This is just a report on the new Tokai LS 85Q I got from Japan.
For those of you who have not seen a new Japanese Tokai of late, this guitar is closer to a real '59 Les Paul then the Gibsons I have owned...25 Les Pauls from Gibson and most of those were from Gibson's Custom Shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan and some from Nashville.
The detail of the guitar is covered nicely by Tokai right down to the exact size of the mounting rings used on the old LP's, which even Gibson has not covered.
The pots on this guitar are smooth and even tapered in sound from zero to full up. The pickups have a great vintage tone to them and are not at all harsh sounding, but rather take on a tone similar to old PAF's. The toggle switch is closer in feel and look to the original 50's LP's then the Switchcraft toggles on today's LP's and the toggle washer is thin just like the old ones as well.
Cosmetically, this guitar came through flawlessly. No orange peel finish, no missed spots, or poor finish detailing, like where the fretboard is attached to the body in that place where the 2 meet on the bass side of the top just under the toggle switch. All binding was put on perfectly flush to the wood without that feeling of a line where the binding meets the wood.
The color was applied extremely well allowing the darker shades to still allow one to see the wood underneath the finish easily and clearly in detail.
The arch in the top was just as the old LP's were cut. That is, not too much dishing around the edges, and with a flatter crown on the top so that the pickup mounting rings actually are allowed to lay flush to the top of the guitar. The body was supposed to be made of 2 piece mahagony, but even with a magnifying glass, I could not find a seam.
The feel of the neck was wonderfully close to a real '59 LP neck and the frets were impeccably put in. No high or low spots on the fret dressing anywhere on any of the 6 strings. The guitar was most easily intonated using a Peterson 520 strobe allowing accurate chording from the open chords all the way up to the highest spot on the neck that I could play. The nut was correctly cut as well and precisely cut for the feel needed to fret chords in the first position without being too high or too low. (Something other guitar companies should be doing.)
The neck was correctly adjusted and no truss rod adjustment was needed. By the way, Tokai uses the same truss rod nut adjustment as Gibson uses, not the allen wrench type like Fender and some other companies employ.
The overall quality of the Japanese Tokai is on a par with any guitar I have ever seen in my 47+ years of playing professionally. This was not even the top model, but rather a middle of the line model and the workmanship could not have been better. The guitar weighed in at 8 pounds 14 ounces and acoustically it resonated extremely well and loud.
I would not hesitate to buy another Japanese Tokai guitar based on the quality of this piece at all. I don't know how the quality is on the North American versions or the Korean versions they are sending over here, but I bought this guitar in Japan and it is as fine as any American guitar I have ever played.
For those of you who have not seen a new Japanese Tokai of late, this guitar is closer to a real '59 Les Paul then the Gibsons I have owned...25 Les Pauls from Gibson and most of those were from Gibson's Custom Shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan and some from Nashville.
The detail of the guitar is covered nicely by Tokai right down to the exact size of the mounting rings used on the old LP's, which even Gibson has not covered.
The pots on this guitar are smooth and even tapered in sound from zero to full up. The pickups have a great vintage tone to them and are not at all harsh sounding, but rather take on a tone similar to old PAF's. The toggle switch is closer in feel and look to the original 50's LP's then the Switchcraft toggles on today's LP's and the toggle washer is thin just like the old ones as well.
Cosmetically, this guitar came through flawlessly. No orange peel finish, no missed spots, or poor finish detailing, like where the fretboard is attached to the body in that place where the 2 meet on the bass side of the top just under the toggle switch. All binding was put on perfectly flush to the wood without that feeling of a line where the binding meets the wood.
The color was applied extremely well allowing the darker shades to still allow one to see the wood underneath the finish easily and clearly in detail.
The arch in the top was just as the old LP's were cut. That is, not too much dishing around the edges, and with a flatter crown on the top so that the pickup mounting rings actually are allowed to lay flush to the top of the guitar. The body was supposed to be made of 2 piece mahagony, but even with a magnifying glass, I could not find a seam.
The feel of the neck was wonderfully close to a real '59 LP neck and the frets were impeccably put in. No high or low spots on the fret dressing anywhere on any of the 6 strings. The guitar was most easily intonated using a Peterson 520 strobe allowing accurate chording from the open chords all the way up to the highest spot on the neck that I could play. The nut was correctly cut as well and precisely cut for the feel needed to fret chords in the first position without being too high or too low. (Something other guitar companies should be doing.)
The neck was correctly adjusted and no truss rod adjustment was needed. By the way, Tokai uses the same truss rod nut adjustment as Gibson uses, not the allen wrench type like Fender and some other companies employ.
The overall quality of the Japanese Tokai is on a par with any guitar I have ever seen in my 47+ years of playing professionally. This was not even the top model, but rather a middle of the line model and the workmanship could not have been better. The guitar weighed in at 8 pounds 14 ounces and acoustically it resonated extremely well and loud.
I would not hesitate to buy another Japanese Tokai guitar based on the quality of this piece at all. I don't know how the quality is on the North American versions or the Korean versions they are sending over here, but I bought this guitar in Japan and it is as fine as any American guitar I have ever played.
