Greco Custom EC68-80

John Paul Jones - When The Levee Breaks (lap steel Guitar)

Just another bit of proof that JPJ was not just another bassist!

A pick for not just any monkey...

....but for The Yellow Monkey

Deal of the moment: Japanese-made Edwards SG on Yahoo Japan

Here is a nice example of those older Edwards that have fret-edge binding and look pretty similar to ESP Navigators.  Just 29,800 yen through your favorite bidding proxy service!

2-screw truss rod cover

Fret-edge binding and nice looking inlays

Tales From The Woodheap : After playing a few friends LS80's & LS100's etc I...

Tales From The Woodheap : After playing a few friends LS80's & LS100's etc I...: After playing a few friends LS80's & LS100's etc I always dug these old Tokai's. The lacquer finish just feels old and worn...



Nice LS-80 example over on the woodheap now...

Aria Pro II LS-800 - Nice Surprise

Closeup of some honest play wear

Neck pickup with 9.5 mm polepiece pitch (53 mm hole to hole)

Rear pickup with 10 mm polepiece pitch  (55 mm hole to hole)

New Tokai LS-80 and New Camera

Tokai LS-80 1981

I lined up for a couple of hours at Kurosawa Gakki in Shibuya on January 2 for their New Year's sale. There was a rare "Limited Edition" Greco from 1979 with a solid flametop and a cracked neck - only 42000 yen. I was number 6 in line and it turns out that number 3 was going for the Greco. Lucky for me as I ended up getting this lovely 1981 Tokai LS-80 goldtop as a consolation prize. In retrospect I think I may have gotten the better deal as the Greco was not that good looking and had a 3pc back and no Dry-Zs.

The Tokai came with original green-lined case, some Greco Grover-style tuners, newer Dimarzio DP103 pickups, chrome aluminum tailpiece and chrome ABR-style bridge. I ended up putting in a Tom Holmes H453 in the bridge and H450 in the neck,  replacing the tuners with Gotohs and then replacing the tailpiece and bridge with all-parts nickel hardware.

With a nice fat neck and great sustain this LS-80 is one of the best LPs I have ever played. I ended up getting a new Nikon as well so here are a few shots through a D5300.

Tom Holmes H450 and H453