A
Anonymous
Guest
I have just won this on eBay, and collected it yesterday evening.
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:
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:
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.
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)
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:
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:
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.
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)
