# NGD. Tokai Silver Star



## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I just got this a few minutes ago. It is going up for sale in a few days. Was supposed to come with a soft shell case so I am waiting to hear back on why it didn't come with the guitar. This guitar almost looks new from the front. There is rash on the back but nothing breaks through the paint. The pickups sound better than I was anticipating. I heard Tokai's can sound a little thin. I'll be removing the PG to see if it has the U stamped pups or not. 3 bolt neck with the larger headstock. Unfortunately the decals are almost invisible. You can see it used to say Silver Star but now it is black on black instead of gold on black. Anyway on to the pictures. BTY if anyone knows where the serial number should be on this please let me know. All I can tell is that from the logo on the headstock it is pre or up to 1982.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

Nice!


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Bore oil on the fretboard, New strings installed. Pretty sure I've never seen an E string quite that thick before.

I can tell this guitar is made from Sen Ash. They say it is acoustically similar to alder. Which emphasizes the bass a bit more. If someone played the Tokai and the Greco back to back I could tell the difference in a blind fold test. Not saying one sounds better than the other but the Tokai definitely has more bass than the Greco with the same string gauge. The tokai also has the grey bottom Alnicos which mean they are the SS Hot version of the pups from back then. No letter U or letter E or letter S on the bottoms. I still don't see a serial number so it is almost impossible to date. I'm assuming earlier than 82 because they do have serial numbers on the headstock. I heard something might be stamped right on the fretboard.  Didn't notice anything while using the bore oil treatment. I read inside the tremolo cavity, but again nothing. The only identifying mark is the letter "A" in the neck pocket and this number in the control cavity. Unless 4=7B8 or is it 4=788 means April 78? I don't see any dates on the pots either. Just the M250K *Ω*A. Either that or maybe the trem claw is blocking the serial. Either way its a fantastic guitar.


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## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

I did some research on the Fender Bullet that I picked up yesterday.

There was mentioned, that theTokai Silver Star, was introduced with the same marketing idea in mind as the Fender Bullet.

The old radio DJ saying “#1 with a bullet”, had something to do with the silver star logo with a number one, on the Bullet headstock. Hence, the Tokai Silver Star and others got on the bandwagon.

You have a cool guitar!


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Well this is not a plywood guitar. There seems to be controversy around these models. People say they are inferior to the springy sound, yet they cost the same. a springy sound st48 cost the same as a silver star ss48 or a goldenstar tst48. So how is it inferior? And these were made right around the time Fender came to Tokai and said you can't keep making our headstock under your name, but keep making guitars the same way but put Fender Japan on the headstock and we will take a cut. And circa 1982 Tokai Gakki starts making Fender Japan guitars.

Funny thing is I can't date this by the headstock. The script Tokai logo I have is either supposed to have a serial. According to all the pics I have seen, the silver star does not have a contour body sticker. But mine does. The springy sounds had the contour body sticker though. So mine seems to be a transition headstock. I know the decals have worn off but the evidence they existed is still there. 1st example is a springy sound headstock Second is silver star with serial but no contour body sticker. And 3rd example is way off....Even the "silver star" script is wrong. Example 2 shows it very large, but mine is small like the springy sound. But I have 2 string trees and non vintage tuners like example 2. So I am thinking this is an 81 or 82 model made when the Springy Sound name was changed to Silver Star. Also, the neck is weird. It is supposed to be baked maple but I swear it is rosewood. The grain is far to open for baked maple. Rosewood was an upcharge over baked maple. You hear stories all the time how the first Fenders in Japan were made with people just grabbing what ever necks and putting them on what ever bodies. I think I have one of those but with a rare headstock sticker combo.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

My headstock is a combination of #1 and #2. I can;t find another one like it. LOL every Silver Star logo i have seen has the large script.


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## corailz (May 1, 2008)

Killer guitar you got there, i really love Old japanese axes!


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## brokentoes (Jun 29, 2014)

I have a few tokai's, but I have no Silver Stars so i can only tell you what i can guess at. with what i know. Your guitar has a matching black headstock and that wasn't common. Perhaps because it was black and with matching headstock it received the decal it did. If you are at all worried about the neck being real take it off and there should be a code on the butt much like the one in the cavity. Sometimes they match the body and sometimes no. The codes in there refer to the batches not the date. I'd be surprised if it wasn't the original neck. People talk about models being inferior based on model numbers but it was mostly better appointments on the higher models with Tokai. A good guitar is a good guitar and while i'm sure every guitar manufacturer has put out some dogs Tokai has some excellent quality control to this day. I have 5 Tokai's from the 80's to the 2000's lower models and higher end models and they are all fine guitars.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I'm not worried about it being original. Just wondering about the year. Everything I have read says this label does not exist. I did read something that got me wondering though. I know Tokai made guitars for the domestic market, and that's what the Silver Stars were supposed to be for. But they also exported to certain countries like Australia etc... so I may have a country specific label?

