Tokai Gibson Copy Information

Date	Tokai Model	Serial # Decoding
Early 1977	Les Paul Model	1st digit = year
1977 - 1979	Les Paul Reborn	1st digit = year
1980	Reborn Old	1st digit = year
1980-88	Love Rocks	1st digit = year
1989+	Love Rocks	1st 2 digits = year

Notes:

• This information applies to all Tokai Gibson copies (V, Explorer, ES, etc).
• Up to 1989 all serial numbers have a 0 in the second digit
• Easy to confuse 1980 and 2000 - see above note
• Third number indicated production run 1=1st run early, 2=second run late in year
• Les Paul Reborn models: 1977 = 700xxxx, 1978=800xxxx, 1979=900xxxx
• 1989+: 89=1989, 90=1990, 00=2000, 01=2001, etc
• All Love Rocks with the "LS" & "TLS" prefix in the model are Japanese.
• All Love Rocks with the "ALS" prefix are Korean. However, this change didn't occur until sometime in the mid 1990's, around 1995 or 96. Previous ALS models were made in Japan.
• "A" rule only applies to Gibson & Fender copies.

Trying to map model numbers to years but there are some gaps.
LS models from 1976/77 to 1982
TLS models from 1983 to 1985
ALS models from 1986 to ?
LS models from 1999 to present

The following model numbers map to certain years.

Tokai Model #	Les Paul Year
LS70	1956 Model
LS70-AG	1956 Rare Model
LS100S OR	1957 Rare Model
LC60,100 & 110	1957 Refine Model
LS50,60 & 80	1958 Model
LS100,120,150 & 200	1959 Model

Here are the spec for the model numbers, throughout the time line many specs remain the same but the pickup types change. Only Japanese models are covered below.

Instrument	Features	Series Differences	Notes
50 Series	Body: Maple top; Mahogany back Neck: Mahogany-set neck Fingerboard: Rosewood Pickups(1999+): PAF Vintage MK3, exposed Pickups(ALS 86): MAR - Michigan Accurate Reproduction, exposed Pickups(early 80's): '57 Vintage MKII, exposed Pickups(1982): LS Dynamic-II, exposed	1999 LS55D has flamed sycamore laminated top	In 1999 the LS50/55 had bolt-on necks Model was dropped in 2000
60 Series	Body: Maple top; Mahogany back Neck: Mahogany-set neck Fingerboard: Rosewood Pickups(1999+): PAF-Vintage MK2 Pickups(1986): MAR Pickups(1985): Tokai 57 Vintage Pickups(1982-1984): LS Vintage MkII, exposed	None known	Set neck on all models 2000 LS65 has a 2pc maple top
70 Series	Body: Flamed sycamore laminated top; Mahogany back Neck: Mahogany-set neck Fingerboard: Rosewood Pickups(1999+): PAF-Vintage MK2	75Q has a quilted maple laminate top 75S has a maple top	Appears in early 80's then, in 82 only available in gold top. Reappears in 1999.