Strange cutaway binding - finish flaw?

[Silver]

I've bought a Love Rock.
IMO binding in the cutaway looks strange - it's curved... or maybe it's normal? What do you think? Is that a finish flaw / QC issue?

Pictures:




Thx (in advance) for help :|

 

[Ozeshin]

Lemme guess....Korean?...Chinese?....no serial number on the headstock?
or one that begins with FC?
Or worse yet...are you Canadian?
Some of the Chinese models Tokaii that I've seen have minor finish flaws but mostly just the paint.

 

[Silver]

It's 2008 MIJ Love Rock LS-75 BB.

So that's definitely a flaw?

 

[bobwise]

Tokai carves the top near the cutaway a little differently than most other companies. When looking straight into the cutaway like in your pics, the top carve creates a little visual "hump" or "kink" in the binding's curve. My '80 LS-120 is just like those pics, as are all the pics of other Love Rocks I've seen.

To my eyes, there are several angles where Tokai's top carve in the cutaway area looks better than typical carves. And some '50s LP's have a similar carve, though not quite as extreme. The originals varied a lot and it's possible that some of the ones Tokai studied when they first started making serious replicas were like that.

Anyway, what's shown in your pics looks normal to me -- a design decision, not a flaw.

 

[stratmoto]

Silver, here is a pic of a 2008 LS85F BS, showing the binding. As mentioned, the binding follows the top carve. Just like it did on the originals, owned by a couple of famous players, that were used as the template for the Les Paul Reborn. Only the name has changed to Love Rock.