currypowder Posted August 28, 2015 Posted August 28, 2015 Unfortunately, I missed out on Serial's uber-cool Stike-refinished Iceman. But since it went back to Stike, I couldn't be too upset. I had sold an amp and guitar to fund the potential purchase, so I had some gear $s burning a hole in my pocket. I'm sure I'm not the first to have that feeling around here. Anyway, being a long term lover of Japanese clones, I started looking around the net to see if anything caught my eye in the Tokai, Greco, Burny, Fernandez, Ibanez space. Stumbled on a discussion about a Japanese store that had ordered a special run of Tokai's in 2014 with the old Reborn Old logos instead of Love Rock using premium woods (lightweight Mahogany and solid flame and plain tops). The Reborn Old logo was only used for a few months in 1980 as Tokai transitioned form the Les Paul Reborn logo to Love Rock. So I started poking around their website, and it looked like they had some left over from their initial run, and had ordered another run in 2015, some with some pretty cool tops. I'm very partial to flamed Lemon Drop finishes, so I narrowed it down to those finishes, and they had a few in stock. I have some experience with Tokai guitars. My all time favorite Les Paul is an '03 Tokai LS-320, at the time, their top of the line. Honduras Mahogany body and neck, solid flame maple top (no veneer here), Brazillian rosewood fret board, Seth Lover pickups. No CS Gibby has ever done it for me like it. This particular shop has an English speaking salesman that deals with international orders and they ship worldwide. I'm guessing there are a few stores that can do this, but, from what I understand, not too many. Sure, you can use a buying service, but that can add several hundred dollars to the ending price. So I emailed him last week about the guitar that I had identified. Of course, it just so happens that the day I emailed him was the day they went on a summer holiday. He got back to me late last week with a final delivered price. Now, I have purchased directly from Japan in the past, but it's been a few years. For awhile, the exchange rate just wasn't conducive to it. But now, with the dollar pretty strong, I found that the price to me in dollars was, IMO, well worth it. I pay for the guitar in Yen through PayPal using my credit card's exchange rate (ended up saving me about $50 over PayPal's exchange rate) last Friday. He has to have the guitar delivered to his store from a different store and says he'll get it out to me on Tuesday of this week. I figure it'll be sometime next week before I get it, which is fine. Hell, it's coming from the other side of the world. Imagine my surprise when it's delivered today to me, 4 days later. I haven't had too much time with it, yet. It's very lightweight, a hair over 8 pounds. Resonates great unplugged. The pickups (standard Tokai PAFs) sound good, but I'll probably swap them out at some point. Enough chat, I doubt you guys want to read my rambling and would rather see some pics. These are from the shop in Japan, I will take some later and post them. I will say that the guitar in person isn't quite as bright as these pics. That's not a knock, it still looks great. BTW, if anyone is interested, the website of the store is here: http://www.rockin.co.jp/english/top.html If you click on "Go To Web Shop" you can search their inventory. Chrome automatically translates, not sure about other browsers.
crunchee Posted August 28, 2015 Posted August 28, 2015 Very cool. congrats! And I dig the Hamer-ish truss rod cover, too! I had purchased some Japan-only Fenders via FeePay several years ago, the Japanese shops used EMS for shipping, and they arrived well-packed and FAST!
a.bandini Posted August 28, 2015 Posted August 28, 2015 Wow, that's a good looking guitar. Congratulations!
mrjamiam Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Nice ride! I also recently had an unbelievably fast shipment from Japan recently. If it doesn't get hung up in US customs, it can really cover ground in a hurry.Safari doesn't automatically translate, but I managed to do a search on Tokai and they have three pages' worth. Among the Reborn reissues, is yours what they call one of the Premium Series?
currypowder Posted August 29, 2015 Author Posted August 29, 2015 Nice ride! I also recently had an unbelievably fast shipment from Japan recently. If it doesn't get hung up in US customs, it can really cover ground in a hurry.Safari doesn't automatically translate, but I managed to do a search on Tokai and they have three pages' worth. Among the Reborn reissues, is yours what they call one of the Premium Series?Mine wasn't designated as a "Premium Plus", but was "FM Plus". The only difference is that my top was graded AAA vs AAAA for the Premium Plus. Quite frankly, the top on the one I got is much more appealing to me than the AAAA.
cynic Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Your guitar is for sale here on ebay.You got the best top of the bunch by far. That's stunning.
Bobby Marshall Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 It needs a new truss rod cover. Otherwise it's choice.
