New to the Forum with a question already!!!

Hi guys,

I have just joined the forum and it seems to be jam opacked with info... hours and hours of reading!!

I am really interested in a guitar that is for sale in my local rag. The seller says it is an 'LS75 with a violin finish in amber'. I have a serial number - 0306374. Is there any way of finding out more about this guitar - year or confirmation of the model? Where do those models come quality wise in Tokais lineup? The asking price is ?475 / $586.

I have attached a pic that he sent me which I hope comes out here

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v21/albertf/Tokai/?action=view&current=Tokai_LS75.jpg

Sorry guys for so many questions!!!

All the best Albert F

Welcome to the forum Albert!

I'm not the forum expert on the various models, but I think I'm right in saying that this one was made in 2003.

It'll have a solid maple top with, probably, a 2-piece mahogany body; one piece mahogany neck with the usual added 'wings' on the headstock.

Gotoh hardware and pickups. Poly finish (not nitro). Tenon that is what in Gibson terms is called 'intermediate'. That is, longer and better than the Gibson LP Stds, but without the last little bit that makes the 'smile' in the neck pickup route like the Historics (and the old 'uns of course).

Tokai make some more up-market models that have a nitro finish, long tenon (I believe), upgraded hardware etc.

Most people here would (rightly) say that 'your' guitar is better than a Gibson Std but not quite the equal of a Gibson Historic.

Now we sit and wait for people to correct me... 8)

Best wishes,
Ian

Thanks Ian that helps a lot. I am really tempted by the guitar!!!

Albert

Nice looking guitar! Any idea what those pickups are? They certainly aren't stock.

Hi Albert!

I make that GBP317. Sounds like a great price to me, all things being equal.

Ian

Thanks guys,

I've emailed the seller back looking for more info on the conditton and
alterations made and will keep you posted.

Albert

Hi Albert ? be careful! There?s not enough in that photo to see what that guitar is at all. Not enough to show which model it is, nor whether it?s Japanese or Korean. If it comes to that ? not even enough to confirm it?s a Tokai!

?Violin Finish? normally means flamed/striped wood grain (which would definitely be veneer on an LS75), however, the photo appears to show a top with plain grain (ie not Violin flame).

You need at least a close-up photo of the headstock, front & back ? Korean models usually have a different shaped truss cover & white cavity covers (black on MIJ) - many have no serial number, but I wouldn?t bank on that.

Ian.

Another possible indicator is that the Korean pick guards are bevelled on the outside edge.

I *thought* Violin Finish referred to the colour of the sunburst rather than the wood...

Ian

Hi Ian,

The Head pics I have.

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v21/albertf/Tokai/?action=view&current=Tokai_Head.jpg

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v21/albertf/Tokai/?action=view&current=Tokai_Back.jpg

Soes this shed any light?

Albert

Hi Albert!

Looks like a Japanese Tokai to me. The truss rod cover is the right shape (I replaced mine with a Gibson one), the serial number looks like mine, the hardware looks like mine as well.

Ian

Hi Ian

So is yours a veneer top then??

Albert

Hi Albert!

Sorry about the delay - I started to reply but the offer of that most rare thing beckoned (a free lunch!).

ArthurS has the twin sister to my Tokai - you can see it here in this thread...

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3025&highlight=

Yes, it's a veneer top.

Ian

Hi Ian,

I saw the pics of your twin guitar - what a beauty, congrats!!!!

How thick is the veneer? Soes it affect the sound / tone in any way or even the present asking price?

I was looking at as many Love Rock guitars that I could and I noticed that teh truss rod cover on mine has only two screws - top and bottom as on the Japanese models. Whereas there are three on the Koreans (one top, two bottom). Is that fair to say or do they tend to vary?

You must be sick at this stage of answering all my questions which must be silly to you.

Thanks again.

Albert

Albert F said:

Hi Ian,

I saw the pics of your twin guitar - what a beauty, congrats!!!!

How thick is the veneer? Soes it affect the sound / tone in any way or even the present asking price?

I was looking at as many Love Rock guitars that I could and I noticed that teh truss rod cover on mine has only two screws - top and bottom as on the Japanese models. Whereas there are three on the Koreans (one top, two bottom). Is that fair to say or do they tend to vary?

