Tokai Love Rock

This guitar was made in 2003 in Japan, it have 22 frets, solid maple top, 2 stock humbuckers, body and neck is mahogany, set neck, the finnish is honey burst, creme bindings, well I guess you already know about the specs of a les paul, it's exactly the same on everyone.I have been reading in some forums that they stopped to build these guitars 2001 in Japan and currently only builds them in Korea, and with lower quality, for you people that have been reading this, I would like to say that the poster probably mixed tokai up with Epiphone, it's not true for Tokai, it is true for the Epiphones tough. but I'm not sure if they did it 2001, never the less, my guitar is built in Japan, I know this because it says (made in Japan) on back of the neck and also on the back side of the pots inside and on back of the humbuckers, and to my knowledge they are still building them, anyway you can't even compare Tokai with Epiphone, Tokai just blow any Epiphone out of the water, it is also not true that older Tokais are of better quality than the new ones, this is true regarding some of the lawsuit models of other brands during the 80's,like Burny, Greco, Fernandes, and so on, Tokai has allways been a brand with the highest of quality, even tough they was also made in the same era, that makes it confusing for some people. and in their ignorance they tend to add Tokai Love Rock to the rest of the bunch.
everything on this guitar is exactly the same as the true gibson specs. the woods and finnish are top notch, even better than some real Gibsons I have played. even the pots and pickups are good comparing to the lawsuits.but they are not as good as gibsons, a replacement of these will do wonders. the stock pickups can be compared to seth lowers in sound. low output crispy woody tone, perfect for blues and early rock n roll. they can be a bit muddy with the covers still on, I removed mine and the tone was instantly more clear and the muddyness disapeared. the covers are soldered on to the backplate of the humbucker, so you need to unsolder that, then carefully loosening the covers, they are also kinda glued with hot wax, it is a little booring but removing them are recommended, for the remaining wax, you can use a cigarette lighter and warm the wax up, it will then drip off and you can take a towel and wipe it off. if you do this, be careful so you not put to much heat. it may add a bit buzz like singlecoils, but I think it's worth it.

I play moslty blues and old rock, the guitar suits my style very well,
a warm crispy woody tone.
the amp is a Peavey delta blues. great amp btw!
maybe I'll write a review on that later?
the guitar is a great player, never go out of tune.
great harmonics, and sustains forever

the guitar is was very well setup, in fact it was perfectly set up.
I havent been needing to change anything, regarding flaws I havent found any. the craftmanship on this guitar is outstanding. I cant imagine that it could be any better, not even on gibsons. really top notch! the woods are AAAA,

this guitar will withstand live playing like any gibson
the finnish is really good, strap buttons are solid, the tuners are great and hold the tuning really well,
I can certanly depend on it. and I could use it without backup, no problem.

I have not had any problems with the guitar so I can't tell,

I have been playing for 30 years, if it was stolen or lost I would get another surley. I absolutely love this guitar, there is nothing to hate about it. I love that it has the exactly the same specs like gibson, even the head angle is correct, I have an old gibson the paul, and even they are not the same model of guitar to compare with, the Tokai kills it in finnish and craftmanship. only the pickups are better wich are T tops, the Tokai pickups sound very simular btw, the T tops are a little more PAF tonewise but still has that same crispy woody tone like the Tokai. I just like you to note that this all sound very nice and you might be suspecting that I want to make this guitar more god like than it really is? I can assure you that this is NOT the case this is really a wonderful guitar! why buy a gibson for 3000-4000 when you can get (allmost) the same thing for about 600 bux?
change the electronics and maybe the pickups ( if you are a fanatic) I recommend Tokai Love Rock to anyone planning to buy a Gibson Les Paul. you can't! get a better deal. period

1985 Tokai Love Rock LS-150 w/ 1 pc. beautiful back and neck, rswood, 22 medium frets, Original all thru came with Dimarzio Super Distortion and PAF style in neck. Neck shape is perfect 59' shape, which is what this guitar is with the correct specs and nitro finish in OS "old sunburst" Top is more subtle flame but is 3-D and flames jump out in right light. All stock weighs 10 pounds

Sounds awesome for rock to jazz. Pickups clean up pretty well. Bridge Dimarzio cuts with high output and makes harmonics a breeze. A very nice sounding LP, fat and sustains brilliantly.

The workmanship is perfect and guitar has held up VERY well. The finish is stunning. The Mahogany back is the most beautiful I have seen!! Hardware is holding up well. Saddles are a little rusty.

Solid guitar. Dependable. If I gig it I will install locking tuners and strap locks

Brilliant guitar! Very rare. Great sound. Heavyish. Maybe coil split for the humbuckers would be good. I have been playing 18 years, rock to country to metal to jazz(a little). I own fender amer strat and MIM tele, various Ibanez RG's & Roadstars, a Burny LP, thru tube amps mesa fender and peavey. These are getting well known for being stellar LP's and their price has come up but still a great deal for this level of craftsmanship and materials. I am blown away by this guitar, gotta be honest.

