thanks dave, the reason i am interested is, i would like to get hold of a good tokai love rock, and i totally agree the older ones do seem to sound/feel better. maybe tokai tried harder back then to replicate the gibsons/fenders, or as you say it could be just the age of the wood.
never having had the chance to play one, does the step up to a nitrocellulose
finish make much difference to the sound/tone quality, in which case an eighties ls 100 and above or a modern 150 and above would be the ones to go for.
as for the colour, that modern lemondrop flame does it for me, though the gibson vintage sunburst is cool. what bugs me, is you only seem to be able to find these finishes on the modern chinese als48, or on epi's. :-?
gerben has a great looking vf120 for sale, but 1750 euros is too much for me,just have to keep looking i suppose.
cheers-jonah.