Tokai HLS 240 SF top refinish

[silverkw]

I have decided to sell the guitar so I thought I'd post some pictures of the process that I got it finished from a flame top to a plain top, since I imagine I will get questions on that anyway once the ad was up...

This was what it looked like:

This was after the top refinish:

More accurate color because there's always so much red:

Not going to go over the refinish in too much details, basically the guitar plays and sounds amazing, with a big neck like a 50's guitar. It's among the best Tokai's I have ever played. But I made the purchase on an impulse and never grown into the top and finish.

So I thought I'd just refinish it in a different color:

And of course, my scraper and sander went through the paper thin veneer:

I couldn't just stop there without revealing the nice plain top:

And then that's that:

Polished and back in action:

Definitely not as glossy as the factory lacquer top (on top of poly which was a b*tch to remove), instead I got it to a VOS kind of lacquer shin:

 

[silverkw]

The burst rings were a bit more "grainy" comparing to factory spray but I am pretty happy with the result.

 

[pomaranc]

Both the colour and the top look 10x better, great job!

 

[Nick-O]

yep, love the plain top grains.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

That top should never have been covered up with a cheesy veneer.

 

[JDB]

I would of thought a 240 would be a solid top.

Looks great though

 

[brokentoeswalker]

Nicely done. Damn fine job.

 

[radarlove]

I remember that guitar on ebay being sold as a solid flame top. 2012 HLS?

 

[swampblues]

Awesome looking refinish

 

[jimmyjames]

That kicks arse If I thought my EGF could have a plain top like that hidden away, it would become an EG

 

[JDB]

You can at least scrape a bit of the shielding paint see if its a centre seam.

 

[jimmyjames]

When I get some spare time...

 

[silverkw]

Thanks a lot guys! Tokai did a great job matching the top and veneer, even the grain did match up well, so it was hard to say until I scraped a little bit in the cavity.

It's sad to see it go, but I'd be happy to know someone would play it more often.

 

[ThirdStone]

It's interesting with Tokai's quality work with matching of the woods. I have a sunburst TST80 Goldstar strat from -84. It's a two piece body and the matching of the grains is so impeccable that it's really hard to see the center seam (almost looks like a one piece), and I've seen people pointing out that detail from time to time regarding Tokai.

And it's of course fascinating here that the original top under that veneer looked this fine although it wasn't even supposed to be visible. Maybe pure luck, but I of course want to believe that it's not!

Great work you did there. Although I can appreciate a flamy veneer, IMHO this burst and colour change looks way better.

 

[21stcsm]

Where is Vancity? Is that Vancouver CA? WA? I have a HLS240

I love it but I would love it more with a finish like you did on this one