LS-150 MIJ 1985 in "old sunburst"(beautiful) with all the proper specs 18 degree, Incredibly beautiful one piece mahogany back, mahog. one piece neck w/rswood vintage tunerS. LOVE ROCK model on headstock, bell shaped truss cover. Its a 59'. A very nice 59'!!!. Nitro finish etc

It sounds great. They had ls-50,60, 80, 100,120, 150(special order only) and ls 200 (special order custom specs)during the best period of 1978 thru 89'. The ls-80 and up had nitro finish and fret binding. Mine has stock Dimarzio's! A PAF model in neck(soo sweet and full!!) and a super distortion in the bridge that is pure rock. Harmonics are a breeze. It sustains forever. Pickups are pretty hot but clean up pretty well and sound very musical when doing so.

This guitars' craftmanship and materials are stunning. Made from the finest tonewoods by obviously talented luthiers driven to high standards. No flaws

It's just coming into it's prime. It's too pretty for most gigs. I take several gtrs to gigs.

Tokai is still going strong I would love to try one of their new axes. Still, I like the vintage ones

Been playing 18years. I own various strats amer. and squier MIJ, Guild x-79. Many Ibanez, Roadstars and a new RG550 anniv., Artist 2618 1976. And a Burny Les Paul thats outstanding(late 80's model) These guitars are impossible to find and the prices are getting steep but The ARE worth it. Still a bargain next to a custom shop Les Paul which they are at least as good as. This is the most incredible guitar I have ever played. The top is 3-D! The flames are subtle but really move in the right light. Not too flashy like some new LP's or PRS. Classy. The mahogany is incomparable. I can't do it justice describing it. Sorry to gush, but this LOVE ROCK LS-150 deserves it! If you like les pauls you gotta try an old Tokai( or Burny)

Hi,

whenever you read a review on a guitar written by the owner you have to accept they're gonna be heavily biased - people want you to think that they're guitar is the best in the world. Ive got a les paul classic and while I know its not the best sounder you can buy I gotta say anyone who thinks these tokais sound or feel as good are deluding themselves, the tokai's are far superior to the epiphones and most other les paul copies (especially the dean's) and If you haven't got the money to get a real les paul these should be your second choice. But I used this gutar as a backup to my gibson and when cranked up through a 50 watt tube marshall the sound completely broke up, it lost the low mids and had no clarity over the fuzz. It sounded like 1 of the preamp tubes had packed up but the difference in price does explain it. I've also tried at least 20 - 30 different love rock models (used to work is a few guitar shops) including some by people who claim they are as good as les pauls and they're not so please don't be fooled by fools.

A lot of bands have contracts with guitar manufacturers and when they're seen in public will always use particular brands (tokai, dean etc) cos its in their interest to do so.

I know each individual guitar sounds different and I'm sure theres a few top tokais - especially from the early 80's I've heard. End of the day if you love your guitar, thats all that matters whether its a starter argos job to a custom shop strat.

Played one a guy was selling, SIMILAR lay-out of a Gibson Les Paul(but not the same). I'll give an average score, nothing too uncommon.

Sounds like ****....sorry, I'm REALLY not trying to be smarmy. First, I think it should be known that I'm not Gibson crazy....but this is NOT a Gibson or as nice as one (I own MANY)in my humble opinion. The pups were REALLY sucky....or the sound, don't know what caused the HORRIBLE noise I heard. The toggle was all jacked-up, whenever you'd touch it there was a slight buzz sound coming through the amp. Tone pots were worthless, either they were up all the way or off. The bridge pup literally sounded like nails on a chalk-board with high gain, and the neck pup was REALLY muddy and not balanced to the bridge pup (neck was a little louder). I don't know how these things are getting such good reviews, honestly. Jimmy Page, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Randy Rhodes, Peter Frampton, Peter Green, Pete Townshend, Les Paul, Al Di Meola, and a slew of other GREATS all played Gibson Les Paul guitars remember that. Oh, and just for your own knowledge Gibson made the design, not tokai....don't worry kids you'll play the real thing one day.

It was sticky. The finish looked grimy and dull....I know from research that it WAS REAL flamed maple, but it did look like a veneer. The frets were nice though as was the binding, which was nicer than the stuff Gibson has been using in recent history (This guitar is NOT as nice as a "real" Gibson LP however).

Must be fairly reliable, it had been around since 1983.

Don't think that the current ownership of tokai is the same as it was in the early years of the company.

