Mystery Tokai

[mr. tickles]

Hey all,

I just put some money down on a really nice Tokai Love rock, but I have no idea what model it is.

Here is the pic:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g43/cm_bean/Movingdaydownload056.jpg

Anyways, it appears to have a 3 piece mahogony back and a set mahogony neck. It also appears to have a flamed maple top, but I am sure that it's a vaneer.

The place that I am buying her from is not a Tokai dealar and never was one, that and the fact that it is a used guitar makes for little info other than what I could gather from playing her.

If you guys can add anything that would be fantastic!

Thanks!


Cam

 

[mr. tickles]

I forgot to mention that the serial number says that it's a 2004.


Cam

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Cam!

Difficult to say from the pics. Do you have detailled pics?

The pots look wrong IMHO. No pointed ring around them.

Cheers. Rupert

 

[Johnny-English]

Hi Cam,
The best advise I can give you is to see wot the guys on this site tell you....Be leave me they will soon guyed you away from a Lump of fire wood.

cheers
Johnny

 

[Kenmac]

Hi Cam, welcome from another Torontonian. Where are buying this from, a store, or is it a private sale? Just curious.

I forgot to mention that the serial number says that it's a 2004.


Cam

 

[TOKAI JOE]

8) it looks just like ALS48 from the latest tokai japan catalog. in 2004 maybe the model# could be a bit lower because of the list price of it in
japan that year but it can be the same model most likely and in 2007 its called ALS48. its a 48000 yen (about US$400) love rock model not made in japan i guess......

the specs say, flamed sycamore laminated top/alder back/maple set neck/
rosewood fingerboard/PAF-vintage MK4...................

hope this helps...............................................................joe 8)

 

[bobb]

A 2004 model located in Toronto, my guess would be an NALS48. Is there writing on the back of the headstock that says "Make In Korea"?

 

[mr. tickles]

Hey,

Thanks for the responses everyone!

It does say that it is made in Korea, and the guitar is being bought from a Long and Mcquade location.


The price on her is $450 Canadian dollars.

Cam

 

[mr. tickles]

Oh, and does alder look a lot like mahogony?

I swear that the back on this guitar is mahogony......


Thanks,

Cam

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and does alder look a lot like mahogony?

I swear that the back on this guitar is mahogony......


Thanks,

Cam

No, not really. Alder (Korean Tokai LS48)

Mahogany (Gibson LP Special)

Hard to describe the difference, but they do look different. Mahogany has a more noticeable grain pattern. Alder can be quite a plain looking wood. Alder tends to be lighter too.

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[bobb]

It does say that it is made in Korea,

Read it again, it should say "Make in Korea" like this:

I just noticed that "license" is also misspelled.

 

[AlanN]

It does say that it is made in Korea,

Read it again, it should say "Make in Korea" like this:

I just noticed that "license" is also misspelled.

Bless. At least we're not dating our guitars from their Selial numbers!

 

[mr. tickles]

After looking at those pics, I would say that she is mahogony. You can really see the grain pattern which makes it easier to see where the 3 slabs come together due to the grain mis-match.

I might just go pick it up and pull out the pickups and see where we are from there.

Cam

 

[Anonymous]

Surely the most common Made In Korea stamp is like this?

And I thought that Korean LRs didn't have serial numbers?

Mike

 

[bobb]

Surely the most common Made In Korea stamp is like this?

And I thought that Korean LRs didn't have serial numbers?

Mike

All the NALS LRs that I've seen have the same stamp that I posted. A quick search of the Tokai Registry shows a serial number listed with each NALS guitar.

 

[Anonymous]

I just noticed that "license" is also misspelled.

Actually, "licence" is the correct spelling of the word.

Mike

 

[AlanN]

Yep, you're right. It should be "Manufactured under licence" - license is the verb, licence is the noun.

The easy way to check is to swap a c/s word with "advise/advice", which are easier to play with as they sound differently.

"Manufactured under advise from" makes no sense.

"Manufactured under advice from" makes perfect sense.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought it was more to do with the way our cousins across the pond change the spelling of English words?

But it's perhaps best not to get into that! It could be a colourful discussion :wink:

 

[AlanN]

I suspect they may use license for both

 

[mr. tickles]

ok,

I just got home from playing my Tokai which will still be at the shop for the next few days.......

She has 1 screw on the truss rod cover, 3 piece mahogony back and a set maple neck. The top looks like sycamore, so I am guessing this guy is an als48 in what I gather from the 2001 catalog to be Violin finish, although it is more of a tangerine colour.

Oh, it also has white control cavity plates.

The pickups, which again is a guess that they are the MK4's sounded great, although more modern than I was expecting.

Cam