Mick51
Well-known member
I recently received a belated Christmas gift - from myself - from our good friend Togps. I'm not a good photographer, but I wanted to share a few pics. The good shots are his, the poor ones are mine.
The build and finish quality is exceptional. The neck shape and feel is identical to my 1981 LS-120. The only difference of (minor) consequence is that the LS-120 has FEB, and this does not. However, the fret ends are finished and polished so well, there is no difference in feel. It appears to me that the binding is perhaps 1 mm or so wider on this guitar than the LS-120; it's probably most noticeable in the cutout, and I really had to compare them side-by-side. One piece back, spalted top.. I'm a fool for a lighter, brown back (like my goldtop), and the grain on this is wonderful. Beautiful, dark fretboard with really nice inserts.
I included the controls cavity because this has absolutely the cleanest wiring that I have ever seen. OD caps.
Before this guitar arrived, I had purchased an early pair of Wolfetones Dr Vintage, when he was numbering them and selecting magnets. I am afraid that I'm a bit of a p/up snob; the only original p/ups I've ever liked are the patent numbers in my 1969 LP Custom. (actually, those are pre-T-top, but that's another story..) But, the tone and breakup on these stock p/ups - I haven't pulled them from the guitar, but the specs indicate Tokai Mark I's - is so good, I'm having a very hard time convincing myself that I want to spend the time swapping p/ups. Especially since my work would never be as neat as what is in this guitar.
The Dr V's in the 1981 are a bit clearer, with a little more glassy tone and a bit more treble. But, these p/ups are very good. Give me the "dual tone" thing, break up nicely. And, there's no reason these guitars need to be exact clones of one another.
The neck and frets are exceptional. Plays very fast and clean, with a nice 1959-style neck.
Also, I've included a shot of the tailpiece - one of Gottfried's special titanium tailpieces, and it adds a very nice color to the tone. Titanium saddles as well; but, my camera has a viewfinder as opposed to SLR, and I didn't allow for the parallax at 25-30 cm or so - wound up cutting off the top and adding to the bottom...
For anyone who wants to know, this is a wonderful guitar. I understand that they were part of a custom order, so there aren't many out there. I consider myself fortunate to have purchased one. Togps, if you don't know, is an excellent seller and fine gentleman. We discussed many points back and forth, he took time to answer all my questions in detail, worked with me, put up with my somewhat offbeat humor. Excellent shipping - took awhile to get over the pond to Iowa, but it arrived in fantastic shape.
I won't go on any longer. If there are questions that I can address, I'll try to do so. Thanks for the privilege of being a part of such a robust and varied community.
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The build and finish quality is exceptional. The neck shape and feel is identical to my 1981 LS-120. The only difference of (minor) consequence is that the LS-120 has FEB, and this does not. However, the fret ends are finished and polished so well, there is no difference in feel. It appears to me that the binding is perhaps 1 mm or so wider on this guitar than the LS-120; it's probably most noticeable in the cutout, and I really had to compare them side-by-side. One piece back, spalted top.. I'm a fool for a lighter, brown back (like my goldtop), and the grain on this is wonderful. Beautiful, dark fretboard with really nice inserts.
I included the controls cavity because this has absolutely the cleanest wiring that I have ever seen. OD caps.
Before this guitar arrived, I had purchased an early pair of Wolfetones Dr Vintage, when he was numbering them and selecting magnets. I am afraid that I'm a bit of a p/up snob; the only original p/ups I've ever liked are the patent numbers in my 1969 LP Custom. (actually, those are pre-T-top, but that's another story..) But, the tone and breakup on these stock p/ups - I haven't pulled them from the guitar, but the specs indicate Tokai Mark I's - is so good, I'm having a very hard time convincing myself that I want to spend the time swapping p/ups. Especially since my work would never be as neat as what is in this guitar.
The Dr V's in the 1981 are a bit clearer, with a little more glassy tone and a bit more treble. But, these p/ups are very good. Give me the "dual tone" thing, break up nicely. And, there's no reason these guitars need to be exact clones of one another.
The neck and frets are exceptional. Plays very fast and clean, with a nice 1959-style neck.
Also, I've included a shot of the tailpiece - one of Gottfried's special titanium tailpieces, and it adds a very nice color to the tone. Titanium saddles as well; but, my camera has a viewfinder as opposed to SLR, and I didn't allow for the parallax at 25-30 cm or so - wound up cutting off the top and adding to the bottom...
For anyone who wants to know, this is a wonderful guitar. I understand that they were part of a custom order, so there aren't many out there. I consider myself fortunate to have purchased one. Togps, if you don't know, is an excellent seller and fine gentleman. We discussed many points back and forth, he took time to answer all my questions in detail, worked with me, put up with my somewhat offbeat humor. Excellent shipping - took awhile to get over the pond to Iowa, but it arrived in fantastic shape.
I won't go on any longer. If there are questions that I can address, I'll try to do so. Thanks for the privilege of being a part of such a robust and varied community.
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