Tokai Love Rock identification mid 1990 (1995)

[LoveP.A.F]

Hi Everyone!

I have a Tokai Love Rock for identification plesae
The seller told me, he bought it in Finland in the year 1995-96, and in the shop they told him it was from Korea.

I tried the Guitar, and it is a dream to play... thin neck, low action (1.9 mm 12 fret low E string, 1.2 mm high E string)... long sustain (longer than the Gibson SG), no string buzz, very little neck relief ...almost straight.
At first I was captured by a Color; a kind of Larry Carlton orange sunburst, than went to try it an the price was just irresistible.

It is a short tenon one piece set neck (no asian cut).
The inlays are not set with the highest precision (similar to some epiphones)... on a few of them you can see a small gap filled with wood dust and glue around some of them, but You can not feel it under your fingers, so, it is not a problem at all.
The Bridge and tail fits the Epiphone dimensions, the electronics are some very small 500 K pots with small shiny green capacitors, but they work flawlessly ...so, no complains :lol:

The strange thing is that there is no serial number to be found, nor a country of origin so I would be interested if someone can identify it for me please.
Not that I would be disappointed if it were a fake, because it plays wonderfully, and I have no intention to sell it, but just to satisfy my curiosity.

So, here are some details (pictures)

 

[Reborn Old]

Hi love PAF,
Welcome !

Everything from the previous seller is consistent with the production period and country of origin of your Tokai.
Made in Korea models didn't have serial numbers.
It would have been an ALS-36 if the neck is bolt-on and ALS-42 (ALS-48 today ) if it has a fixed neck.
This thread might be of interest to you to confirm estimated production date of your guitar: http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=20753

It would be nice to have members post their MIK Tokai pics in that thread
along with original purchase info, to help new members identify theirs, should you be so inclined.

Nice guitar !

 

[LoveP.A.F]

Thanks Reborn Old !

Yes, comparing mine with the few pictures on the link You gave me it seem a 1995 ALC-48 fixed neck or ALS-42 fixed neck
It is still unclear to me which of the two it is.

It is no laminate body ... from what i can see there are two pieces of alder of similar grain... the top piece is just a tad lighter in color

1995~1997* two screw pointed bell TRC, ALS + ALC series catalog intro in 1995 had 3 models: ALS-36 bolt on neck + ALS-42, ALC-48 fixed neck.

The build quality is not of the highest, there are a few minor sloppinesses:
- The truss rod access hole is not dead centered,
- the fret markers (black dots on the binding) are not perfectly centered on the binding stripe,
- the paint on the body is not perfectly scraped from the binding
- the neck/body joint (where the tenon enters the body) is not a perfect filigrane fit (there is a minor gap of 0.2 mm that is filled with glue on each side that you can see from the pickup cavity side... on the out side is of course perfect)
- the pickup cavities are not painted, it is bare wood

But despite all those "flaws" i must admit this is the guitar that best fits in my hand (I am past 40 yrs. old and played a lot of Gibsons, Fenders, Ibanezes and so on...)
It is so easy to play it that is almost unbelievable.
The tone is also very good... I like it better than the Gibson SG, but it is not "deep" enough to be compared with the Gibson LP, although it sustains better than any LP I had in my hand (at that point, very questionable are all the sustain debates that are attributing the long sustain to instruments with the body/neck joint, since as said before, on this guitar the fit is not perfect.)

Of course, I am aware that this is one of the lowest Tokai models and that not much are to be expected from a 150 Euro Guitar.

Anyway, I am very very happy with it, no intonation problems, no tuning problems... no problems of any kind that affect playability.
I will have to buy some of the Higher models (100 - 150) made in Japan when some more money will be available to me, to see what is the story behind them ... if this simple low quality non Japanese model performs so well i just can not imagine how the LC 150 performs and sounds.

BRAVO TOKAI!!!

Here how it sounds (I am no pro ) :
Neck pickup: https://www.box.com/s/zuptl8fi5v4jugi3enmb
Bridge pickup: https://www.box.com/s/w81mco12xovcyeapqlqx

Credits for the backing tracks to Guitarbackingtracks.com

ps.
When I`ll be sure what model this one is (1995 ALC-48 or ALS-42) , I will be glad to post the images in the Thread You linked.

Thanks again, and sorry for my poor English.

 

[Reborn Old]

ALS was the prefix for export Standard models and ALC for Customs.

The model designation would have been ALS-42 in 1995-97 for yours.
and ALS-48 in 1998 and later catalogs.

Thanks for the detailed writeup + pics !

 

[LoveP.A.F]

Great, ALS-42 it is then.
You were very helpful thanks again Reborn Old

Today I will update the link about Korean Tokais for others in search of informations.

Cheers!