NGD Tokai 54bb

Brand new custom job Tokai 1954 Black Beauty replica. No staple pickup, but those aren't something I absolutely had to have anyway. Played it alongside my Gibson earlier. Sound almost identical, which is a plus for me. Gonna gig it this weekend and then decide which one I like better. One of them is going on the chopping block. Couple Pros/Cons of each if anyone wants to throw in their two cents:










Tokai:

+ Ebony.
+ AAA construction (no binding ridge > ) All mahogany, ebony fretboard.
+ Little lighter than the Gibson.
+ Stayed in tune even through shipment overseas.

- Finish is a little thick for my tastes, feels slightly plasticy
- 50s style neck. Not a super bad problem, just not my preferred neck of choice.
- No fret nibs


Gibson:

+ Great pups with coil tap knocking them down to 5k output
+ Slightly more beefy than a 60s neck (compared to my Tweedy's 60s neck)
+ Locking tuners
+ Got that Neil Young vibe.

- Fit and finish leaves a bit to be designed. The top of the body's finish is similar to the Tokai. Thick. The sides, back, and neck are much thinner. Maybe even the somewhat undesirable "satin" finish most people don't like? Feels good on the neck, regardless.
- Lots of sloppiness where binding meets body/neck join, binding uneven on neck, wavy. NOT A PROBLEM PLAY WISE just a noticeable detractor of the guitar.
- Not a Black Beauty

Nice....

Myself, I prefer Gibson P90's over Tokai's

Wasn't able to crank it up, but at apartment volume they were almost indistinguishable.

SemiHollowCarrot said:

Wasn't able to crank it up, but at apartment volume they were almost indistinguishable.

Click to expand...

I had the same experience with the SB52?s and the LP-OLD?s. But when it gets loud the SB52 is a totally different beast.

You're right! It is different!

Plays much much better than the Gibson. Finally got to open it up at practice tonight. Needs a few adjustments before I make final decision but the LP is getting close to the chopping block.

Only issue I have is that the Tokai sounds a bit twangier, more biting. Anyone know why that may be? I didn't expect it to with the all mahogany body. Not really an issue, just something I noticed. I like my P90s like they are on the Gibson, slightly more gritty.

These on the Tokai were awesome clean but maybe they didn't break up as I expected, less gritty, etc. Not as lush? Next practice Ill take both so I can better compare. Maybe Ill hit up the practice room this week and just see how it goes.

Sweet guitar

SemiHollowCarrot said:

Only issue I have is that the Tokai sounds a bit twangier, more biting. Anyone know why that may be?

Click to expand...

Lower output pickups?

I thought so myself, but the Gibson has a push/pull that knocks the p90s down to 5k, and they sound less hot but still not as bright.

Oh ok, good spot.

This is no help, but I guess maybe they're just a warmer wind? :lol:

EDIT: what pot values does the Gibson have? If it has 300K volumes that could do it.

Took a pic of the Tokai control cavity. Will do so for the Gibson tonight.





Put some fresh strings on the Tokai and it was sounding good last night. May have had some dead strings on it.

Here's the Gibson control cavity

Can't make out the markings on the gibson photo (if there even are any). What model Gibson is it?

Traditional Pro P90

Can't see it on the gibson site, but if it's a non-custom shop model it may well have 300K volume pots. If so, they're going to make things sound a little darker...

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Traditional-Pro-Split-Coil-P-90s.aspx


This one!

Thanks

According to that it does have 500K pots, so I'm guessing it must just be the different pickups which are doing it?

It's all good. If I absolutely have to I'll put some Lollars in there.

^ yeah. I haven't tried your guitar, but from what I can remember, gibson's p90 is fairly fat and hot. It could just be the voice of the pickup.