Tokai TLS-60 — A Rarely Seen Figured Top

This TLS-60 features an exceptionally beautiful, figured maple top —
a rare sight indeed for a guitar in this class.
And of course, this is not a laminated veneer; it’s solid figured maple.

In Les Paul construction, the top is usually joined by the book-matching method:
a single slab of maple is sawn in half, and the two inner faces are mirrored to create symmetrical grain patterns.
However, when one of the two halves proves defective — perhaps scarred or uneven —
builders sometimes keep the good half and later pair it with another piece whose color (a color match)
or grain flow (a texture match) closely resembles it.
This alternative approach is known collectively as flitch-matching.

As the top on this guitar clearly shows, it is not book-matched.
It was likely built using flitch-matched maple —
which explains how a modestly priced model like this could still wear such striking tiger-stripe figuring.

Weight: 4.34 kg (including strings)
(Updated August 27, 2016)