Tokai LS-85S

made in japan Tokai goldtop P-90's early 50's style Les Paul. I'm a guitar builder and player of 30 years. Played all kinds of electric and acoustics and bulit everything but archtops. this has the old baseball bat neck and everything else and seems a spot on replica for those who care. i don't. it's beautifully made. pickups are good, the finish is flawless but does not appear overly thick. don't know if it's nitrocellulose or a synthetic.of course it's mahogany(all quartered and a one piece body!) with a painted maple top.

well i don't like humbuckers except when other players are playing them so this is the only kind of les paul type guitar i could use and boy is it a monster. mostly i play a super bright tele i built myself with a maple body(ouch!) so the sweeter and heavier sound of this lp is the antedote i was needing. i play mostly through a keeley comp, modded tubescreamer, aramat greenmachine, and sometimes an old crybaby and a microvibe into (my first ever purchase) a 1970 princeton. lovely garage and bar sounds.. feels like i can talk through my fingers and give my mouth a rest. don't know about versatility but i imagine it's in there. the neck pickup clean with a little reverb and tremolo is beautiful for playing fingerstyle.

flawlessly made guitar. setup not so great but do i care? restrung with 11's and will replace the very soft lame plastic nut. had to mess with the trussrod,bridge and tailpiece to get it playing clean and it could use a little more there but i think this is to be expected. i'm still driving a "66 datsun so you can what i think about the japanese and ther long standing love of craftmanship.

can't imagine anything but the normal things we all worry about.

guitar 699, shipping 120, case 90. this thing is so much better than a regular gibson it's a joke. make sure it's made in japan. don't know how they do it paying regular japanese workers but they do and you should scout one out. hard to find.....took me a casual poking around of over a year.