As said earlier I'm not all over Gibson....I know that their quality control has been REALLY fudged up in the last 10 years. However, this guitar is not NEARLY as nice as a 1959 LP like some of the reviewers here would have you believe. Gibson turned over ownership of their company to the current group because of quality control issues in the 1970s and after "maning the ship" for this long I think that the current ownership has started falling back on the Gibson name. I own a 1994 Gibson Les Paul Standard which is alright, I'm not going to lie and say it's the best thing since bread and butter....but it is nicer than the tokai I played. I also own a Gibson Custom Shop V (real custom made V, not a "Custom V") which I like alot and that is also MUCH nicer than this guitar. I own a epi dot deluxe which I picked up after returning a VERY bad Gibson 335 (the Gibson was a newer one that has the quality control issues that MANY modern Gibsons have like BAD: binding, finish, frets, fretboards, etc.). I would say the Epi Deluxe Dot has about the same quality as this instrument, maybe the tokai was a little better. My main guitar is a 1989 Les Paul Studio (go figure) that came stock with Bill Lawrence pups and now sports a pair of active EMGs....it makes the tokai sound like a Wal-Mart First-Act. I own MANY more Gibson, Fender, PRS, McInturff, Epiphone, G&L, along with a slew of other manufacturers guitars and custom made instruments. I thought I'd list a few "real" Gibson guitars to give you an idea how tokai competes.

Standard Les Paul features, two humbuckers, two tone & two volume controls & three way toggle switch. Nickel plated Tune O matic bridge and tuners compliment a nicely fading sunburst finish. Neck is the most comfortable I have played.

Bridge pickup is bright and clear, neck is warm and woody. The neck pickup in particular is the best sounding I have played (including several Gibsons. I tend to use the bridge pickup for Riffs & rhythm and the neck pickup for solos
I play rock music mainly, using a Cornford Harlequin amp and a variety of overdrive/distortion pedals in front.
If I were to be hyper critical the bridge pickup is a little thin (hence my preference for the neckup for solos)

Excellent finish - Ive had this guitar 21 years and its bearing up well.
I bought the guitar second hand - the set up was fine and has not been a problem over the years

no problems over the the years beyond normal wear & tear. I do most of my own setup (truss rod adjustment, intonation etc) and its needed 2 overhauls over the 20 odd years from a professional - which for me means this is a well built guitar.

Bought second hand and never needed to go back to Tokai

I have been playing for 20+ years and have a modest collection of guitars (Gibson SG, Yamaha SA800 & Vantage 728GTD-1). This is my fall back to guitar and the one I would rescue from a fire if it came to it.

1981 Tokai Love Rock LS-80 Made in Japan 22 Frets Solid Maple Flame top under Gold Nitro-laquor-REAL NICE FLAME...NOT veneer like the later models -The control cavity had a circuit board apparatus that was taken out and replaced by good caps and pots. I have read some other reviews about how Gibson is so great blah ..blah ..blah...The plain facts of the matter is both Gibson and Fender made great guitars in the 50's and 60's and then sold their companies. It is ACCEPTED COMMON KNOWLEDGE to most(except to the extraordinarily bullheaded) that Gibson and Fender both made a poor product in the 70's. In its high models Tokai made their Les Pauls like the old ones..they used light Honduras mahoghanny -(more sustain) correct 18 degree head slant (more sustain) -Long neck tenon (yes more sustain) None of these features are on a 70's Les Paul. I am convinced that Fender and Gibson had to create "custom shop" guitars because the early Japan high end copies kicked their butts

I am a proffessional musician and have owned high dollar collectible Fender and Gibsons from the 60's and 50's..The Tokai sounds better period..yes I know your 59 is worth 250,000 dollars -so what -Stevie Ray-ZZ Top have that money as chump change and still gigged w/Tokai's...I feel the same ..each guitar in the world has it's own sound.. you may prefer your 80's les paul to a 59 les paul...I prefer my 81 Tokai to every Gibson Les paul I have owned since the 50's to the present-Fantastic sustain and tone- I think I'll make clocks out of my crappy 70's les pauls with their pancake bodies (norlin waterlog tone robbers)The guitar has houndwound upgrade pups that absolutely and without a doubt surpass the real PAFS that were in my 50's Les Paul..sorry collectors..but it's the truth

Perfect action--best les Paul neck I have ever played--Much better than 70's to 80's Norlin and Nashville offerings-One piece mahaghany not 3 piece tone robbers-Proper lightwieght aluminum tailpiece-proper pickup routing-not the later tone killing routing on Later Pauls Proper abr bridge not the later offering--Seems that Tokai just built their Les Paul like it was supposed to be built...I don't know who Gibson was trying to copy in the 70's and 80's but they must have lost their building plans.Bone-nut-Jumbo frets w/covered binding all there on the Tokai

