Thursday Burst is a ‘05 MIJ Love Rock LS-80 in Matte Violin Finish that is being modded to capture a little of the vibe, looks and feel from the Holy Grail of guitars, the 1959 Les Paul. This page will be updated frequently as it gets closer to the vintage specs of a real Burst. (Click on the pictures for large-size) 
Topwrapped | Original strung The tailpiece has been lowered all the way down to the body and strings have been topwrapped. This is something that gives a little looser feel to the strings and at the same time changes the guitar sound slightly. A vintage correct lightweight aluminum tailpiece is to be installed in the future but for now it’s just the original heavier tailpiece. 
Gibson Trussrod Cover | Original Trussrod Cover The original Tokai trussrod cover was changed to a more correct looking Gibson bellshaped cover. The screwholes for the new cover wasn't exactly at the same place as the original cover but it wasn't really hard to get it to fit. 
Fake58.co.uk vintage wiring | Original wiring 
50's wiring mod, tone pots middle legs grounded and capacitors connected to the middle leg on volume pots I replaced the original electronics with a more vintage correct wiring kit from Fake58.co.uk. Switchcraft Jack and Switch, CTS 500k pots, Orange Drop Caps and vintage metal braided wire. I also wired it with the 50’s mod which is how some of the original Bursts came wired. This makes the tone and volume controls more useful as they won’t muddy up the sound as quick when turning them down. The wiring project took alot of time, mainly because of the conversion that I had to make from metrical parts that the originals were to imperial sized parts like the CTS pots and Switchcraft stuff. So this inolved a little sanding and cutting in the wood of the guitar. 
Holes sanded bigger | CTS pots fitted Becuase of the metric to imperial differences the pot holes in the top was too small and needed to be sanded bigger to fit the CTS pots, and do not drill the holes bigger! Use a pen and sandpaper or something. Drills will most likely crack the finish, be especially careful if you have a shiny lacquered finish. I fitted short shaft CTS pots but I recommend getting the long shaft pots for at least this Tokai Love Rock model, they would be a lot easier fit as I had to carve a little of the maple top from inside the cavity and also need to replace the washers on the inside with thinner ones to get these short shaft pots to fit. As you see in the picture above it was still a very tight fit. Note that one also needs to replace the knobs with imperial sized ones for the CTS pots. I had to do a complement order from Fake58.co.uk because I didn't think of that when I ordered the wiring. 
Switchcraft to be installed | Original Switch Fitting the switchcraft switch was the biggest problem. The maple top was all too thick since the new switch had a lot less threads than the original. I had to sand the maple top thinner from inside the switch cavity, and my hand didn't really have room in there. So I had to tape some sandpaper to the end of a glue stick and use that as an extension to reach in there. It was a very time consuming job! 
Switch cavity sanded | Original switch compared to switchcraft switch The nut that came with the switchcraft switch isn't deep threaded so it barely goes on there even though I sanded the top thinner. Les Pauls normally have a deep threaded nut that goes down into the hole so that the switch is held more firmly in place. I've ordered a deep thread nut so when that arrives it should work perfect! The knobs and deepthreaded nut should arrive in a couple of weeks! I'll update with new info and pictures then! 
Bridge pickup ring | Aged bridge pickup ring I have now aged the pickguard (which was different colored than the pup rings from the beginning) and pickups rings. I was very careful not to overdo it, just subtle aging by sanding the parts with 1200 grit sandpaper to get rid of the shiny surface and then rubbed the parts with Woly brown wax color for leather shoes. It was kind of hard to get the final results to show on pictures but I did my best. 
Wax applied | Wax rubbed in and wiped off It was quite hard to get the wax to stick. So I applied more than I actually wanted to stick then rubbed it in and finally wiped off with a clean tissue. I had to repeat this process until the right amount of color stuck. 
Neck pickup ring | Aged neck pickup ring The whole aging process is something that some people don't like at all and some love it. In this case it helps to capture a little mojo and feel of a real Burst, so I don't think it's an all too dumb idea. Also the guitar parts, especially plastic parts made today are made of better plastic that won't age and turn yellow as fast as the plastic made in the 50's. I won't relic the wood, that's something that I will leave to time itself. In fact wood will still age and wear down as fast as it did in the 50's. 
Aging Complete | Aging Complete Close-up The key to aging is to not overdo it, that will just look silly. And to also think about that this guitar will age with time and playing so to age it radically would just be plain dumb. The nickel hardware will also be aged further down the road. Thursday Bursts next steps towards the 1959 Burst. 
