Late 70's Tokai Les Paul

How much are these babies worth?

As in (according to research) the very first ones in the late 70s when they had "Les Paul Model" on the headstock before they gradually changed their model names to "Les Paul Reborn", "Reborn Old" to "Love Rock" respectively?

Reason i'm asking is because i found a beautiful faded without an ounce of shine honey flamed "Tokai Les Paul" today and it played gorgeous, but the thing is i'm a poor uni student but i'am very tempted to trade with a Fender 57ri Strat that i've bought upto uni with me.

Am i in assuming these early models had the normal (not laminated) maple on top of mahog body construction even tho it had flame/

Thanks.

I'd say if it plays nice, sounds nice and looks nice (and is in decent condition for its age) get it. Sod it and get another Student Loan! Thats what I did to get some bass gear about 8-9 years ago, and I'm still paying it off. Saying that ?30 a month is peanuts :wink: and its almost done with now.

Of course, if you love your Strat, then don't, if you love your Love Rock even more, then do!

The choice, as "Our Graham" says.....Is yours.

(Edit) Saying that, don't listen to me cos I just bought a '79 Ibanez Artist.

hi stokeboy,

I own a "les paul model" tokai w/solid red flametop. Due to absence of any serial or further marking it's impossible to date my axe exactly. Came with original grovers and ebony fretboard like more contemporary LS-200. I asked some japanese guitar dealers about it, they said they made only a very few and regarding to this sites' info during the first quarter of '78, if I remember correctly. Solid flametops from the late '70 to '80 seem to have collectors' item status ranging from $1,5K to $2K depending upon the beauty of the flame. If you can get it by trading with a 57ri it is probably not a solid flame but on the other hand I have no info about veneered tops during that early period, maybe Peter has. If it's one-piece backbodied it could be somewhere between LS-80 and LS-200 as I am told regarding to the '78-'80 LS-models. How much is it and what is the serial?

keep a close watch!

supernout said:

hi stokeboy,

I own a "les paul model" tokai w/solid red flametop. Due to the absence of any serial or further marking it's impossible to date my axe exactly. Came with original grovers and ebony fretboard like more contemporary LS-200. I asked some japanese guitar dealers about it, they said they made only a very few and regarding to this sites' info during the first quarter of '78, if I remember correctly. Solid flametops from the late '70 to '80 seem to have collectors' item status ranging from $1,5K to $2K depending upon the beauty of the flame. If you can get it by trading with a 57ri it is probably not a solid flame but on the other hand I have no info about veneered tops during that early period, maybe Peter has. If it's one-piece backbodied it could be somewhere between LS-80 and LS-200 as I am told regarding to the '78-'80 LS-models. How much is it and what is the serial?

keep a close watch!

Click to expand...

it will b my american 1984 57ri plus my cedar top accoustic plus cash. im also assumin it has a solid flame. do u have any idea on the finish? could it be nitro? i didnt really notice the fingerboard, but had no idea it was ebony. also the one i looked at had the vintage tuners.

btw it's going for $1250 us

I think $1250 is definitely in the ball park. The serial number would be key.

Stokie,

Is it new?
I know that Tokai are currently doing a relic'd reborn for about a grand.

Academy of sound do them

GB

sorry everyone, guitarboy is right, it's a Tokai Les Paul Reborn Relic. I thought it said "Les Paul Model".

anyway it's mine now anyway... paid ?760.. apparently there are only a handful of these in the world.

“doing a reliced reborn for about a grand” seems to be a great idea, but original reborns up to LS-80 sell below a grand. What are the specs of the new ones? Any pics soon?

i will get pix once i can borrow my mate's camera! i don't even know the exact spec's but when i took the pup covers off earlier (a real pain it was too) it was 95% a solid flame top on top of what could also be a 1pc back. i bought it for ?760 after hagglin from ?800. the previous owner only had it for a month so i think ive got myself a great deal considerin they were goin for ?1200 new... however i have a feelin my new guitar will go up in value because there arent too many of these. i never even knew of a les paul reborn relic model. the guy at the store told me the story behind gibson letting tokai use the les paul name one more time. apparently they cud only do a certain number of these reborn models with les paul on the head or none at all an now i have one. if any of you guys saw it, youd think it was an original from the 80s. the craftsmanship is of of very high quality, the tuners, binding, pup covers (which are now off btw) were nicely aged aswell. everythin has been done great realism.. unlike some of fender custom shop's relics which ive seen in the past. the neck felt slighty slimmer to the 2002 gibson std i compared it to in the store. and did i say, this thing sounds amazing? i had only played this thought a peavy bandit and my blues jr in my uni room but i use a couple of half jcm stacks at home where my band is. i also forgot to mention, the trust rod are the gibson shaped with "RETROSPEC". i think i'll enjoy this one.

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Sounds like you got a great deal there Stokie.

I just love the idea of Tokai releasing a vintage copy of a vintage Tokai copy of a ....... :lol:

What was the name of that band ... oh yeah 'pop will eat itself' !

GB