I've seen a jillion Gibsons with broken headstocks -The Tokai has a solid chunk of wood but it is nice and round and plays effortlessly-you can access the upper frets much easier than non 50's Pauls--Solid and as dependable as any guitar made--I take other guitars anyway too gigs so I won't have to change strings until the break.Let's see 59 les Paul 250,000$ ...Tokai 2,000$ ... -features are very ,very close...what a great bang for the buck...and maybe that 59 Les Paul does'nt really sound all that great after all and is just an overpriced relic -

Best Les Paul I have owned including A plethora of Gibson products. If it was stolen I would scour the earth for the perpetrator and have him beheaded

IMG:http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42/Craigar/guitars/Craig_DLX2004_2.jpg[/IMG]MIK DLX 2004,
c/w flamed maple veneer top. 2 volume, 1 tone.
mahogany back and neck.

I play a lot of hard rock, and when I got this guitar, I put it straight into the Marshall JCM-900. Also used a Boss GX-700 processor aswell. MEGA SUSTAIN, this guitar just oozes sustain.
The pickups are very warm, jazzy almost. I usually like pickups with a little more bite, but the stock ones will do just fine. The pickups are very clean and have great low end when running just straight into the amp with no other effects.
Can't say I have any dislikes about the guitar, I payed just over $700.00 Canadian for it, and hell..... in my opinion I would have payed more just for the abalone binding on it.

The guitar was set up really well, although I think Kevin at JSD's Guitar Shack set it up before he shipped it to me. Great action, slight buzz but nothing that bothers me. Pickups height was great, the neck joint seems rugged and well glued in. Tunners are pretty nice for being just stock ones. The abalone binding one the body and on the neck in phenominal. There was only one flaw to this guitar and that was on the headstock. There was a slight run in the finish. Still... not a big deal to me.

Well I just got this guitar, so I can't say how it will withstand the rigors of palying live. Hardware overall seems great. I am going to purchase some graphite saddles from Stewart McDonald though. Actually, I'm also amazed how well this thing stays in tune.
The only reason it doesn't get a 10 here, is because I still have to break it in before I can say how rugged it is.

not sure, don't think I'll need it.

I've been playing guitar since I was 6 and I"m 30 now. I have played a lot of guitars, but this one I think will be with me for a long time. If this guitar were ever stolen, I'd call C.S.I. Lol! No, seriously, I"d have to track down another one somehow, because these DLX's are limited editions so finding another could be tuff. One last thing, if you want a great guitar and the best "bang for the buck" then try out a few Tokai MIK's.
Everyone keeps braggin up the Jap tokai's and I have had one of those too. They are also great guitars no doubt, but not everyone can afford or even find them. The Tokai MIK's have my support. Also if you want great service and a pretty darn good selection of Tok's then check out JSD's Guitar Shack, they have a great selection of Tok's and if you don't see what you like there.... drop them an e-mail, and they will find it for ya! Thanks to Kevin at JSD's Guitar shack for selling me such an awesome axe!

Japan, a Gibson by any other name. Typical Gibson features.

this is the first "real" guitar I've ever owned and it absolutely r-o-c-k-s. I always wondered how Free, Bad Company, Jimmy Page, Gary Moore and anybody who's good got their sound. This is the type of guitar that does the bizz. The bridge pickup is an absolute monster and the neck pickup - well hey I play heavy rock so I might try it some time ;-)

Looks great - red & gold sunburst with the tiger stripes. Far too good for me to be holding the damn thing

OK the 3 way switch is crap and has let me down on a couple of occasions but who needs the neck pick up anyhoo. I was just unlucky on this occasion.

Crap. Tried e-mailing them about the above prob. Still waiting for a reply after a year. Maybe they don't bother to reply to emails. A lot of folks don't get the point. However if you buy something of said value you'd expect special treatment - but hey that's rock 'n' roll

Been playing a while now in various bands. Should be better but I have my moments. Wish I'd had this rock machine in a previous life. I would have blown the guys away. I used to play loud but this guitar gives you the beef to go with it. Def make you sound like a guitarist.

LS50 All original - standard features

Neck pickup - amazing tone. Best solo sound from anything else I've heard - including my 79 Anniversary strat.
Bridge pickup a bit bright for me.

LIke a piece of antinque furniture. MUCH better made than any Gibson i've handled.

Still feels like a new guitar after 25 years.

N/A - nothing has gone wrong.

Playing for 30 years. Currently use a Hughes & Kettner sw/ch tube combo.
I would buy another if stolen.
The finish is amazing. Favourite is the neck p/u tone.

Before I bought one of these I was sceptical about the right ups.
The proof in the pudding is in the playing.

The difference between these and the Epiphones is embarressing.

Pat Fenis: The spoonerism above obviously has never played one of these as he's overdone the low ratings. He probably works or has shares in Gibson.

The Japanese Love Rocks are amazing!