80's, 90's, or Les Paul Reborn?

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Funchadelik

New member
Joined
Jul 24, 2019
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Hi!
I've had this for years and can't place the year or model other than assuming it's an LS.

Best of my knowledge, I'm the 4th owner. I acquired it around '98. There's been modifications to the head stock inlays, nut, keys, and the rear pickup was replaced with a DiMarzio.

The head stock itself looks like it has been cut and reattached (see close-up's). I had the pots and input rewired recently. Two of the pots are original (I believe) but there is no sign of a serial number anywhere on the body which I can find.

Any opinions, ideas, or help to solve this ongoing mystery is appreciated.

Thanks!

https://ibb.co/zZqfD84 https://ibb...ttps://ibb.co/9hqWr8w https://ibb.co/4ddMLtL
 
If i had to guess that its a refashioned Tokai of some sort it would be a Made in Korea one. They had no serials and white/cream back plastics. Bridge posts also seem Korean
 
brokentoes said:
If i had to guess that its a refashioned Tokai of some sort it would be a Made in Korea one. They had no serials and white/cream back plastics. Bridge posts also seem Korean

Thanks. I'm almost certain it's MIJ, only because I knew the previous owner in 96 and this pre-dates that.

Also the headstock itself has that open book style, which, to the best of my knowledge the MIK's had a "point" in the headstock design and didn't begin production until late 90's.
 
Joint looks like a typicsl scarf. I'm now convinced it's not a Tokai.


the quality is awful now that I can see it on my pc screen instead of my moby.
 
Bridge posts, tailpiece alignment, neck joint, electronics cavity, black plates - all point to Korean-made.

It's not a Tokai headstock. The original tuners were not the Kluson style. The holes are in the wrong place, there's no hole in the right place, and the residue profile is all wrong. Looks like they were cheap crap. With it's history I guess it could have had another head glued on after a disastrous break.
 
mdvineng said:
HONDO 80's?
https://reverb.com/item/10911347-1983-hondo-revival-h748-cherry-sunburst

Wow! That's a good eye. I'm convinced you nailed it. Thank you!
 
If that is a Hondo - interesting that both it and the one on Reverb have got the same joint line across the back of the headstock where it joins the neck.

Hard to imagine both were broken and repaired in almost exactly the same way.

Is that perhaps just the way they were manufactured, with the headstocks being made as a separate component, then joined to the neck ?
 
-Alan- said:
If that is a Hondo - interesting that both it and the one on Reverb have got the same joint line across the back of the headstock where it joins the neck.

Hard to imagine both were broken and repaired in almost exactly the same way.

Is that perhaps just the way they were manufactured, with the headstocks being made as a separate component, then joined to the neck ?

See my first post on this topic
 
Yeah I read it.

Doesn't answer the question though. You said yours looks like there's been. a repair - my question is whether it's likely that both were damaged and repaired in almost exactly the same way or whether there's another possible or probable explanation ?
 
Had to google to see what a scarf joint actually is there :)

Based on the similarity between those two joins on the headstocks and the finishes on each, it looks very much to me like they could very well have come out of the factory that way.

To the OP - my apologies, I misquoted you: it was somebody else who suggested the headstock had been repaired, sorry.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top