Up for sale, a 1980 Tokai Love Rock Custom model LC60 in exceptional, 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original Lifton-style hardshell case. Originally introduced in 1977, the Love Rock is Tokai’s enduringly-popular take on the LP platform. This Love Rock Custom sports a gloss Vintage White finish, loaded with the stock pair of Gotoh-made humbuckers.
With tonewoods in-line with a ‘50s Les Paul Custom, this Love Rock features a solid mahogany body with a carved mahogany top and a mahogany neck topped by a rosewood fretboard. At 9lbs 13oz, this Tokai dishes out plenty of natural sonic authority and sustain, faithfully captured by the Gotoh humbuckers. These pickups meter at 8.3k ohms, delivering rich, full tones with a lively top end. The lows are broad and powerful, channeling the warmth of the all-mahogany body. This Tokai has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and spot-on intonation.
The mahogany neck has a medium C-shaped profile carve with just enough roundness in the shoulders, measuring .850” deep at the 1st fret and .950” at the 12th. The bound rosewood fretboard features pearloid block inlay and fret-edge binding on the flawless stock medium jumbo fretwire, playing cleanly up the 24 3/4“ scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The nut measures a full 1 11/16” in width, carved from bone for optimal sustain and articulation. The headstock is framed by multi-ply binding and sports a floral inlay only used on Tokai models in 1980-81, and the gold single line tuners are a very close approximation of 1950s Kluson Deluxe tuning machines, complete with keystone buttons.
On the body, all of the electronics work as intended, with the Gotoh humbuckers wired to the unique stock circuit board harness used by Tokai in the early ‘80s, with standard LP controls consisting of dedicated Volume and Tone knobs for each humbucker and a three-way pickup selector switch. Both humbuckers have “Gotoh”-embossed baseplates. The original quartet of black bonnet knobs are present, and the gold hardware exhibits uniform surface patina on the plating on the ABR-1-style bridge, stopbar, and pickup covers.
The gloss Vintage White finish is framed by multi-ply binding, and the clear coat exhibits gentle yellowing. Cosmetic wear is limited to a scant few pinhead-sized dings on the lower bout perimeter and a tiny finish chip on the back at the lower bout, as well as a handful of faint finish scratches in the clear coat on the body as a whole. The smooth gloss finish on the neck profile is immaculate.
The original Tokai-branded Lifton-style brown hardshell case with pink plush interior is included.