Tokai Love Rock LS-128F

About the Tokai Love Rock LS-128F

The LS128F is the Vintage Series flame-top Love Rock of 2016 to 2018, the same guitar that was the LS85F in 2010, LS95F, LS98F, LS100F and LS115F in the years between, the LS136F from 2019 and the LS-101F under Tokai's new owners from 2023, the number being the yen list price. The 2016 catalogue separates it from its neighbours by the top: flamed maple veneer over a maple cap on the 128F, a solid maple top on the LS125S, a plain two-piece maple top on the LS122. It is poly-finished with a standard neck joint, Mk2-S pickups, a Gotoh GE104 bridge and stop bar, and the ULS128 prefix marks the UK-headstock version; the Premium tells it lacks are brass saddles, Orange Drop caps, a Switchcraft toggle and an aluminium tailpiece. Finishes seen: lemon drop, red, cherry burst and heritage dark cherry. Owners date theirs from 2015 to 2018.

What owners have said elsewhere

Paraphrased from 12 discussion threads among 21 owners, 2023-2025. No names, nothing quoted.

One buyer who could not find an LS-150 calls the LS128F close enough; the parts, pickups and paintwork are pointed to as the marks of Japanese quality, a 2015 is called very well made, and a former dealer who has owned a real 1960 Burst says current Tokai quality beats anything Gibson is making now. The Mk2 pickups divide owners: one calls them very late-fifties Les Paul and will never change them, others who moved to Bare Knuckles call the improvement immediate and vast and say the Mk2s are worth refitting only when selling; Monty's PAFs get a vote too, and any humbucker set drops in. The Gotoh aluminium stop bar (GE101A) is the light, direct-fit upgrade, and the bridge needs no replacing since it is already a Gotoh.