You must be sick at this stage of answering all my questions which must be silly to you.

Thanks again.

Albert

Click to expand...

The one you're looking at buying doesn't have a veneer, that's solid maple. The consensus is that veneers have a minimal impact on tone. They do however have a huge impact on price. A flamed veneer will set you back an extra ?100-150.

The general rule is that black back plates + 2 truss rod cover screws = japanese, whereas 3 screws + cream plates = korean. There's a few exceptions but that one look japanese.

Hi Albert ? sorry, if I confused things by sounding a note of caution ? sounds like Ian-H may have a similar model & can perhaps tell us if the top is veneer or solid. But as I say, it looks to me like a solid top, simply because MIJ Tokai generally reserved veneer for fancy flamed effects.

Agree; truss-rod cover looks like a modern Japanese one, ie bullet shape with 2 screws (Korean usually has 3). The impressed S/N is also regarded as sign of Japanese manufacture. If seller insists it is Japanese, then that seems OK (nothing necessarily wrong with Korean, but just need to know what you?re buying).

Re. checking model number ? as a new guitar it probably had a little oval sticker saying ?75?, if that?s lost then maybe seller still has the original sales receipt? Otherwise it?s necessary to check fittings & see if they match original 2003 spec for LS75 (sometimes the model number is written in the pickup cavity).

Ian-H ... you may well be right about ?Violin? finish, perhaps Tokai & others use it to mean the colour nowadays ? in my defence, I remember the term from decades back when I think most people used it to mean the stripy grain pattern typically seen on old violins, I think it was also called ?fiddle-back? :-? .

Ian-S.


Ian-S.

Yup, IMO, the truss rod cover & stamped serial no. indicate a Japanese built Love Rock.

IMHO it's an LS70 not an LS75, as the 75's usually have a quilt maple top, where that one looks like it's the flame sycamore veneer, as used on the LS70's (I used to have one that had a very similar top to it).

Notwithstanding, at 475 Euro's or ?317, it sounds like an absolute bargain to me.

Hi!

>> [Ian-S said] the stripy grain pattern typically seen on old violins, I think it was also called ?fiddle-back?

I know what you mean. In the Beauty of the Burst book they call it pinstripe.

You know, I think I'll adopt your Ian-X nomenclature, Ian. Great idea (even though it brings back memories of the Spice Girls :-? ).

I believe my LS80 is similarly made, except for the top. Mine has the Sycamore veneer on top of the half-inch maple top; Albert's looks to be a 2-piece maple top that has a nice flat-sawn grain pattern (ie a plain top - no veneer, no figuring).

Any more news, Albert?

Ian-H

Hi Ian and all,

Thanks for the replies. I'm away from my computer at the moment and am waiting for more news on the guitar. I'll let you know as soon as I have word.

Albert

Hi Albert, I would say LS75 would be correct, it's the plain top and the older one was the LS65. The LS70 is now the LS80, I have an LS70F with violin finish serial is 020 making it 2002, so that one is 2003.

Very nice tokai btw, I do like that violin finish, it just looks vintage
If it's ok for that price it's cheap as chips.....

ps, I don't think the pups are standard, ask the seller for more details.

Albert - you need to buy that guitar!

The price is right, it's great looking, and those aftermarket (I'm assuming) pickups look quite intersesting. In Tokai-ese, "violin finish" does refer to the colour, which is that faded ice-tea shade. Because its a plaintop rather than a flametop, it has a solid maple top, as opposed to the flamed veneer added over a solid maple top on the next model up. This model has a couple of interesting features - such as the "dimple" at the top of the headstock, which I didn't know was in use again; and the slotted pickup ring adjustment screws, as opposed to the normally found Philips-head ones. And if you really want to get into AVH territory (and I'm not gonna tell you what that means!), I love the coarse knurled switchtip washer.

Also, I can almost bet it sounds great. There was a mention of Tokai's being better that stock Gibsons, but lesser than Historic reissue Gibsons - well, that was always my contention too, but I have just purchased a brand new Les Paul Historic R9 - my supposed "dream" guitar - and let me tell you - my Love Rock blows it away on many levels. The R9 was ten times the price of the Tokai you're looking at...

Albert - you need this guitar!