1981 Tokai LS-80 — A Rare Black Beauty

A black LS-80 is a rare sight indeed.

While an opaque black Les Paul Standard is by no means unusual among copy models, it’s exceptionally rare in the original Gibson lineup.
As the name “Burst” implies, the original Les Paul Standard was produced almost exclusively in sunburst finishes.
Other colors were made only in exceptional cases.

In fact, among the 87 instruments featured in The Beauty of the ’Burst, only one is black (p.161).
The accompanying note remarks “only a few,” meaning that probably just two or three were ever built.

This Tokai faithfully follows the correct construction formula:
a two-piece maple top over a one-piece mahogany back —
even though the opaque finish hides the grain.
The fingerboard is Jacaranda (Brazilian rosewood), described in the catalog simply as “the finest rosewood.”
At the time, Tokai reserved Brazilian rosewood boards for models LS-80 and above.

Pickups are Tokai’s original LS Vintage humbuckers.
Although marketed as exact PAF replicas, they sound rather different in practice —
hotter output, crisper highs, and a more modern attack than a true vintage PAF.

Weight: 4.76 kg (including strings)
(Updated August 27, 2016)