Help! What do I have? MIJ Tokai Love Rock

[Matthew Dickin]

Note how the fretboard openings were cut on that LS320 I linked. Look at the corners.

The corners on the inlays on my fingerboard are unlike any I've ever seen - if they weren't so consistent, I would have thought they were mistakes!

 

[Sigmania]

I can't tell from the pics if there is a yellowish tint to them.

The inlay routs are what stand out for me. Like I said, I have only seen that on LS320s on Tokais.

I have seen it on a Korean guitar and wondered if they contracted someone else for the fretboards?

Somewhere on here there is a short discussion of that, but no conclusion reached, just interesting.

 

[Sigmania]

Here is a 2021 LS540 with the same routing.

I wonder if these are special boards like Barazilian?

Maybe guitarhiro will come along. He has an LS320 and quite knowledgable.

Tokai LS540-5A Custom Shop JM ROLPH Honey Burst #2145609 | Reverb Australia

• Model: Les Paul
• Construction: Solid, Long Tenon
• Body: Selected Honduras mahogany 1 piece
• Top: AAAAA Canadian Flamed maple 2 pieces
• Neck: Honduras mahogany 1 piece
• Fingerboard: Brazilian Rosewood
• Neck Construction: Set-neck
• Neck profile: Asymmetry U shape / 22F / R300
• Nut width: 43mm
• Nut material: Bone
• Frets: 22
• Fret Type: Jescar FW47104(Medium Jumbo Size) Made in USAFret Edge Binding
• Scale: 625mm
• Tuners: Gotoh SD90-SL
• Pickups: J.M Rolph Set
• Controls: 2 volume (CTS), 2 tone, 3 position selector (switchcraft)
• Condenser: Vintage Bumblebee
• Bridge: Tokai Original. HLS-VB (brass saddle) bridge, Tokai Original. HLS-VT neck, aluminum tailpiece.
• Hardware: Relic
• Color: Lemon Drop
• Finish: Nitrocellulose
• Includes Deluxe 59 case Made in Japan
• Strings: GHS 10-46
• SN: #2145609
• Weight: 4,295 Kg

 

[Sigmania]

That does not look like typical Indian rosewood...

 

[Matthew Dickin]

Thanks so much. I'm really confused now, but it's super interesting. The board has always intrigued me.

All I can say is that it's a phenomenal guitar - weighs 8.7lbs and is a joy to play. It's showing its age a bit, with a few dings here and there.

 

[Sigmania]

Nice. And welcome to the club... I am often confused by Tokais.

Like I said, it is quite possible that it is a special order guitar, and then all bets are off.

Here are a few that are limited run/special order guitars:

Hibiki HLS Models

"Reborn Old" Reborn

Special Limited Run Tokai LS Models

There are others.

 

[Sigmania]

2010 R8 Reborn Old special order.

Tokai Reborn Old 2010 Desert Sunburst | Reverb

 

[settebello]

Would you say that the inlays on mine are the dish or the amber ones? I can't tell!




For me they're amber cell.

For me they're amber cell.

 

[Matthew Dickin]

The plot thickens!

Thank you all for your help. Looking at all of the catalogues/specs that have been shared here, it definitely seems to check out as having more in common with an LS250 than an LS150, but with Orange Drops rather than Black Beauties.

Is it the case that LS150s in 2010 didn't have MOP headstock inlays (I don't know what the standard inlay looks like)?

What a fun mystery.

 

[Matthew Dickin]

I guess it's virtually impossible to know how the maple cap would be described ... Just 'flamed', AA, AAA etc. Is it only about amount, depth of figuring?

 

[Matthew Dickin]

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

I guess it's virtually impossible to know how the maple cap would be described ... Just 'flamed', AA, AAA etc. Is it only about amount, depth of figuring?

AFAIK there are no obligatory standards for "tonewood" grading, every manufacturer uses their own grading schemes also for figured maple tops.

https://spinditty.com/instruments-gear/AA-AAA-or-AAAA-What-does-it-mean-on-Maple-Top-Guitars
http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/USA/Les-Paul-Traditional.aspx

 

[Matthew Dickin]

Thanks everyone for the help, and the links to other guitars. Having looked at a lot of threads, I definitely think my guitar has amber cell inlays, and the rest of the specs also check out as different to the ULS150 I thought I had. The one thing I'm still not sure about is the Orange Drop capacitors rather than Black Beauties.

So I guess maybe some kind of custom order, or owner mods before I got the guitar. it's a very nice enigma to have.

 

[Udonitron]

Hi,

First time post here, wondering if you could help me get to the bottom of what model my MIJ Love Rock is? I have always thought it was a ULS150, but - having looked through various catalogues where I can't find a 150 with the right specs) I'm not sure what it is. No stamps anywhere. Serial number is 1024311, which I think means 2010?

Photos attached here, but key specs are: one-piece back, two-piece flamed maple cap (not veneer), long tenon, MOP headstock inlay, CTS pots and Orange Drop caps. Unmarked pickups with braided cables. Violin finish. Nitro. Bone nut.

(Truss rod cover, poker chip, knobs are non original.)

Any ideas?

Thanks so much!
Matthew

Gallery here
View attachment 12276

Wasn't that on Yahoo not long ago? And it went for quite cheap? I recall watching one and thinking it was going to go a lot more than it did and it had a solid flame top on it, good score if so

 

[Matthew Dickin]

Wasn't that on Yahoo not long ago? And it went for quite cheap? I recall watching one and thinking it was going to go a lot more than it did and it had a solid flame top on it, good score if so

This is a different one - I bought it second hand in the UK from a store that didn't know what it was (beyond it being a Japanese-made Tokai). I'd always thought it was an LS150 from the catalogue descriptions (particularly the Orange Drops, solid top and single piece back) that I'd seen but - looking closer - it doesn't quite add up. Or maybe it does... I can't tell

 

[Matthew Dickin]

@Sigmania , can you help me to decode the serial number?

It's 1024311 - I think that the first two digits are the year, 2010. Do the other digits, 24311 signify anything?

Thinking, for example of Gibson serials, where the day of production and number are inferable. (I quite like knowing my guitar's birthday )

 

[Sigmania]

Unless there is a production stamp inside, the year is the best we can do, 2010.

A lot of Tokais have an ink stamp in the neck pickup cavity that can give you the month at least. It would be two numbers with a hyphen in between.

The 24311 is a running count of units made. Not sure when that count reset.

 

[Sigmania]

I wonder if you tried contacting Tokai directly if they might have a record of the order this guitar was a part of? Worth a try.

 

[Matthew Dickin]

I wonder if you tried contacting Tokai directly if they might have a record of the order this guitar was a part of? Worth a try.

Thank you, will do!

 

[Matthew Dickin]

I will let update the thread if I learn anything interesting