Tokai Love Rock LS-136F

About the Tokai Love Rock LS-136F

The LS136F is the Vintage Series Love Rock of 2019 to 2022 with a flame-veneer top, the same guitar that was the LS85F in 2010, LS95F, LS98F in 2012, LS100F in 2013-14, LS115F in 2015 and LS128F in 2017-18, and that became the LS-101F under the new owners' numbering in 2023-24; the LS136 is the plain-top version, the LS136Q the quilt, and the ULS136F the UK-headstock version of the same guitar, offered among others in a matt violin finish (MVF). It is a two-piece African mahogany back under the veneered maple cap, an Indian rosewood board, a poly finish (not nitro), Gotoh MK2 PAF pickups (the MK2 S in some 2016 guitars runs hotter), a thinner 1960s-style neck than the Premium models above the 100, and a weight around 9 lb. The Vintage-series Love Rocks below the Premium line carry Korean-made metric pots, Jinsung on a 2023 LS136, the same on an LS147 of the period and on older KLS models, which owners say is normal and works fine, the toggle switch being the weaker part; Gibson or CTS pots do not fit without drilling, so replacements are metric Bourns or Alpha. Owners date theirs from 2011 to 2022. Identification: the model is handwritten in the pickup cavity and the first two digits of the serial give the year; the truss-rod cover is often swapped for a Gibson bell shape, so it proves nothing; on a Japanese-made guitar the maple cap shows at the neck joint in the horn; and Tokai answers emailed photographs.

What owners have said elsewhere

Paraphrased from 38 discussion threads among 47 owners, 2021-2026. No names, nothing quoted.

The LS136F is called an absolute killer and a guitar that plays like a dream with sustain for days, built to the same quality as the Reborn Old above it, with not much between it and an LS196 in the playing; owners say it is a clear step up from a production-line Gibson Standard in fit and finish, and one with OX4 pickups puts it level with any custom-shop offering. The plain-top LS136 draws the same praise: a violin-finish one is called an incredible guitar that beats its owner's 1992 Les Paul Custom by a distance, one bought in 2022 is awesome and preferred to its owner's Gibson, a 2023 owner simply loves it, an owner of a 2018 LS128 and a 2021 LS136 sent a Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded back the next day for its quality-control problems and is so happy with the Tokais, and a 136F is called brilliant, its sound and playability surpassed only by the flawless build. The MK2 pickups are kept by some, one owner says the originals are just fine, another would never change them, and swapped by others for Monty's, OX4, Bare Knuckle, Whiskerbuster or Seymour Duncan Alnico II and '59 sets; one fitted a Faber bridge and tailpiece to shave a few ounces off a guitar just over 9 lb. The dissent: one buyer found it noticeably heavier than a Gibson Les Paul Faded, especially at the back, which bothers seated playing; the flame is a veneer, and a veneer does not make it any lighter.