HELP! What model is this awesome Tokai Love Rock?

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Hi guys,

I bought this guitar a few years ago not knowing much about it. From what I can gather it was made in Japan in 2002 (Serial: 0205132) and based on a Les Paul Standard. Here are some pics:

bodyuz.jpg


fullba.jpg


headstock.jpg



The flametop finish is outstanding - my rubbish pictures don't do it justice. It's also a bit redder/fiery than what you see in the pics - I found this image of another guitar which looks similar to the actual finish: http://www.japanguitars.co.uk/Resized DSCF6434.jpg

There are no marks of a removed scratchplate and judging from the catalogues on here it doesn't look like the Zebra pickups are stock.

It's a great guitar and I need to find out its value for insurance purposes. Has anyone got ideas on what model it could be?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Does it have a 1 piece back? if it has it could be a LS-320,there weren't many models without a pickguard. Some pics inside the front pickup cavity and in the control cavity on the back would help a lot, sometimes the model number will be in the front pickup cavity.

Mick
 
Thanks for the swift response - will try to get some more pics of the cavities tonight.

Forgive my ignorance but what's a 1 piece back?
 
A one piece back means that the body is made from one piece of mahogany instaed of two or even 3 pieces,glued together.You can check this by taking a close look to the back of the guitar.If it has more than one piece a seam is normally always visible.
Here's a pic from a 2 pievce back:

OBG93011.jpg
 
I don't think it's a 320, fret ends are unbound and flame isn't that OTT.

The board is pretty dark though, and the lack of pickguard suggests it could be a 200.
 
Pegcityrocker said:
Looks like an LS85F MVF (Matt Violin Finish). It's definitely an MVF color and I have only ever seen those on LS85's. The model number has changed over the last few years as prices have risen; it is now an LS98F MVF.

Great guitars, I've owned a few.

http://www1.odn.ne.jp/tokaigakki/products/vintage/ls98fmatt.html

I agree...LS98F MVF, with MK2 pickups.
Although, it should have come stock with a pickguard, and if the pickguard was removed the holes should still be there.
 
Diamond said:
Pegcityrocker said:
Looks like an LS85F MVF (Matt Violin Finish). It's definitely an MVF color and I have only ever seen those on LS85's. The model number has changed over the last few years as prices have risen; it is now an LS98F MVF.

Great guitars, I've owned a few.

http://www1.odn.ne.jp/tokaigakki/products/vintage/ls98fmatt.html

I agree...LS98F MVF, with MK2 pickups.
Although, it should have come stock with a pickguard, and if the pickguard was removed the holes should still be there.

Most of the MIJ Tokais sold in Finland are sold without the pickguards attached. Pickguards are delivered if you want it with guitar, but no holes are pre drilled. At the moment I have one LS85Q from 2004 without any holes for the pickguard. It's for sale in the classifeds section by the way.

Matti
 
Upon further inspection I've found that the back is definitely a two-piece.

No stamps in the pickup cavities but there were a couple of Kanji characters and something that looked like 'T-2'.

Here are some more pics:

pickups.jpg


cavity.jpg
 
To my eyes the neck tenon looks exactly like the LS160 neck tenon, what's the difference?
 
Diamond said:
To my eyes the neck tenon looks exactly like the LS160 neck tenon, what's the difference?

LS-160 has the little tongue at the end that fits into that hollowed out bit in front of the neck tenon in the above picture. My guess would be that it makes squat all difference to the playability and tone!
 

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