Switchcraft switch with correct deepthreaded nut | Allparts imperial sized gold knobs I have now installed the switchcraft switch like it should be done, with a deepthreaded nut that goes down into the hole to hold the switch better in place. I also changed to a imperal threaded amber switch tip which I sanded with 1000 grit sandpaper and applied a little brown shoe wax on for some subtle coloring. The deepthreaded nut and the metal on the switch were aged with 1000 grit sandpaper and then rubbed with some dirt and oil mixture for my garage floor, I like the result ;) The CTS pots have now gotten Allparts gold knobs that fit them. These are more gold colored than the original ones, they were darker amber, something like the knobs on Gibson Historic Reissues. When looking at the knobs of a 50's Burst you notice that they haven't turned amber with time, they are still quite light gold colored. So these look more correct than the original Tokai ones. I installed a DMC Aged aluminum tailpiece instead of the original heavy weighted one. The old Bursts were equipped with alu tailpieces and the sound is supposed to get brighter and smoother when using one. And yes it, became alot brighter and got a more vintage character. The 50's mod really came alive when changing the tailpiece and the tone and volume pots are even more useful now. Imo, this was an essential upgrade for Thursday Burst. 
Aged DMC tailpiece compared to the original Gotoh | Aged DMC studs fitted in the original posts I was prepared not to be able to use the studs that came with the lightweight tailpiece because I thought that they would be imperial sized. But to my suprise they worked great with the original Tokai posts and it was just to screw them in place without any hassle at all, that was very nice because they are very tastefully aged! 
The original Gotoh ABR before aging | Aged DMC tailpiece and Gotoh ABR installed When I replaced the tailpiece with a aged one I could of course not leave the Gotoh ABR all shiny and new looking. I've read from different sources that echant solution is an acid that works wonders when aging nickel harware. Well, that isn't exactly something that everyone has at home just like that. So I went to a electronics store but it was too expensive and they only sold big cans of it so I decided to do it in some other way. I tried with 1000 grit sandpaper and after practising on the back of the ABR saucers and the ABR piece I came up with a method that looked decent. I used the sandpaper to take the shine away and then used Farecla C3 polishing compound to take the shine back just a little in case I over did it. It was hard to reach all the tiny corners and egdes on the ABR though but I'm quite happy with the result and it didn't cost me anything since I had the tools I used at home already. 
Aging is very subtle in outdoor lightning 
Polished top | Almost correct colors in this photo I felt that something was missing/not right with the top of Thursday Burst. It didn't look like a Burst as much as I wanted it to, well I started thinking about what to do to get it more Burst-like. When looking around on different pictures of real Bursts I noticed that the tops were still shiny even though it's almost 50 years since the were built. My Thursday Burst was ordered in Matte Violin Finish, in other words not shiny at all. This was easily modified with some car polishing compound, I removed the strings and tailpiece, knobs and pickguard and started polishing the top. It took about an hour in total and turned out really really awsome! Above are two shots of the polished top. Kinda hard to get this to appear on photographs especially since I don't want to overdo anything, it shouldn't look like todays awfully thick clearcoats just a little shiny.In the photo to the right I tried to capture the correct colors and grain of Thursday, which is very hard to do with my cam. It's still not dead on, still a little too red. But better than many of the pics above. 
Before Fret Doctor | After Fret Doctor Some small updates again. The fretboard began drying out, so I ordered the Fret Doctor conditioner. This product is developed by a guy named Ed Boyle and it works wonders on dry fretboards. I want to do Ed a favor by recommending this product to guitar players out there. You can order it over at, www.beafifer.com. I talked to Ed by email before ordering and he is a very nice and helpful man. After the treatment the fretboard became smoother and easier to play. It also darkened the rosewood nicely to look more like a 50's fretboard. Awsome stuff for a couple of dollars! I've also updated the 50's mod schematic to include the whole wiring, not just the control cavity. I didn't put a counter on this site when I made it because I never thought it would be visited as much as it has been. I've posted links to this site on three places on the net, the Seymour Duncan Forum, the Tokai Forum and the Les Paul Forum. According to the views on the threads about Thursday Burst on these sites visitors are now up over 2500! Thank you all for that. 
