Hi, I have two questions for anyone familiar with Tokai Les Pauls manufactured in the 70's:
First, did any of these guitars ever come with Brazilian rosewood fingerboards?
Second, was red filler used on the back and sides of the guitar, beneath the cherry red laqueur, as on the 1950's Gibson L.P.'s?
In case you're not familiar with this, I'll explain: filler is rubbed into the tiny holes in the grain of the more porous woods, like mahogany, before the laqueur is applied. This filler can be colored, and in the case of the Gibson sunburst Les Pauls, the filler is red. If you look very closely you'll see thousands of tiny red dots--the resulting finish looks much redder than if it was just red laqueur over plain mahogany.
Any info you can give me is much appreciated.
If you're interested:
The guitar I have is a "forgery" of some type. It has a Gibson logo, and a serial number which would be consistent with an early 1958 Gibson--meaning it's nothing like a Tokai serial number. But my guitar doesn't have the proper red filler. My guitar also has a Brazilian fingerboard...which may have been added on.
I've taken the guitar to a couple owners of real 50's Gibson LP sunbursts, as well as dealers, and I'm now quite convinced that this isn't a Gibson. Without getting into the details, there are numerous things that don't match up with a fifties Gibson. And it's also not a conversion, or a 68 Gibson. One guy thought it might be a Love Rock...although it's too early for that, I purchased it in 1981. But I've looked at some Love Rocks on Ebay, and they look very close to this guitar...the color and shading of the burst, and even the type of maple on the top looks more like a Love Rock than a Gibson...so maybe it's one of the earlier Tokai LP's.
-Thanks
First, did any of these guitars ever come with Brazilian rosewood fingerboards?
Second, was red filler used on the back and sides of the guitar, beneath the cherry red laqueur, as on the 1950's Gibson L.P.'s?
In case you're not familiar with this, I'll explain: filler is rubbed into the tiny holes in the grain of the more porous woods, like mahogany, before the laqueur is applied. This filler can be colored, and in the case of the Gibson sunburst Les Pauls, the filler is red. If you look very closely you'll see thousands of tiny red dots--the resulting finish looks much redder than if it was just red laqueur over plain mahogany.
Any info you can give me is much appreciated.
If you're interested:
The guitar I have is a "forgery" of some type. It has a Gibson logo, and a serial number which would be consistent with an early 1958 Gibson--meaning it's nothing like a Tokai serial number. But my guitar doesn't have the proper red filler. My guitar also has a Brazilian fingerboard...which may have been added on.
I've taken the guitar to a couple owners of real 50's Gibson LP sunbursts, as well as dealers, and I'm now quite convinced that this isn't a Gibson. Without getting into the details, there are numerous things that don't match up with a fifties Gibson. And it's also not a conversion, or a 68 Gibson. One guy thought it might be a Love Rock...although it's too early for that, I purchased it in 1981. But I've looked at some Love Rocks on Ebay, and they look very close to this guitar...the color and shading of the burst, and even the type of maple on the top looks more like a Love Rock than a Gibson...so maybe it's one of the earlier Tokai LP's.
-Thanks