I have a '80 Reborn Old (LS-50 LP Style) that has circuit boards in the tone control cavity. I'm certain the guitar's electronics are all original as I've seen the circuit board in pictures of other Tokai guitars of similar vintage and make. However, I recently procured a '81 Love Rock LS-80 GoldTop that does not have the circuit boards. It does have what I think are two rather large cylindrical capacitors instead (I could be wrong as I'm not an electronics expert). I know the bridge pickup is a replacement. What strikes me about this beautiful guitar, which has a dark-stained body and neck with binding covering the fret ends, is that the attention to detail is incredible. The cream parts are yellowed and the top is a faded gold, giving it the look of a Tom Murphy-aged Gibson Historic Reissue. So the question is this: Did someone modify the controls (even the pots look like the original Gibson type) in an effort to give this guitar a vintage Gibson vibe or did Tokai make certain models this way, with a more vintage style control setup as commonly found on Gibson LP's? The circuit board would seem to be an electronic modernization of some type. I would think, if Tokai used them in '80, they would continue to do so thereafter rather than revert to a simple arrangement of pots and capacitors. I couldn't care less if this happens to be an aftermarket mod as the guitar is a real monster. Just curious.
Will
Will