1980 Tokai LS-80 — The Elegance of Aged Nickel and True Mahogany

The gentle tarnish on this guitar’s nickel hardware lends it a quiet dignity — the unmistakable aura of a vintage instrument.

When this LS-80 was built, high-quality tonewoods were still relatively easy to obtain.
I don’t have documents explaining exactly how and when such materials became scarce,
but there is no doubt that by the following decade, fine wood had become increasingly difficult to source.

When we speak of Les Paul tonewoods, the term that immediately comes to mind is Honduran mahogany.
Strictly speaking, however, that name does not refer to a single species.
Rather, it’s a collective label for several Swietenia species native to Central and South America,
excluding the now-vanished Cuban mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni).

Cuban mahogany has long been extinct as a commercial timber,
so today, when we simply say “mahogany,” we usually mean Honduran mahogany.
The reason is simple: most other so-called “mahoganies” aren’t true mahogany at all.

After Honduran mahogany became scarce, builders turned to African mahogany as a substitute.
But again, that’s a trade name, not a species.
It refers broadly to several African woods that merely resemble mahogany in appearance.
True African “mahogany” is usually Khaya, a different genus within the same family (Meliaceae).
So, strictly speaking, a guitar made with this wood should be described as having a Khaya back, not a “mahogany” one.

Once a species has been driven to the brink of extinction, it almost never recovers to a level where sustainable harvesting becomes possible again.
For that reason, if you own a guitar built with genuine Honduran mahogany, treasure it —
for such instruments will only become rarer with time.

Weight: 4.54 kg (including strings)
(Updated August 27, 2016)