2007 Love Rock LS85S Goldtop with P90s

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I have just won this on eBay, and collected it yesterday evening.

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At first sight I thought it was a two piece body, but it's actually three pieces. The seller only bought it new last year, and the serial number begins with 07. It has the headstock without the dimple that annoys so many people.

Since I paid at least ?150 less than the cost of a new one (which would have the headstock dimple), it seems to me that I got quite a good deal. Apart from the fact that it's heavy and has quite a chunky neck (well it's a LP....) it seems great. It will take some getting used to, after my regular diet of Strats & Teles, but a Goldtop with P90s is such a cool guitar that it should be worth the effort.

One thing surprised me, and hopefully other owners can help me with this. The pole pieces of the bridge pickup line up nicely with the strings, but on the neck pickup there seems to be a slight misalignment on the treble side. I'm not sure how well it shows up on a pic, but here goes:

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This means that the pole piece for the top E is slightly to one side of the string - has anybody got this on their guitar? It's not a big problem, I've just raised the pole piece on the top E to compensate, but I was a bit surprised to see that.

It's interesting to compare it with my 1997 Gibson LP Special, which has P100 pickups. The Gibson cost me ?470 on eBay, so it's not a great deal more expensive than the Tokai:

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First impressions are that I prefer the feel of the neck on the Gibson (it's a bit slimmer, and I assume the Gibson is nitro finished - can anyone confirm that please?). But, the sound of the Tokai seems to have more character and depth, specially on the neck pickup. I'm not clear whether this is due to the pickups or the maple top on the body - any theories? The body of the Gibson seems to be one piece - if there are any joins, they are well hidden.

Hopefully I'll take it to rehearsal this week, so that should give me a much better idea about what it will do. But for now, I'm impressed with the sound, and I'm persevering with the chunky neck!

Buying this means that my Korean LS48 Love Rock in Cherry Sunburst will have to go.

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So if anyone wants an LS48, drop me a PM. As I don't have a spare case that will fit a LP/LR, it will have to be collection only from London. I'll list it on eBay soon, unless anyone wants to buy it before then.

More pics here, including an interesting comparison of the GT next to my gold Strat (Aztec Gold? - even Fender UK don't seem sure!).

http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x153/stratman323/Tokai%20LS85S%20Love%20Rock%20Goldtop%20P90/

Mike 8)
 
About the pole piece / E-string thing.

Mine looks the same, comes down to, imho, the P90 on the neck being the same size as the one on the bridge, but the distance between the two E-strings being smaller at the neck pick-up due to the nut being narrower then the bridge.

Which is pretty obvious of course.

If I put a low E-string in the high E-string position however, I reckon that the miss-alignment would be the same for both E-strings, it's just that the thinner high E string looks more off center due to being, er, thinner.

Hope you enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine, got stuck playing the "Smoke on the water" riff last night for about 20 minutes, haven't had that happen for about 30 years. :)
 
Oh Mike ...

What a wonderful P90-LP ... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Congrats mate, an excellent score ... 8)
I wouldn't mind about the strings ligning up to the pole pieces if it doesn't affect the tone ...

Well done ... :wink: :wink:

Roger
 
Actually it does make the top E sound a bit quieter than the others. :-? Not a huge amount, but I'm a bit surprised.

One more thing I've noticed is that the knobs are mounted quite high, specially the 2 for the neck pickup:

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Is this usual? More pics on the photobucket link above.

The Tokai gig bag is very nice - even has a padded bit inside to support the neck, though I doubt if I'll take this out of the house unless it's in a hard case - these set neck guitars feel so vulnerable and delicate when you're used to a Strat or Tele. :-?
 
Yeah, it's nice - I'm even thinking about selling the Gibson now. How many times have people said that on this forum? :lol:
 
Nice one.....I have an older twin to it. You know, I have several guitars (humbuckers and P90's alike) that the alighment looks off on the higher register strings. As someone said, I think it has to do with the reduction is string diameter across the pickup. For me, I don't really notice anything out of the normal because the guitars sound like they did when I first played them.

My goldtop is about 8.5 lbs. Heavier than most guitars but still on the reasonable side for a Les Paul.

Can you mash down on the knobs a bit? They might not be all the way down on the shafts.

Nice catch!
 
marcusnieman said:
Can you mash down on the knobs a bit? They might not be all the way down on the shafts.

I just tried, and the knobs don't seem to want to move in either direction! I don't really want to force them, and I don't really notice when I'm playing it. It looks like it might be deliberate, to put the knobs at the same height, despite the curvature of the body.

Or am I just being too kind?
 
stratman323 said:
It looks like it might be deliberate, to put the knobs at the same height, despite the curvature of the body.

Or am I just being too kind?

Never thought of that - you might be on to something.
 
I was working on it yesterday, trying to cure an intermittent fault with the neck tone control, and fitting better quality .022 caps. I decided I was fed up with the stupid bell knobs it came with - you can't see the numbers, and they're too small and fiddly.

So I tried out a couple of speed knobs I had spare, & I've ordered a set in gold, not the amber that the guitar came with. That should make it more convenient to adjust the controls. It looks to me as though the reason for some knobs protruding more is that some of the shafts are longer. I can't imagine this would have been accidental?
 
I changed the knobs today from the amber bell knobs it came with to gold speed knobs - ?5 a set. I think it looks better, I can now see the numbers on each knob, & they're less fiddly to use. A recommended improvement. :p

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Since this thread is still in the top three, may I introduce the bed I just bought for my LS-85S..........

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...... bought via the web, apparently a vintage case from 1979 ( Tokai ).
 
stratman323 said:
I changed the knobs today from the amber bell knobs it came with to gold speed knobs - ?5 a set. I think it looks better, I can now see the numbers on each knob, & they're less fiddly to use. A recommended improvement. :p

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Wow - look at the knobs on her! :wink:
 
I wondered who would do the knob gag! I thought it might be JohnA. :lol:

Proves that crude humour is truly international. 8)
 

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