Peter Mac said:
well, i'm with ochay...LS120's have solid flame tops - not veneer. They were cheaper than the LS150 because they didn't have DiMarzio pups, but the build specs are identical according to my research.
Peter, this is the thread that ochay is probably referring to:
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4693
Villager mentions his Japanese guitar buyer who had translated the available 1981 and 1982 catalogs (mind you, 1980 and 1983 are not available at least on the main site yet), and on the second page of that thread Daizo also confirmed for the 1981 catalog that the LS120 would have a veneer. They both don't mention the passage and/or page where this info is included. Villager (or his guitar buyer) then draws a conclusion to 1980 and 1983 models which is a bit too quick in my opinion.
By the way, the LS120 is listed with two DiMarzio PAFs while the LS150 had one Super Distortion and one PAF at that time.
With all these solid-vs-veneer threads, Keep in mind that like their cars and motorcycles, the Japanese would alter the specs every couple of years, try new things, drop slow models, etc.. the LS-80 and LS-100 probably had more changes to them over the course of their reign than any other model - i reacon there must be at least 6 different variations of the LS-100 from 1978 thru 1990.
And that's the problem, e.g. it's strange that a 1981 LS120 should have had a veneer while the newer 1982 didn't - according to the catalog, that is. Furthermore there might have been variations 1. throughout the year (early vs. late 1981) and 2. for the domestic Japanese market vs. export models. As you might remember, the serial number on my 1981 LS120 is a high one which you once identified as being almost from 1982 according to your list. And it was very likely made for the German distributor back then (like a few others), not for a Japanese shop.
Tokai seems to build whatever wood they have available at a certain point in time, and of course whatever the customer orders. That's why the catalog for the domestic market from year xxxx may say this or that while the actual delivered guitars do differ. :-?
Another thing to remember is that the catalogs seem to come out much later than the guitars of a certain period and do not include all available models. For example the new catalog was published only a few weeks ago while some of the described guitars were available months in advance (SEB models in this case). The new LS150 isn't even listed there either. So the production has already proceeded while you see pictures and specs of "old" guitars trying to work out the one and only present truth. :roll:
So checking the catalogs for specs is always a good idea (that's why I suggest it so often
), but it's not the answer to all, especially for these tricky questions. In the end you have to trust the guy selling you that guitar and his photos, or your own eyes if you have that guitar in front of you. I know that you knew that already...