Got my first Tokai LS-65 today-WOW!!

[bear925]

Wow! I'm speechless-nearly! Down south around Atlanta, Georgia- we never see Tokai's except maybe 1-2 at a guitar show. In finding this web site, and researching around a bit- I decided to "bag" one, and just got my gorgeous 1992 LS65 today from Chicago. It weighs 8.25lbs- and yes gang- it has a Gibson 1960 Classic-thin profile neck. I have a 1960 Les Paul Historic, and the Tokai neck is even smaller- a dream to play! Top grade dark rosewood, with a lemon burst top as nice as any $3300+ Gibson! Got her for $625 including shipping. I'm a real happy camper, and will never waste $$$$ on the "name" brand again. Now for the "News of the Insane"- in today's Christmas flyers- I get a Target catalog with a "Epoch by Gibson Les Paul guitar -in black- 2 pick ups- $129.99- Epoch/Gibson amp- $39.99" Now folks, if that wasn't weird- I pick up a Circuit City stereo-tv flyer- and bam..."A full sized Gibson acoustic guitar (not an Epiphone-Epoch- or Doctor Spock!)..it's 41 inches long...$149.99!!" I think our home boys have lost it. So glad to have found Tokai and some nice interesting people here on the web site! Merry Christmas to all- and to all.....keep on picking!- as Les Paul told me last year! Bear....a happy Tokai owner!!

 

[brad347]

It's the same old story. Gibson's quality has really started to suffer in the last 10 years, last 5 especially, and so serious players (the type who would spend $2000+ on an instrument) have been looking elsewhere, mainly to vintage and used Gibsons. I'd say Fender and Gibson's stiffest competition is... old Fenders and Gibsons. Being a pro player full-time I don't know a SINGLE one of my colleagues who plays a newer (post-1990) Gibson or Fender. There was one guy who still played the same Strat Plus he got in 1994 as a teenager, but he has since switched to a Tokai (after hearing about mine!)

Gibson and Fender's high-end models have mainly been going to rich businessman types who play on the weekends and can afford them. This is a large market to be sure.

As for pro players, most have realized that the new Gibsons aren't where it's at at all. Until his D'Aquisto endorsement, Kurt Rosenwinkel played a $300 Epiphone 335 DOT. The jump in quality (except for pickups) to Gibson is really not worth 10X that. Hell, I had a Custom Shop L-4CES from 1998 that I actually played the hell out of, and I finally traded it (plus other stuff) for a '53 Epiphone Triumph. For a custom shop instrument that lists for near $5000 (though I paid way less than half that) it sucked. I bought it brand new when I was 18, and even from the beginning there was orange peel in the finish, glue residue all on the inside, pink glue residue under the fingerboard end that was visible, totally shoddy finishing, bad fretwork... Now imagine what you can expect 13 years later, when quality is WAY lower even than it was then, prices are even higher, and it's not a custom shop model. Then you'll start to realize why all the serious players who know what to look for in an instrument think that by and large, new Gibsons are a JOKE. I have an '84 ES-347 that I love dearly, and had an '83 LP custom that was also nice, but now they're just a joke.

Considering this, you'll start to see why they're having to branch out into lower-cost markets. Martin had to do the same thing. When you're dealing with that kind of volume, if all your stuff isn't top-notch then your reputation will suffer and you won't be able to support your huge overhead selling only to weekend warrior CEOs.

 

[Paladin2019]

Considering this, you'll start to see why they're having to branch out into lower-cost markets.

And frankly, thier only merit in that market is the name. When a company with their kind of problems builds down to a price instead of up to a standard you're looking for trouble, and trouble's name is Tokai.

The LS70 is about the same price as the low-end LP's and is much closer to LP Standard specs and a much better made guitar to boot.

 

[orvilleowner]

I've been visiting this site for a while now and posts like this ("Wow, this new Tokai LS is great.") are giving me GAS .... I gotta try out a new Tokai LS to see how they compare with the Fujigen Gakki models that I love.

It's all your fault that my wallet will be lighter ... thanks :lol:

 

[luis]

FujiGen are good,really good Kevin.But as far as replicas I go with Tokai as most accurate.Just remember how small is Tokai catalogue models in offer,so it means they concentrate their forces in a few guitar styles only,which I regard.There is a spanish say I agree: " quien mucho abarca poco aprieta" 8) (you cannot make a lot of things that great....).After touring the factory(lucky me)I can say I'm very confidence with Tokai and specially with Mr. Adachi.

 

[bear925]

Hi Orville! Go ahead and let your "GAS" out and buy a Tokai! I own 1- 58- 2-59, and 1- 60 Historic Gibson Re-issue models. I also have a real 52 gold top. I have several friends who are serious collectors and they've always complained (many times directly to Gibson factory) that their Historics were not authentic recreations, and why don't you make them right? Some of the answers they got were like: wait till next year when we'll make the toggle switch right!" It seems every year they promise to get 1 more part right. Now if you're getting premium prices, why wouldn't you want the product to be as perfect and authentic as posible? The Tokai I bought isn't perfect, but it has attributes that make it more perfect than the Gibson, at $600-vs-$4500! For instance- my Tokai has a perfectly flat deck between the 2 pick ups- so does my '52-so did a real '58-'59- but all the Historics are so curved there, the cream rings around the pick ups are so bent over, they're about to pop in two. The belly on a Tokai and real 52-60 Les Paul's slopes downward gently, and there is a mild channel of reliet 1 inch in, all around the edge of the top- even up to the toggle switch and up into the horn. Historics have a "beer gut" belly below the stop tail piece, and their relief work is either too deep, too wide, or non existant, and it almost never goes up anywhere into the area of the toggle switch- or the horn area. The Tokai "feels" exactly like a Historic Gibson, and exudes confidence, good tone, and the vibe of a real vintage instrument. You'll be proud when you get one. g Go ahead, get a Tokai- you'll be very happy- I am... and for not a ton of cash! Bear