tokai ls 120

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What do you guys think of the price? What's the usual price range for these?
Seems a bit steep to me and once you're done paying all the fees you can have a Gibson reissue for ballpark the same price if you keep your eyes open (and can get a buddy in the US to buy it for you).
 
You can pick one up for about $2500. If it had a verifiable solid top the price could even go up from there I would think. That's a bit less than historics and much more rare. :)
 
villager said:
why would you want a reisse gibson in preference to an LS-120?

Of course the best thing would be to get both in your hands before choosing. :lol: But failing that:
*You know what you're buying. With this one we don't know if it's a solid top or a veneer. I'm not even sure it is indeed an LS-120 and not a lower model. The seller seems to hedge by saying he's just supplying the description of the person he bought it from (if I understand the translation correctly, which I very well may not!).
*More choice. Nowadays on ebay you have plenty to choose from in the low 2,000s. Maybe not if you want it immediately, but if you have some patience. Recently I've seen several custom shops Gibsons (Les Pauls and SGs) go for under 2,000 USD.
*The MIJ hype and ever-increasing prices are annoying.
*From what I understand of the translation, it may need a fret job before long. That's another couple of hundred right there and a chance that the luthier will screw it up.
*You're getting the "real deal" instead of the copy.
*Proper electronics (the circuit board in the Tokai is easy to replace, but there goes another 50-100 USD).

In defense of the Tokai:
*It looks good and most likely it's a very good guitar.
*There's a chance it may further go up in value.
*Old wood.

Anyway, I don't know if it's a slam dunk, and if these really go for 2,500 I'd rather go with a historic and know what I'm buying.
 
BrazenPicker said:
villager said:
why would you want a reisse gibson in preference to an LS-120?

Of course the best thing would be to get both in your hands before choosing. :lol: But failing that:
*You know what you're buying. With this one we don't know if it's a solid top or a veneer. I'm not even sure it is indeed an LS-120 and not a lower model. The seller seems to hedge by saying he's just supplying the description of the person he bought it from (if I understand the translation correctly, which I very well may not!).
*More choice. Nowadays on ebay you have plenty to choose from in the low 2,000s. Maybe not if you want it immediately, but if you have some patience. Recently I've seen several custom shops Gibsons (Les Pauls and SGs) go for under 2,000 USD.
*The MIJ hype and ever-increasing prices are annoying.
*From what I understand of the translation, it may need a fret job before long. That's another couple of hundred right there and a chance that the luthier will screw it up.
*You're getting the "real deal" instead of the copy.
*Proper electronics (the circuit board in the Tokai is easy to replace, but there goes another 50-100 USD).

In defense of the Tokai:
*It looks good and most likely it's a very good guitar.
*There's a chance it may further go up in value.
*Old wood.

Anyway, I don't know if it's a slam dunk, and if these really go for 2,500 I'd rather go with a historic and know what I'm buying.

agree the best thing would be to try both, but:
thats an LS-120 no doubt in my mind..
more choice=less rare
the gibson hype and pricing are annoying
get a good luthier if its needed
real deal, well some people may think so.. others would disagree..
nothing wrong with the circuitboard, change the caps if you feel the need..

old wood and quality of workmanship, and rarity, thats what the tokai has..





but if you buy a historic and get a neck joint fitted so poorly its filled with polystyrene foam, you would wish you had got the tokai!!


:wink: :wink:
 
The question is buying the best guitar or the more famous name (even if the fame has gone long ago)...there's no doubt the Tokai will blow the most historics away but there's no doubt as well that even the shittiest Gibson will rise in value after a certain time...
I do not own one single Gibson and I see no reason to change that :wink:

thats an LS-120 no doubt in my mind..

From my point of view that's all you need to be sure it is a 120 BrazenPicker :wink:
 
I like Gibson guitars a lot. They can make some good stuff. But I do prefer my LS-120 to the R8 I used to have.

The Tokai, because it's 30 years old, has the broken in look and feel (and sound?) that I like. The aesthetic experience of owning and playing the Tokai is just more pleasing for me. To put it another way, the LS-120 has more of an heirloom quality, it's so well made and you can just feel that. Unfortunately, you have to hold and play one to know.
 
Well, it's good to know Villager confirms it's an LS120. Maybe if it stays this price I'll bid on it, so why don't you all stay away? :lol:

I've never played an LS120 so I'm willing to keep an open mind about it.

Not exactly that I need more guitars. It's come to the point where I'm embarassed when people come to my apartment. :oops:

But at one point I'll want a nice lemondrop Les Paul, so might as well buy it soon.
 
villager said:
enlighten me....

Purchased one Gibson Historic, and sold it 18 months later for $700 more than I paid. My auction was a 99 cent start auction - I didn't set the price. I was lucky, but of course I then lost most of the profit when I got screwed on a vintage guitar deal that went sour.

My Historic had the right combination of features (58 flame top), and I can tell you that certain years and models of Historic production were starting to be worth quite a lot extra. It's the usual internet hype and misinformation that you find on most guitars talked about on the web that does it. :wink:
 
The LS-120 listed in this thread says "Gibson" on the headstock and the case is a replacement (wiring changed too?). The Gibson thing kind of kills the value :lol:

5d04.jpg
 
Cali Girl said:
The LS-120 listed in this thread says "Gibson" on the headstock and the case is a replacement (wiring changed too?). The Gibson thing kind of kills the value :lol:

Yeah it does a bit. It's a shame that the logo was added, but just view it as an interesting historical artefact from the days when the guitar was new. Some Tokai owners (not all that many it seems) did do the old Gibson/Fender logo mod.

The logo doesn't look great to be honest - wrong colour, but maybe that means it's just on the surface and the Tokai logo is still there under a layer of black! The silk screen "Les Paul Model" has been done really well, it looks vintage.

I wonder if this LS was a Reborn, Reborn Old or a Love Rock? The serial number 00078XX means it could almost be any of them - I've seen 00070XX which was a Reborn, and it's not far off that. I've definitely seen a Love Rock with 00100XX, but there's no way they made 3000 during one year surely, so the numbers are probably not sequential?
 
Here we have a LS-150 with original case for under 2000 euros !

http://cgi.ebay.de/Tokai-Love-Rock-LS-150-Bj-1981-gut-erhalten-Koffer-/320610745566?pt=Gitarren&hash=item4aa5e3bcde

Unfortunately much to reddish for me and too far away from Singapore but BrazenPicker said anyway that he's behind a lemondrop
 

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