Tokai Forum - a subsidiary of TokaiRegistry.com

It's a factory finish. Tokai have done matte finishes from time to time but they are not a regular feature of the catalogue. Most of the ones I remember were coded MVF (matte violin finish), I don't remember seeing one in matte cherry so this is an interesting example. The guitar itself looks to be ...

I'm having a hard time finding the specs but based purely on the price and model number code I'm certain it'll be veneer.

A solid spalted quilt top on a guitar of that price is just too good to be true. I paid that kind of money for a Tokai with a solid flame top, and that was 20 years ago.

It's Japanese for sure. Probably an LS85F - the mid-range model with a flamed sycamore veneer. You might learn more by taking out the pickups and looking for handwritten markings. Price is difficult for me to call. It's clearly heavily used, and the mods don't add anything to the value (if anything ...

Caps are not paper in oil, they're orange drops which I believe are polypropylene.

Your first link gives you the answer, It was "ACTIVE MUSICAL PRODUCTS LTD", that commissioned the fake Tokai's. Then I admitted my mistake and posted the correct one. I will do so again. Click the link to "New love rocks". https://web.archive.org/web/20030720053953/http://www.tokaiguitars.com/ As t...

There's a wealth of info on the Canadian fakes on this very forum. Use the search term "fakai". IIRC they were made for a place called Mike's Music in or around 2005. Made in Korea but in a different factory without Tokai knowing. The semi hollows had an altered Tokai logo and the LP copies had a di...

*sigh* Ok, wrong website. Here's the correct one (even though the info at the time was correct and the fakes were about 5 years away from being commissioned) Follow the links to "new love rocks"... https://web.archive.org/web/20030720053953/http://www.tokaiguitars.com/ Even without the website evide...

Hi people.... I was on these forums from 2000 til around 2010. I won't go into my forced absence here but needless to say from reading the forums there is a desperate need for knowledge. I've been on these forums continuously since then, and from your replies on the "please help me" thread it seems...

These look like they were Korean built...Agile maybe? They've got a similar headstock and stumpy lower bout. This wasn't the Canadian Tokai site from the 80's was it :p Not Agile. Tokai Japan. Website is the official English language Tokai Japan website. We've answered the OP's question. Stop tryin...

So because the LesPaul forum says it's legit...it must be legit? No, it's legit because Tokai made those guitars for a number of years around the turn of the millennium for the US market, as stated above. https://web.archive.org/web/20020609005900/http://www.tokai-guitars.com/guitars.html As you ca...

Agreed, looks real but it's not MIJ and as such it's way overpriced.

It'll be rosewood for that model/year. The Customs only started getting ebony on the premium series about 5 years later. You may find a bit more info if you take out the pickups, sometimes the model number is pencilled into the cavity. It's nice that it still has the MIJ sticker, they don't often su...

It's hard to tell because the photos are still terrible (what does it say on the back of the headstock???), but it looks like one of the old US models. Japanese made but with a shape and control layout intended to pacify a certain big brand's lawyers. I think it's a 2001 but there's not much info ou...

Yes, the bridge posts are M4

The listing you linked to are incorrect. All MIJ Tokai 'Gibson' types have always had metric nickel hardware, which can make finding specialised replacement parts a nightmare since everyone assumes that imperial = nickel and metric = chrome, just like the sellers you linked to above! The difference ...