Tokai Les Paul model ?

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chicago

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Found on eBay:

Tokai Les Paul S/N 9502109, produced in 1995

http://i9.ebayimg.com/04/i/04/a4/b2/cc_1_b.JPG
http://i1.ebayimg.com/03/i/04/b0/2e/0e_1_b.JPG

Who knows what model could it be ?
 
Headstock pic 1 and 2:
http://i19.ebayimg.com/02/i/04/af/36/41_1_b.JPG
http://i24.ebayimg.com/03/i/04/b5/9d/02_1_b.JPG
 
I took the plunge and bought it. I am pretty sure it's a LS-80F. That top was just too sweet
 
Hey, hey, Buckwild, that is not fair. I discovered this baby first. 3 hours long I pushed the BUY-IT-NOW-BUTTON. Computers... :evil:

Buckwild, Congratulation!! It does'nt matter which model it is! It is absolutely an outstanding finish. Go to the editor of the book "Beauty of Bursts". I'm sure, he'll ask you, to may have a pic from her, for its front cover.

Lucky man. :D
 
So who put the Les Paul Logo on headstock? Presumably not Tokai?

Ian.
 
On Les Paul forum BOTB (Beauty of The Burst) is treated like a bible, though I found it rather disappointing. 95% of it is just eye candy pictures of flamed wooden tops. At the back there?s some useful but fairly brief discussion of original id features (eg ?chew? marks etc), but I found their discussion of wood & grain production unconvincing & seemed to me amateurish (maybe I need to read it again more carefully, hmm? maybe). :(

Of course the book is strictly confined to Gibson & only to original Les Pauls from period 1958 to 1960, although from time to time people have suggested that some of those guitars may be fakes (or else rebuilds or conversions). I?ve no idea if that?s true, but the suggestion is always met with an outcry on Les Paul forum, because of course each of those guitars is owned by a private collector & each has invested up to $.25million in it ? I suppose they?d likely sue anyone who implied their original burst was less than genuine. :-?

Ian.
 
I find BOTB to be most informative. What other book has more info on the Les Paul and what makes it tic? Why the pups are what they are, explanations of the way the wood was cut, imprtance and significance of neck angles, etc.... Actually most of the owners of those guitars have very little invested in them as they've owned them a long time. They are worth a lot now though. There have been many discussions of the three guitars in that book that some say are replicas. Very few people posting on internet boards now anything other than what they read on an internet board. Make sure you deferentiate between passed on gossip and info based on first hand experience. How can you discuss and insinuate a guitar is not what it's claimed to be if you are not an expert and have not personally handled that guitar yourself?
 
Hi Tubedog, if I may quote you ? ?Make sure you deferentiate between passed on gossip and info based on first hand experience. How can you discuss and insinuate a guitar is not what it's claimed to be if you are not an expert and have not personally handled that guitar yourself? ?.

OK, which non-expert did you think was ?discussing & insinuating a guitar?? :roll: ? Did you think I was doing that? If that?s what you thought then you need to read my post again.

What I said was that in the past some people had made such suggestions, but I said I had no idea if it was true. And then I added that guys on Les Paul forum had pointed out that owners had a big investment in those guitars & would probably be pretty unhappy at any such suggestions. That?s entirely the opposite of what you seemed to think I said.

As for you enjoying the book, that?s fine. As I say, I didn?t think much of it. :-?

Ian.
 
togps said:
Hey, hey, Buckwild, that is not fair. I discovered this baby first. 3 hours long I pushed the BUY-IT-NOW-BUTTON. Computers... :evil:

Buckwild, Congratulation!! It does'nt matter which model it is! It is absolutely an outstanding finish. Go to the editor of the book "Beauty of Bursts". I'm sure, he'll ask you, to may have a pic from her, for its front cover.

Lucky man. :D

Hi out there, that's pretty funny togps, seems that Ebay.de was sort of blocked :( I wanted that lady so bad , still have no Japanese girlfriend!!

He Buckwild, do you now, that LS 80F are rising in price now, congratulations :wink: Hot ROD
 
After some time not seeing it, I took the book again and I read slowly.Ok, there are a lot of pictures,OK not much text,but it's very informative to me.You can see a superb atention to detail wich only a japanese can get(or a German) :wink: Yashuiko Iwanade has been a Fender and Gibson Masterbuilder in the past.Another excellent book from him I am not able to get for myself (out of edition unluckily) is "Galaxy of strats".

I remember here a thread about Tokai measurements(great idea!) taken from that book.Tokai are very close to that 50's Gibbo.A lot of details are very similar.
 
ian said:
Hi Tubedog, if I may quote you ? ?Make sure you deferentiate between passed on gossip and info based on first hand experience. How can you discuss and insinuate a guitar is not what it's claimed to be if you are not an expert and have not personally handled that guitar yourself? ?.

OK, which non-expert did you think was ?discussing & insinuating a guitar?? :roll: ? Did you think I was doing that? If that?s what you thought then you need to read my post again.

What I said was that in the past some people had made such suggestions, but I said I had no idea if it was true. And then I added that guys on Les Paul forum had pointed out that owners had a big investment in those guitars & would probably be pretty unhappy at any such suggestions. That?s entirely the opposite of what you seemed to think I said.

As for you enjoying the book, that?s fine. As I say, I didn?t think much of it. :-?

Ian.


I was speaking in general, sorry if I hit a nerve with you.
 
Well guys it came today and not without it's fair share of problems. The frets have some pretty heavy wear which I am disappointed about. There are a few dead spots but I think this has to do with the frets. The tuners are all in really bad shape, woobly, and not holding tune very well. Also there are some really big dents on the headstock and top of the guitar. However, she looks stellar and doesn't play that bad at all. I'm gonna slap some grovers on it and put in some new electronics and pickups. It will be smoking when I'm done. I'm in the process of trying to get some compensation from the seller since he did a little shall we say false advertising. here are the pics

ls802.jpg

ls803.jpg

ls801.jpg
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buckwild said:
Also there are some really big dents on the headstock and top of the guitar.
By the way, where's that "Les Paul logo" Ian saw, did he mix up something? How many parts does the mahogany body have?
 
Hey Everybody

I'm putting this baby up for sale on ebay tonight! I just bought a LS-320 from IShibashi so I need the funds.

Cheers

Joe
 
Hey Joe!

Sorry the LS80 didn't work out. I'm sure the LS320 will be everything you want. It can be very difficult to buy a guitar without having it in your hands first. I know that Tokai enthusiasts can't always have that privilege, especially if they live in the U.S.A. A very thorough questioning of an ebay seller is obviously required before a purchase is even contemplated.

Enjoy the 320!
 
Well the LS-80F is a fine guitar but recently I've wanted a LS-320. I got Ishibashi's last one. I think Tokai has few LS-320's left cause they are getting ready for a new model-this according to Noriko.
 
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