Disturber Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Nice. Congrats. Let us know how it stands up to a CS Gibson LP.
specialk Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Your guitar is for sale here on ebay. You got the best top of the bunch by far. That's stunning. Wow! And it sure fits the description: Description This is the LS-Reborn FM we have become one of having communication preference fine tiger heather of Fleck mingled with the top material !! A slightly bright light brown vintage lemon-drop finish that matches the top material we were finished with lacquer. It is a stately looks not to the regular products. The pickup has the original PAF Vintage MK2 gotten manufactured in cream color. A lightweight one-piece mahogany as much as possible to the back material, neck set a one-piece mahogany with deep joint. Brass saddle, aluminum tail piece, CTS pots and orange drop, etc. to control, is a high-spec specification using the USA parts. Heddorogo is unbearable to mania "Reborn OLD" logo adopted. But a really beautiful guitar. Big congrats!
lincsman Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Congrats a great scoreThe Best Strat I have ever played was a Tokai and it was by a long way,the stock pick ups were just fantastic.
currypowder Posted August 29, 2015 Author Posted August 29, 2015 That eBay ad went up after I had committed and paid for it. I guess there are several Japanese sellers that put ads up for guitars that are for sale in Japan but they don't own. They add a pretty hefty premium, because I paid a few hundred less than the BIN price.
Disturber Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 I just saw an almost mint LS60 from 1978 , for sale over here. The seller wants approx 1380 US dollars for it. I don't know if that is reasonable or not. I am not in the market to buy, just saw the ad.
velorush Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Wow! And it sure fits the description: Description This is the LS-Reborn FM we have become one of having communication preference fine tiger heather of Fleck mingled with the top material !! A slightly bright light brown vintage lemon-drop finish that matches the top material we were finished with lacquer. It is a stately looks not to the regular products. The pickup has the original PAF Vintage MK2 gotten manufactured in cream color. A lightweight one-piece mahogany as much as possible to the back material, neck set a one-piece mahogany with deep joint. Brass saddle, aluminum tail piece, CTS pots and orange drop, etc. to control, is a high-spec specification using the USA parts. Heddorogo is unbearable to mania "Reborn OLD" logo adopted. I suspect Google Translate. Gave me similar results when trying to communicate in German with Capridriver way back when. I would use it to translate into German, then I'd check it by translating the German results back into English. It was pretty funny, actually. Really glad he was as patient and accommodating as he was fluent in English! Curry, magnificent guitar! What's the neck and heft like on that axe?
currypowder Posted August 29, 2015 Author Posted August 29, 2015 Curry, magnificent guitar! What's the neck and heft like on that axe? To me, the neck is a perfect 59 profile, not thick or thin. But I can never describe necks that well, feels right to my hand. It's pretty lightweight at 8 pounds 2 ounces. My other Tokai is right at 9 pounds, so this one is a welcome releif to my old back.Yeah, how close is it to a real Les Paul?Except for the name on the headstock, it's every bit a Les Paul as any Gibson I've played. Look, it would probably be unrealistic to expect that it's on par with a Custom Shop Gibson (but it's close), It is certainly as good or better than a regular production model, at least any that I've played. It has a one piece back, solid maple cap, quality electronics, including CTS pots and Orange Drop caps. The fretwork is great, plays well up and down the neck with no buzzing or dead spots, thin lacquer finish. The specs sure seem like a custom shop model. But I honestly don't spend a lot of time trying to figure that out. It's flat out just a very high quality guitar, especially given the price. FYI, the total cost to me, including shipping and Paypal fees, was 209,000 yen, or about $1,700.If you look at Tokai's current line, this one falls somewhere between their LS173 and LS340. Probably closer to the LS173 with the solid flame top and lightweight mahogany. The 340 uses Honduras mahogany and Madagascar rosewood as upgrades. If the Reborn had a model number, I suspect it would be in the low 200s
Tres Aardvarks Posted August 31, 2015 Posted August 31, 2015 the figuring on that is totally badass!!!!!!!
currypowder Posted August 31, 2015 Author Posted August 31, 2015 Many flamey Japanese guitars have a solid maple cap with a very thin veneer top. Sometimes it's difficult to tell whether or not a veneer is present. While I was told this was a solid flame maple cap, it's always good to verify. Fortunately, there's no question here, you can see the wood grain match exactly with the top.
cynic Posted August 31, 2015 Posted August 31, 2015 If any of what's remaining on the site you bought this had half the top of yours, I'd have one inbound.
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