Hybrid Japanese/Korean Production?

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

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

Sigmania

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
15,735
Reaction score
2,644
Location
NC, USA
I keep coming across guitars that are making me question what was actually happening in the 90s at Tokai as far as their partnership with Korean mfrs.

More and more I am seeing indications of partial production or parts coming from Korea on what I had always assumed were Japanese guitars since they have the impressed serial numbers, and the contention for many years has been that no legitimate Korean LPs had serial numbers.

Just going to park the examples that I come across that raise questions here in this thread.
 
1990 ? LC80T? TLC70?

SN 9001845

MIJ serial number, but

Korean TRC from 1999 period, not 1990... :eek:

Might be a different serial number scheme??

And red & blue control wires similar to Korean & Chinese wiring.

Pots not marked made in Japan?

ohgo7Sq.png


yhKluwo.png


Yz9SfHn.png


1RxQXBe.png


oYl2DCr.png


ONy0NOe.png


Vha601o.png


A6pMsrK.png


https://reverb.com/item/43876128-19...-guitar-snow-white-w-floyd-rose-paf-mk2-japan


1989 catalog. Note the TRC. :eek:

EuRjXV4.png
 
LS55

1 screw pointed TRC.

I had thought that the LS50 was the bolt neck version. In fact, in my old post from around ten years ago it was said that my LS55GT (shown in above post) was Japanese because the bolt neck version was a 50 and was Korean.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20970

Korean style TRC, circa 1999. Pickups also date from this period.

Note that this one has the model number stamped in it like the Japanese versions. "LS55"

Hard to see in the one photo of the back if there is a serial number? I don't see one.

For sale in Jakarta, Indonesia.

https://fjb.kaskus.co.id/product/5e...i-japan-ls-55d-love-rock-blue-flame-maple-top

For Sale:
1999 Japan Tokai LS-55D Love Rock

Specification:

Body: Solid Mahogany with Blue Flame Maple Top
Neck: Mahogany
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Pickups: 2 Gotoh PAF MK-3 Humbucker
Hardware: Gotoh Japan
Pots: Japan 500K Ohm Big Pots
Year: 1999
Weight: 4.7 Kg


y8YoMIM.png


IOPGnpM.jpg


eVZf5Lr.jpg


sub2NAO.jpg


4ZOKGMM.jpg


lZURvnQ.jpg


LK111dI.jpg


m6YTeTB.jpg
 
It's not just me that finds this odd....

In my opinion this mystery was never resolved and likely conceals a bigger story that is not known.

The period of the 90s is a wasteland of info on Tokais, and this is part of that saga.

If you look at the catalogs, you will see a shift in the models. Many many more of the low priced guitars sourced in other countries, and very few higher end models made in Japan.

zNSt2jt.png



Peter Mac said:
Hi
this may not be an MIJ Tokai as the truss rod 3 screw and not 2 screw.
To the best of my memory no Japanese-made Love Rock ever had a 3 screw TRC - regardless of shape.
It could be Korean or the TRC has been swapped.
The 1995 Catalogue does show the MIJ LS-70 as having a 2 screw TRC.

Peter
Click to expand...

jbear said:
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Apparently 3-screw covers while not common are not rare on MIJ's. The SN, cavity markings, and headstock shape indicate 1995 MIJ.
Click to expand...

Peter Mac said:
Hi jbear,

I beg to differ. As I stated MIJ Tokai did not use 3 screw TRC - period.
These were used on Korean and Chinese models to differentiate the Country of Manufacture.
I have the 1995 Tokai Japan catalogue and all have 2 screw TRC.
Yours does have moustache headstock and black back covers which is indicative of MIJ so...take off the TRC and see if there are 3 holes along the nut line. The original may have been replaced.

Peter
Click to expand...

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=21721
 
Also, what are these second sets of numbers?? S-84, S-86, S or 6-10?

S-84?

RlGpsyV.png


S-86?

kgxEmkk.png


S-10 or 6-10?

THUClE4.jpg
 
I’m wondering now if those three screw pointed TRCs were originally developed much earlier than previously thought?

Maybe they were originally created to differentiate guitars in the Hamamatsu factory that had Korean parts, or that were Korean builds finished in Japan?

They seem like a variation of the double pointed MIJ truss rod cover. Possibly shortened?

wc47W9p.jpg
 

Attachments

  • s-l1600-2.jpg
    s-l1600-2.jpg
    156.5 KB · Views: 0
  • s-l1600.jpg
    s-l1600.jpg
    188.1 KB · Views: 0
  • s-l1600-7.jpg
    s-l1600-7.jpg
    179.8 KB · Views: 0
  • s-l1600-6.jpg
    s-l1600-6.jpg
    220.5 KB · Views: 0
  • s-l1600-5.jpg
    s-l1600-5.jpg
    239.7 KB · Views: 0
  • s-l1600-3.jpg
    s-l1600-3.jpg
    255.5 KB · Views: 0
  • s-l1600-1.jpg
    s-l1600-1.jpg
    216 KB · Views: 0
Here's one (LS50D ?) that further adds to the mystery...

A Love Rock with a bolt neck that has this hyphen/dash symbol (7-5) and has features of both Korean and Japanese manufacturing.

Korean (no serial number, 3 screw pointed bell TRC from roughly 1998-2000, red white and blue wires).

Japanese (production code stamp, MIJ pots, square Tokai Japan routs for pickup ears in cavity).

Tokai LoveRock domestic product Les Paul Japan vintage | eBay

77124cb424479745474ed5080b99133f.jpg
2ac474873753f2e857a74d9e0b98e3aa.jpg
70894fc754e4f7d8582397145fd79fd6.jpg
71956de093ca6b57d5f3b429bb580c33.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 8d7068007c855eb02ba4ee27ee5d6970.jpg
    8d7068007c855eb02ba4ee27ee5d6970.jpg
    145.4 KB · Views: 0
  • 6100b120410f51dd8076e33d2c5ed464.jpg
    6100b120410f51dd8076e33d2c5ed464.jpg
    149.3 KB · Views: 0
  • a291b594fe468501915531da2b86e060.jpg
    a291b594fe468501915531da2b86e060.jpg
    127.6 KB · Views: 0

Similar threads

Sigmania
Korean Production After 2005, Unauthorized Or Limited Contract?
Replies
3
Views
149
Sigmania
Sigmania
simonmcroft
Mystery Korean ALS
Replies
14
Views
287
Sigmania
Sigmania
gitarrero
OEM versions of 1989 VC-75 and VC-55 with different headstock shapes
2
Replies
34
Views
858
Sigmania
Sigmania
T
Help with P-Bass hard puncher - Japanese or Chinese?
Replies
10
Views
615
Sigmania
Sigmania
Sigmania
Fake Tokais ?
Replies
1
Views
854
Rodi
Rodi

Latest posts

Back
Top