The quality of this guitar is on par with my Fender Japan and my Japanese Greco. If you think about it, they have the Springy sound which is one of the most coveted Tokais. It's designation was St-42 and up, the Gold Stars were TST-30 and up, and the Silver Stars are SS-30 and up So whether you bought a springy sound 42 or a Gold star 42 or a Silver Star 42 , they all cost the same. 42000 yen. How is the springy sound better? They were all made around 80-85 so I don't see huge price increases affecting model numbers. I'm surprised mine is only a 48 model. It has the matching headstock and the rosewood board, both are upcharges. The only advantage a Springy Sound had was you could get a very high end model like an st-120 which you could not with a Gold or Silver Star. But up to about st-60 what difference can there be? At about st-80 and up you start getting name brand DiMarzio pickups , and nitro finishes... But as for build quality and materials..... I don;t see how there can be a huge difference

I took pictures of the neck but there are no markings. It is completely black except where the 48 sticker is near the heel. There is no bare wood. Te only markings I have seen so far are in the control cavity. And I cannot find info on how to read that, although someone did suggest the BB meant black on black . 

Why is it that Japanese Les Pauls have date codes on the pots, but strats don't. My Greco mint collection Les Paul Custom is dated 1990 and it is even verified by the date on the pots as being '89.


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## brokentoes (Jun 29, 2014)

I think the differences between something like a ST 50 and a 60 could have been something as simple as different tuners. I've got more knowledge about the Gibson style Tokai's so as far as the Fender styles go i'm not really that good. The fact that you have a "48" is proof of the upcharges for the matching headstock and who knows what else. Wish i could help more.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I compared my Greco se300 specs to a Greco SE1000 and the differences are all hardware and electronics. Better tuners, better pups, and usually a Kahler or a Floyd with locking nut. And a nitro finish. Possibly a color not offered on the lower models as well.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Tone Chaser said:


> I did some research on the Fender Bullet that I picked up yesterday.
> 
> There was mentioned, that theTokai Silver Star, was introduced with the same marketing idea in mind as the Fender Bullet.
> 
> ...



#1 with a bullet was the DJ's way of saying the song rose to the top of the charts with the speed of a bullet. And the chart would show a bullet beside the song name if that was the case. As the photo below shows, Can;t buy me love is number one and there is a bullet in the red star. Hence Number 1 with a bullet.


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## brokentoes (Jun 29, 2014)

And there's always 18 with a bullet.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

So, I'm pretty sure this is a one of a kind. Or extremely rare. Maybe a prototype or R&D thing. Tokai silver starts did not come with painted headstocks. I searched the net and could not find one!! They are all natural color. After doing more research I am convinced I have some type of prototype or transition model. 

First off, the label is one of a kind. It mostly resembles an 1982 Springy sound label. The colored headstock was available on Springy Sounds but not Silver Stars. IIRC baked maple fingerboard was stock and rosewood was an option. This is rosewood. So I think I have a rosewood Springy Sound neck at the least! I've heard so many stories of 80's fenders pieced together from different bins of parts. Tokai was the company building the early 80's Fenders so if they were mixing and matching what Fender had, and they were also doing the same thing with their own lineup of Springy Goldstar and Silver Star models, I think I have one of those mixes. But why do I have a special logo? You would think it would have had the correct Silver Star logo or the correct Springy logo, not a mashup of the two. Prototype? if so Value?


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## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

Stuff happens in mass production factories, just to keep the line running. It is the short production run stuff that either gets ignored, overlooked, or sought after and revered.

You get to choose what it means to you.

You also get the help of the internet to see what others think. Finding the motherload of information is a task, that may not be as easy as information on other brands.

Digging into numerous forums and finding the few individuals in the know, is a challenge. Then put what you learn out there for others to learn.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

it's actually a mish mash of Goldstar and SilverStar. A Goldstar strat has a "oldies but goldies" sticker where Fender puts contour body. Under the Silver Star logo is also the goldstar blurb " The Quality Musical instruments of the World". Silver Stars have no blurb, and no "contour body" sticker. Instead they have a serial.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Back in 1982 you could buy a GoldStar (TST**) a Silver Star (TSS**) a Limited Edition ST**, a Custom Edition ST** or a Super Edition ST** with ** being the actual number 38-120. So after speaking with Tokai and reading posts on different forums, this is what we have come up with. The guitar is an SS48. Comes with ceramic pickups and baked maple on maple neck. But this has been upgraded with a colormatched headstock (catalog item) the rosewood board (catalog) and the alnico pickups from one of the Custom/Limited/Super editions (available in the catalog)... I don't know what Limited/Custom/Super denote, but one of them is dedicated to the CBS large head strats, and the other 2 for small headstock strats. 
My label was supposed to be reserved for the SS60 model and the SS80 model. See the 1982 catalog. But there are plenty of those models with the other big font logo as well, so I guess it was not written in stone which neck got which label. It is not an SS60 neck or it would have had the vintage tuners. The reason you can't see the label is as I suspected. Black font on black paint is not visible. The label was never all Gold. Picture below is from an SS60 with the vintage tuners


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