1980 LS-80 neck pitch question

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hogguitar

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I'm new here, and just recieved my LS-80 yesterday. It's a great guitar and since I do guitar repair for a living, I happen to have 2 modern Gibsons in the shop right now to compare it to. The LS-80 is very close to the Gibsons in build quality, sound, and playability, but I noticed it has considerably less neck set pitch than the Gibsons, resulting in a much lower bridge. This is no problem, but I was wondering if it is true of all Love Rocks, and is it vintage correct to a real 58/59 Gibson?
 
I've done a little research, and found my own answer, so I thought I'd share it here. According to Dan Erlewine, Gibsons manufactured in Kalamazoo in the 50's had a 4% neck pitch, and later Nashville models had 5% which is still the pitch today. So, if all of the Tokai's are set like mine, they are vintage correct for 58/59.

All of the LP's I've worked on lately are recent models, so they have the steeper neck pitch.

Andy
 
Welcome to the Tokai Forum, hogguitar. Too bad we couldn't have hooked up at the Seattle Vintage Guitar show two weeks ago, it would have been nice to meet another Love Rock owner. There were three Tokai's there - a very nice Goldtop, and a couple of exceptional Springy Sounds priced as high as real Stats.

Instead, I had to hook up with a couple of buddies from the LPF, where, of course, a fight quickly broke out. :roll: :wink:
 
Funny you should mention it; I wasn't a Love Rock owner before the show, but I almost bought that gold top. Instead, I decided I wanted an older one from the early 80's, so I came home, checked e-bay, and bought a 1980 LS-80.

Unfortunately, the seller wasn't honest about the condition and fret wear, so I've had to do a lot more work to it than I'd planned. Otherwise, it's a great guitar; I just payed way more than I should have considering the condition.
 
Everyone should bear that in mind whenever guys like me recommend older Tokais ... they often need work to fix things, particularly frets & general setup, & can cost almost as much as the guitar cost in first place. But 1980 LS80 is pretty special guitar, and irritation of being misled will subside in time, ... in the end you'll probably find it's a great acquisition anyway :-? .

Ian.
 
Don't get me wrong, this is a really nice instrument; I have 2 other Gibson LP's in the shop for comparison, and it's every bit as good, or better, it's just that things like the fingerboard, headstock face, and body binding all coming loose and needing to be re-glued. along with needing a re-fret should have been mentioned by the seller when I spoke with him. He also claimed it was 8lb., 11oz., when it's actually 10.2#.

I have currently put about $450 of billable work into it; fortunately, I don't have to pay myself.

I love to restore vintage instruments so long as I know they need restoration before buying.
 

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