First Tokai - New LS-201GT - Inlay Filler and Binding Input Needed!

[Kye87]

Finally pulled the trigger on my first Tokai after admiring them for a while. I have a few Gibson LPs, but I am not a huge Gibson fan and my favorite LP type has always been my Maybach Lester. I have a huge respect for Japanese craftsmanship, so I have always wanted to try Tokai out.

I ordered this one straight from the Kurosawa Ikebukuro store website. Great communication with the staff and the process was easy. Saved several hundred dollars over using Reverb. Super fast shipping on their part, it just got held up in customs for three days. Still made it to Oklahoma in just over a week, though. Packed very well!

Only spent 15 mins with it before heading off to a gig, but first impressions are great! It’s a chunk and has a thick neck more like a 58, which I love. It sounds huge - bigger than any guitar I own! Plays great and the gold top color is exactly what I was hoping for - more of a bullion gold.

The guitar feels like a super solid vintage style guitar.

Being new to Tokai, I do have two things relating to build quality that are jumping out at me:

The lower horn cutout - the binding is uniform all the way around the maple top and where it runs thick at that spot, there are three layers showing - binding, maple and then the stained mahogany back. On my other LP types, they have either dyed that part the same color as the back or made the binding way thicker in that spot. Is this a Tokai thing or a QC issue? Doesn’t really bother me.

The only thing that is bugging me is the inlay work. There is quite a bit of filler all around the inlays on every single one. I searched and saw a post about holes they utilize and filler issues. Thoughts on this one? It is not just on the corners, but all around. For reference, it is a brand new guitar. I will attach photos.

Thanks for reading and any input! I’m excited to join the family and have an early 80s Springy Sound due to show up Monday.

 

[Sigmania]

HNGD! It's a beauty.

The Tokai LPs I have have cherry or dark stained mahogany backs so the maple cap is stained in that little window.

1982 LS80 CS


I bet they didn't stain it because the mahogany back on yours is essentially natural colored.

As for the filer around the fret markers, you might contact Tokai and ask them. We have been puzzling about it on here and have only been ale to speculate. Since you have a new guitar if you ask they may tell you.

Contacting Tokai

 

[AJS914]

My guess is that the maple cap peeking out is a sign of the internal quality that you can see without removing a pickup and that is how Gibson did it on many models (pic of Gibson custom shop 57 reissue). I see it on new LP Standards but it's just more noticeable on goldtops.

 

[VMS]

The filler situation is not acceptable cheap Chinese guitars don't have this so there is no excuse for a premium guitar. Imo they are not premium guitars because of this lazy sub standard application

 

[superlead100]

Finally pulled the trigger on my first Tokai after admiring them for a while. I have a few Gibson LPs, but I am not a huge Gibson fan and my favorite LP type has always been my Maybach Lester. I have a huge respect for Japanese craftsmanship, so I have always wanted to try Tokai out.

I ordered this one straight from the Kurosawa Ikebukuro store website. Great communication with the staff and the process was easy. Saved several hundred dollars over using Reverb. Super fast shipping on their part, it just got held up in customs for three days. Still made it to Oklahoma in just over a week, though. Packed very well!

Only spent 15 mins with it before heading off to a gig, but first impressions are great! It’s a chunk and has a thick neck more like a 58, which I love. It sounds huge - bigger than any guitar I own! Plays great and the gold top color is exactly what I was hoping for - more of a bullion gold.

The guitar feels like a super solid vintage style guitar.

Being new to Tokai, I do have two things relating to build quality that are jumping out at me:

The lower horn cutout - the binding is uniform all the way around the maple top and where it runs thick at that spot, there are three layers showing - binding, maple and then the stained mahogany back. On my other LP types, they have either dyed that part the same color as the back or made the binding way thicker in that spot. Is this a Tokai thing or a QC issue? Doesn’t really bother me.

The only thing that is bugging me is the inlay work. There is quite a bit of filler all around the inlays on every single one. I searched and saw a post about holes they utilize and filler issues. Thoughts on this one? It is not just on the corners, but all around. For reference, it is a brand new guitar. I will attach photos.

Thanks for reading and any input! I’m excited to join the family and have an early 80s Springy Sound due to show up Monday.

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Everything you're seeing looks completely normal. I have a 2024 LS214 gold top (exact same model as yours but just prior to the model number change) and my inlays are exactly the same; as well as my LS150f (2023). The binding is as it would be historically on the original Gibsons and is how it has been done by Tokai since the beginning as far as I know (no wide binding in the cut away area).

I always thought of myself as a thin neck guy, but I really have come to love the profile of these gold tops (I also have an LS129 vintage series gold top).

As for the pickups, I absolutely love Tokai MKll's! I have one that came used with Monty's PAF's and sounds great but prefer the sound of the Tokai's. I also put a set of DiMarzio 36th anniversary PAF's into my 78' LS60 as I was looking for a bit more punch than the original pups...I really still prefer the MKll's if I'm being honest with myself but only slightly compared to DiMarzio's.

I hope you continue to enjoy your 201 for years to come!

 

[Jlee]

Beautiful guitar! My 2002 LS200 also had the same routes and filler around the inlays. Don’t know when that started, but they’ve been doing it for quite a while now.

 

[superlead100]

The filler situation is not acceptable cheap Chinese guitars don't have this so there is no excuse for a premium guitar. Imo they are not premium guitars because of this lazy sub standard application

I'm not trying to be argumentative in any way, however, I think to keep things in perspective, these guitars are an absolute bargain with respect to their build quality and components for a Japanese made guitar. Even if buying on Reverb this guitar without shipping and taxes is under $1800 US (as of February 2025) brand new with solid one-piece mahogany back, two-piece maple top, one piece mahogany neck, beautifully cut and polished bone nut, dark rosewood fretboard, brass saddles, a nitro finish and a hardshell case (and less expensive if bought direct from Japan). That's truly remarkable!
Gibson could not make that guitar with those specs at that price point and yet Tokai can. If we look closely at those inlay cuts, they are very clean, but perhaps a stylistically different manufacturing process.
I don't think it is really reasonable to compare that to a Chinese made guitar. Chalking up Tokai's manufacturing method for their inlay work as laziness seems rather unfair to me.

 

[VMS]

In the UK there are around £2000 personally I expect better for my £2000

 

[Kye87]

Hi everyone - thanks for your input! It has been bugging me but it’s just because the build quality of the rest of the guitar is EXTREMELY good. At the end of the day, it sounds and feels head and shoulders above my other LPs from various manufacturers and I would say is Gibson CS quality at least.

Per Sigmania’s suggestion, I wrote an email to Tokai (in Japanese ) last night asking about it. I’ll share any response!

 

[guitar hiro]

@Kye87

Nice gold top

I know it's disappointing to see the filler & the holes with filler; I have a 2000 LS-320 with the same/similar issue.

After a while you'll likely just get used to it and enjoy the guitar for all of the other positive aspects

 

[AJS914]

Rather than feel any disappointment, I'd try to think of it as a Tokai quirk. And clearly, it is not a QC issue, because that is simply how they do it.

Personally, I don't even notice these microscopic things that look larger than normal in macro photography.

 

[Kye87]

Nevermind, the serial number is there. Just extremely faint and hard to see.

 

[Kye87]

Here is the reply from Tokai:


Thank you for your inquiry.
Thank you for purchasing our guitar.

What I'm saying is that there is glue visible around the fretboard inlay.
This varies from item to item, but it does not constitute a quality defect in our opinion.

Tokai Gakki