Love Rock LS-70F a big disappointment

I bought this guitar from a forum member a while back, and boy what a disappointment. For a Japanese made guitar, it felt really cheap. The neck wasn't fat at all as the seller said it was. The pickups were microphonic and dull.
The nut was not cut well at all. The bridge saddle slots were not formed at all. The fret board inlay was so bad, it looked to be made in China on a bad day.
The only positive thing I can say about this guitar is the body looked good. That's fine if I want to hang it on my wall and look at it.
I have owned several guitars in the past 26 years. From high end to bargain basement. I couldn't get rid of this one fast enough. Literally. I lost my a** on resale.
I even took it to a dealer friend of mine that sold Tokais in the 80's, and he thought it was very lame as well.
The two Epi Les Paul's I had in the past smoked this dog. I plan on looking for another Epi. The moral is, you just can't buy guitars online. It's not worth the risk. Feel free to fire away. :lol:

Kid Chipola

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Well, first of all, kidchipola, I feel for you.

I've bought a couple of necks and pedals on eBay that, to be honest, were not what was advertised or expected.
Had it been a 'face to face" sale, I'd have never bought 'em.

What was worse, at least one of the sellers must have known he was misrepresenting the goods. I'm also annoyed I never got the chance to do the "good neighbourly citizen" thing,... & deck the guy. (Purely to protect other potential buyers, you understand?)

I don't know whether your Tokai LS 70 was made in Japan or in Korea, nor if it was originally sold as a 'second' or whatever, but I do feel sorry for you.
It only takes one bad egg to make the entire omelette stink.

Funny you mention China. I have Fender "Squier" - made in China - Strat that, once stripped of the hardware & matched with an Allparts neck & 20+ year-old Seymour Duncan p'ups etc, has turned out to be the best slide guitar I've ever played - in 30 years of hard gigging.

Anyway, sorry again to hear about your experience. I've had (or played extensively) 4 different Tokais , & they were all exeptionaly good.
I should add, however, they were all (2 Springies, a Breezy & a Love Rock) made in 1981. I have not tried the Korean stuff, though I have a 2002 Korean Epiphone "Les Paul" that is very, very nice too.
(Though my '81 Tokai Love Rock trounces it).

So far I've been very lucky in my online wheelings & dealings but then I've never bought a s/h guitar over the web and I'm very cautious with what I go for.

My importing a tokai from Japan over the web was probably the best guitar-related thing I've ever done. The guitar killed my old Epi, despite the fact that it was by far the best Epi I'd ever seen (and heavily upgraded to boot).

The thing i don't understand is, why didn't you think the Tok neck was fat? You play Epis and their necks are much thinner than Tok's. It's one of the reasons I ditched mine.

I sympathise with the bridge/nut comments though. Even my LS200 had some issues but a pro setup was all it took to bring the dream to life. How much money did you lose? Was it less than professional atterntion would cost?

First I'll address "loverockerUK". No, I am not trolling, maybe venting a bit. You probably hit it on the head when say "I" (me) can't buy online with any luck. As far as fixing the nut and bridge, yes that is easy enough, but then pickups can be pricey. I couldn't do anything about the slim neck. I just wanted to cut my losses and move on. I bought it from a forum member who shall remain nameless.
To "Paladin2019", my seller told me it had a fat neck. It was Japanese made for sure. The neck was about the same as an Epi. Which is why I no longer have those either.
I'm not trying to stir up any trouble, I was just bummed after all the hype. Maybe I just didn't have the right model and year. As I stated in my original post, I have a friend who used to be a Tokai dealer in the 80's and though they were far superior then to what I had.

Kid Chipola

What kind of neck would you consider 'fat'?

Tokai's neck profile is pretty much the same as the fat 50's profile Gibson currently offers and definately thicker than Epi - I owned the 2 at the same time and the difference was like night and day. Even their 60's slim taper is considered fat in some circles (mostly those who play Ibanez RG's, but never mind that).

Burns' Brian May model was pretty bulky if you haven't tried it.

I hear the SRV strat is pretty big too.

I'm talking Gibson reissue 58 & 59 fat. The PRS Tremonti SE is in that range too. The LS-70F I had was medium to slim at best.

Kid Chipola

it is true one must be careful buying on the net. I have had to return a few guitars I got over the Japanese web, but being in Japan, it doesn`t cost a lot to do so, and the ones I kept are outstanding. Now, I may get scolded for this but the Toks in that price range are not the high end guitars, and based on all the Japanese makers I have seen here, they don`t use their best materials on those instruments. They sell for 70000 yen, which means the retailers buy them for about half that? Which in turn means they cost Tokai a lot less to produce. Don`t get me wrong... I own a Tokai and love it, would buy another in a heartbeat but it would be one of high ends. The Japanese make some excellent guitars but even they can get it wrong every once in a while.

You want a killer neck on a Les Paul Clone go for a 79 thru 81 Greco Super Real-I mean PHAT neck, I haven't owned one of the newer Tokai Love rocks(I think 89 is the newest I have played)'78 thru '89 all very simular with a '59 Phat heel and neck. Some of the early 80's Burny/Fernandes are dead on to !!
Thought u ought to know.
Mack

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I'm just stating my personal thoughts on it. That is why I had some expert opinions on this instrument before I posted a word. They agreed with me 100% about the neck and overall quality. It's in the past and I'm moving on in my search for that perfect (or as close as I can get) Les Paul. :wink:

Kid C

For what little it's worth, the neck on my 2000 Tokai LS65 is fatter than my McCarty (PRS's "wide/fat" neck carve) and slightly slimmer than my '99 R9.
I can't say I've ever seen a Tokai with a slim neck. I'm very surprised to hear that there's such a variation in neck sizes!
I like the fact that the pickups are slightly microphonic - it seems to give them a nice PAF vibe.
The nut on my Tokai was very badly cut, way too high - although at least it's easier to remedy that one with excessively deep slots.
Interestingly, I'd say that the inlays and binding were of a higher standard fit wise than the Gibson!

*digs up old thread*

I had a go of a Relic Love Rock in a shop today (didn't know they were still available new... ?1275, accurate headstock shape, matt top finish and no serial #) and I have to say it did feel a bit thinner than I was expecting; I haven't played one of the mid-range MIJ models for a while but this was definately thinner than the neck on the 200.

Apart from fret ends you could shave with, it was a very nice guitar. Wouldn't pay full price for it though - I'd rather relic it myself over a few decades. 8)

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I'm not trying to troll(my first reply...so in a way, I guess I am), but the neck on mine, to me anyway, feels somewhat between a classic and a standard, not fat, but not thin either. So far, my only complaint is the nut, which will be replaced next week with bone. A nitro finish would be cool, but mine is Korean.