Modfied Trussrod Cover | Aged Headstock Time for some new mods, this time I wanted to changed the headstock so that it looked more like a Burst headstock. One of the main things that make a headstock look correct is the trussrod cover, the original Tokai trussrod covers looks really awful. I changed it for a original Gibson one almost as soon as I got the guitar. It's possible to buy a even more correct looking Historic trussrod cover but they cost a fortune. So I figured that I'd try modding the standard Gibson trussrod cover that I had bought to look more like one from the 50's. The trussrod cover is made in two layers and it wasn't hard to cut a little of the the black layer away. I took a carpet knife and carefully cut away the outer part of the top layer, to make the white lining thicker. Then I sanded the shiney black top matte and applied some brown shoepolish to make the white lining a little browner. There are of course some markings of the knife cutting on the white lining, so it doesn't look like a new Historic cover. But that doesn't do anything it looks worn and aged, just how I like it. I also sanded the screws and putted them in a bowl of vinegar and they dulled nicely. Another common thing that happens to old Burst headstocks is the weather checking, in other words the laquer cracks with time and from for example being exposed to heat and then cooled down quickly. This won't probably ever happen to the headstock of my Tokai, beacause finish is more resistant and can handle these things quite well. So I wanted to artificially make the cracking happen. I looked at the pictures of old headstock over in some threads at the LP Forum, then I took a thin needle and carfully scratched these crackings into the laquer. As you can see in the headstock photos in the beginning of this page, the finish was originally matte on the headstock as well. So after I did the needle work I removed the strings and polished the headstock glossy with carpolishing compound, since Burst headstocks were finished with glossy laquer. The cracking only appear when you look at it from the right angle, otherwise they are almost invisible. I've gotten some questions about wheter or not I'm planning on changing the logo to Gibson Les Paul Model. I've thought about it and decided to keep it a Tokai. It's a quality brand with good reputation. Even though almost all parts will be changed out to aftermarkets when I'm done, it's still holds it value better as a Tokai than as a Gibson replica. One thing that I haven't figured out yet, is how to tint the Tokai logo yellow. Some Burst headstock have an mustard/gold colored Gibson logo. I've tried with some really strong spices and stuff, but no luck. If someone knows how to tint the logo yellow, feel free to contact me and tell the magic formula. Things that will be upgraded in the future are aged tuners and shrunken tuner buttons. Early 60's Black Beauty caps installed 
Sprague Black Beauties installed | Aged switch ring I've now upgraded the electronics to even more correct specs. A pair of early 60's Sprague Black Beauty 160P caps have now replaced the Orange Drops that I got with the Fake58 wiring. Sprague Black Beauties are the exact same cap as the famous bumblebee caps that are installed in vintage Bursts, they are just painted and marked different and don't cost as much as the bumblebee caps. These Black Beauties were "pulls" in excelent condition, not NOS (New Old Stock). Bridge cap is .027mf and the neck cap is .015mf. There have been numerous of debates regarding the tonal differences of changing to vintage caps. After hearing Thursday Burst before and after I installed these vintage caps, it's up to each to decide wheter they hear a difference or not since that's what really matters. I can only say that what I hear after changing caps is tonal heaven. Notes bloom beautifully, better interaction between the parts in the tonechain, pots, caps, pickups... simply a better guitar tone! A big thanks to Mitchell for hooking me up with these caps. 
Aged pickguard | Aged pickguard and pup ring Kerry (j45) over at the LP Forum sent me some awsome high res pics of a real Bursts hardware and plastic parts so that I could see how they've been worn down and where the wear markings are. I studied these shots and took a knife and some more 1200grit sandpaper to ding the pickguard and pickup rings up a little. I've also aged the switch ring and all screws on the guitar, as well as reshaping the switchtip to look more like a 50's tip. Big thanks for Kerry for the detailed photos! 
Thursday Burst Sunset 
Classic Cali Girl style case As Thursday Burst is about the replicate a 50's Burst it of course needs a Cali Girl case to be transported in. While not a complete replica of a real Cali Girl case this one at least in the ballpark and has a quite correct pink interior as well. I was really suprised with such good quality since it wasn't that expensive... It was hard to find out who manufactures this case but it seems to be manufactured by a company named Boston Koffers, I can't confirm it though. It was ordered through the german company Musik-Schmidt. The beautiful patina that brass gets when aged slightly is something I really dig, so the brass hardware might be aged further on when I figure out a good way to do it. Wolfetone Legend PAFs and the last aging processes 
Armwear, dings and lacquer checking from different angles, the checking is very subtle and only visible in right light and angle. Things start to turn out finsihed. I have been working with this project now, from time to time, for about a year. Recently got a set of awsome... no really amazing PAF replicas, Wolfetone Legend PAFs. Wolfetone is a boutique winder in the US. I bought mine on the used market, but I've been in contact will Wolfe himself by mail and so. He's a really nice guy and a very talented pickup maker. Check out his pickups if you're looking for a set of PAF replicas. I warmly recommend his work! Here's a quick sample with the new pickups installed, played through a V-Stack Classic into a '94 Tweed Pro Junior played on low volume around 2-3: link to soundclick.com I've also got some aging done to the body. Some armwear, dings and lacquer checking. I never thought I'd dare to do it but I' really satisfied with how it turned out. Hard to get on picture though as it's very subtle, especially in the armwear area. But I tried my best. 
Closeups around the pickups Still have a bone nut ordered, but after that this project is about finished. When the weather gets a little sunnier and brighter I'll take some shots of the whole guitar and upload them here. Some final shots! Been awhile since I lasted updated the site. No real updated have been done to the Thursday Burst but it was such a nice sunny day today so I decided to do a last final photo shoot with some pics of the whole guitar with the aged Wolfetone Ledgends in place and everything. I'm really satisfied with how the guitar came out in the end, it has the feel and look that I was pursuing when I started modding it. This is about it then, it's been a interesting and educating journey! Here are the final pictures... 
Hope you enjoyed the story! 
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