or anything - I like Daphne Blue :wink:
Going by that colour chart Barry posted the ones I've seen are definitly more Ice Blue Metallic than LPB.