LS-80 (1985) with no-name humbuckers and "50" stic

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
E

ericohman

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Location
Skelleftea, SWEDEN
Hi!

This is my first post here. I have a Tokai Love Rock and according to the serial number it is from 1985. However, I have no idea what so ever what model it is and I haven't found any way to figure it out.

In case you want to help me, take a look at these pictures:
http://djoman.dyndns.org/tokai/new/
http://djoman.dyndns.org/tokai/

Either post your comments here in this forum or feel free to e-mail me. Best thing of course would be to have the answers in this forum so that everyone can read them :)

Best regards and thanks in advance for any help...
// Eric

EDIT: New pictures can be seen at: http://djoman.dyndns.org/tokai/new/
 
Nice one..... gorgeous color and a plaintop at that.

You have a little conflicting info... the 50 sticker indicates that it is an LS50 model but the body stamp indicates that it is an LS80 - a higher spec model.

Judging from the fret edge binding, I'd bet it's an LS80

Nice guitar
 
Thank you.
I'm sorry for the color/lightning differencies of the photos. Different days, different cameras and white balance.

The one at the top is closest to real life colors.

I hope it's an LS80, but I've never been sure of anything with this guitar. I'm loving it though and that's the most important part.

It is my first Tokai, and yes, I have the Gibson Les Paul disease.
However, the more I read on Gibson LP from 70 and forward I feel like maybe I don't want a Gibson after all.

Maybe I'll just get myself another Tokai LP :)
The electronics and pickups I don't like so I'm probably replacing it.

I don't know how accurate my bathroom scale is but when I put my Tokai on it it reads 3.94 Kg

What do you think the color of my guitar is called? I've never seen another guitar with a color that's so transparent as this one and still has a nice burst to it.

And one last thing, when you say plain top, what does that mean?

Thanks
 
ericohman said:
I don't know how accurate my bathroom scale is but when I put my Tokai on it it reads 3.94 Kg

What do you think the color of my guitar is called? I've never seen another guitar with a color that's so transparent as this one and still has a nice burst to it.

And one last thing, when you say plain top, what does that mean?

Thanks
Click to expand...

That's a nice light one.... under 9 lbs
too
The color is gorgeous. I'd say it's a violin finish

Plain top means just that.... fairly plain (and lovely wood) top as opposed to a flame top or a quilt top (these have much more patterning in the wood) See below:

PLAINTOP

008.jpg




FLAMETOP

CIMG0345.jpg
 
That must have been one of the very last LS-80 to have fret edge binding....mine doesn't have it.
 
I realise that no one else is getting particularly excited about the exact cut of the logo and when it changed, but the pics that ericohman just posted seem to indicate that it was sometime between 1983 and 1985.

I've got no reason to doubt either of these cuts being legitimate, but there are some distinct differences that strike me as being far more than natural variation. The K is a good place to look first (the loops are tighter) but the differences are also fairly obvious at the top of the A and in the final loop.

Not enough light left here for me to reshoot mine, so you'll have to forgive the fact that the first shot is a fairly tight crop from a much larger photo and the resolution isn't fantastic.

1983:

Headstock01.jpg



1985:

_MG_4495.jpg
 
also, why doesn't mine say Made In Japan on the headstock? I thought all Tokai had that?

_MG_4490.jpg

(Hate to see that damage on the top left corner of the photo)
 
My LS80 from '85 also doesn't have Made in Japan on the rear of the headstock...but it doesn't have fret edge binding1984-1985 was the transition year for the LS80 I feel.
They seemed to be experimenting to try to get the right mix of features for cost....some have fret binding and some don't.
 
its an old guitar, and its nice, that it has some natural aging, it means the guitar was played often!
 
Guessing from what i have read and photos i have seen,like OZESHIN says that period from 1983 -1985 was a transition year for tokai,there are a lot of ls50 and ls80 from 83-85 that have conflicting specs.

I have a 1985 love rock ls50 being shipped to me at the moment,has a 50 oval sticker on the rear of the headstock,but somethings do not not add up or match the tokai catalogues spec for 85.I am hoping it is a ls60,will just have to wait and see till it arrives next year,being shipped by SEA :(

IF you have a look at this link.mr yamauchi has an 1984 ls50 with some interesting specs......read on......
http://www.k4.dion.ne.jp/~yjibika/en_1984TokaiLS50.html
:wink:


MOJO HOBO
 
very interesting!

thanks for the link, I hope your "ls50" get to you in one piece.
after having a look at that website, I now understand why so many talks about the 1980 tokai les paul copies (the ls80 for instance), oh lord they look nice!
 
Another thing that may have influenced things at the time is that Tokai very nearly went broke in the mid 80's, so it doesn't surprise me that there were changes.

Mick
 
Which models had tops that look like this one?
Most Tokai's I've seen have flametops and I don't quite like that as much as the one in this picture of my guitar:

_MG_2233.jpg



Also, FYI, I will probably get the Faber hardware this week. When I install them I will take more pictures of the guitar in daylight. Pickup cavity, pickups, back (to determine if it's a 1 or 2-piece back) etc.
 
I took a few more photos today because I got the faber hardware. Photos of pickups included...

I noticed I need new screws for the pickup rings. Hopefully it won't be hard to find those screws... I want to play guitar this weekend with the new faber locking studs and tailpiece, and abr bridge

PHOTOS:
http://djoman.dyndns.org/tokai/new/
 
yes they were nice =)

i have a recipe for aging screws so I will age the new ones... If you live in Sweden, go to Clas Ohlson and buy "L?dv?tska" ("solder fluid"). 1-2 hour and the top of the screw will look nicely aged.
 

Similar threads

G
Tokai Love Rock / pacemaker
Replies
1
Views
184
Sigmania
Sigmania
F
Tokai LS 150 HDC 2005 doubt
2
Replies
26
Views
875
Sigmania
Sigmania
Tomkmb
Help Identifying My Tokai Les Paul
Replies
5
Views
265
Sigmania
Sigmania
D
Are these the same guitar? 1985 LS 200
2
Replies
20
Views
637
Homeras
H
K
Fender CIJ 72 Strat....2006-2008 made by Tokai?
Replies
3
Views
160
Sigmania
Sigmania

Latest posts

Back
Top