Any love for the Tokai MKIV and mkII PAF's?

Just changed out the 57's to MKII's. It is more of what I was looking for. The 57's for lack of a better term seemed to flatline from 1K to 3K, making them sound harsh in this guitar, where the MKII's have more peaks and valleys in that range (warmer) and appeal to me much more. They don't cut thru as much, but are more pleasing to my ears and hey, there's always a volume knob on the amp, turn it up!

I've always found the neck pickup (MkII in an LS85) to be a bit too muddy, but I've just had a play and lowered it slightly.

It's remarkable what such a small adjustment can do, the mids don't seem to overpower things anymore

Where'd you get the MKIIs from?

I got them from Big Willie Style (Korea). He said they came out of a 2007 Tokai SG-155. Really great guy too.

My pleasure Dave! I replaced them with a set of LeoSounds zebra Growldogs. I just didn't like the sound of them in the SG. The Growldogs are awesome though! As for parting with them, I have two more sets anyways - one in my ES-120, and another in my LS-150 (which I'm thinking about swapping out for a set of Growldogs also, just to try something different).

Jason

Hey thanks Jason! Shoot me a pm if you ever have another pair you'd like to sell. I have a V that I bet they would sound really good in.



This baby needs some pups! It's one I built and traded with a friend about 5 years ago and recently bought it back. He pulled out the EMG 81 cuz he had a customer who wanted one, and it was one of the old "orangebacks." So it hung in his shop for years wo a bridge pup. Has a Duncan Distortion in it now that's too bright. The 89 is kinda cool with a coil tap, but I wouldn't miss it much. Some nickel covers or zebras would look good for sure 8) .

Axchisler said:

Hey thanks Jason! Shoot me a pm if you ever have another pair you'd like to sell. I have a V that I bet they would sound really good in.

This baby needs some pups! It's one I built and traded with a friend about 5 years ago and recently bought it back. He pulled out the EMG 81 cuz he had a customer who wanted one, and it was one of the old "orangebacks." So it hung in his shop for years wo a bridge pup. Has a Duncan Distortion in it now that's too bright. The 89 is kinda cool with a coil tap, but I wouldn't miss it much. Some nickel covers or zebras would look good for sure 8) .

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Bloody nice guitar !!

Thanks mate, here's a couple more pics;





It's hard to tell from the pics, but the front and back are carved at an angle from the edge to about 4 inches in, very comfortable to play. Also helped relieve some excess weight and show some interesting grian patterns. Thinking about redoing it in an amberburst. Haven't found the best pups for it yet though which made me think about the MKII's. :wink:

Just out of interest, is there much difference between the Gotoh and the Keiyo MKII's?

I should really check on posts I've made more often

Cheers all for your input.

And thanks to all the 'just one link in the chain' and 'it's all in the fingers' type responses, very clever and all but not really answering the question

I'll admit to being someone who starts hot rodding a guitar in my head before I've even bought it and that my experience of MKII's is on one love rock only, plus I'm quite fond of quite hot pups.

Derby Ant said:

And thanks to all the 'just one link in the chain' and 'it's all in the fingers' type responses, very clever and all but not really answering the question.

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I hear ya, it's only modesty I think, at least for the ones who can play :wink: . Most of the sound clips I've heard here sound great regardless of how good the player is if he knows how to dial in his ****.

I'll admit to being someone who starts hot rodding a guitar in my head before I've even bought it and that my experience of MKII's is on one love rock only, plus I'm quite fond of quite hot pups.

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I felt this way too until I picked up a couple Tokai LS's, and then realized why I used to need hot pups. Maybe I got lucky with mine but what I have learned with them; if you have a guitar made so well that has great volume and sustain even with no pups, you won't need really hot pups. The guitar will do the work. I'm not speaking from a blues players point of view, but and old and new school metalhead. I'll miss the Floyd on my KV2's and I'll keep a Soloist around for EVH licks and D-Tuna. But given the sound I'm getting from the Tokais well, the Gibbo's have always disapointed me, the Tokais haven't. That being said either the LS sound is not for you or you just need to try another Tokai LS. The two I have sound quite different, too bad we don't have dozens in our local guitar shop to try out. :-?

But Hey, if the MKII's aren't for you change them. I have a brand new set of Gibbo Classic 57's (brighter) I'll be putting up for sale soon. Would be willing to work out a trade :wink: .

We all have our own tastes right?

Jockai said:

there's no doubt that some pickups are better than others ...

however there's no doubt that the PU's on my "83 Springy" sound better than my "86 Goldstar.

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Agreed, a guitar below $300 you can't expect any good pups, and if they are, well then the guitar is prolly crap, get what you pay for.

But about your Springy and Goldstar is really a matter of opinion, unless you think your Goldstar is crap. :-?

Stratman323... I respect your comments about Strats. Most stock pups I've had on strats were very subpar except maybe an EMG Gilmore set, would you agree? Stock being key word. Texas and such no comments...Lets talk Tokai single coils. No disrespect Jokai, except I think most folks opinions have an even greater range with single coils than humbuckers, when they're bad they are horribly bad, eh?

Axchisler said:

Stratman323... I respect your comments about Strats. Most stock pups I've had on strats were very subpar except maybe an EMG Gilmore set, would you agree? Stock being key word. Texas and such no comments...Lets talk Tokai single coils. No disrespect Jokai, except I think most folks opinions have an even greater range with single coils than humbuckers, when they're bad they are horribly bad, eh?

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Well it's all opinion isn't it? I find EMGs cold & sterile, but some folk love them. I find most Tokai Strat pickups a little bright & possibly a little weak, but some folk love them. Es & Us are more likely to please players who like a clean 50s sound than those who like a slightly more overdriven 60s sound - but I'm sure there are exceptions to that.

I was chatting on the phone last night to the guy who just bought my Silver Star - he likes Tokai pickups. Good job we're all different isn't it? One thing I think we can all agree on is that there are some great Strat pickups available to suit every taste, & a Springy/Goldie/Silver Star should easily be a good enough guitar to do justice to anyone's taste in boutique pickups.

Mike

Hey thanks Mike . I know it's off MKII's topic but can you concur with Jockai that the 83 Springy had a better made pup then the 86 Goldstar, or was it just a better guitar?

If my question seems strange let me put it to you this way. From what I have gathered the LP's have been reproduced more accuratley than the Strats, correct me if I'm wrong. I'd like a Tokai Strat (or Tele) too, but have not seen nearly as much praise about them as the Tokai LS's. Makes it hard to choose which one.

Sorry, starting to babble. Little sleep before work, continue tomorrow, getting back on topic, I like the MKII's very much in my LS's. Looks like it's become personal preference :wink: . Refer back to type of wood topic; African vs Honduras, :-? .

'night, 'day, wherever you are,
Dave

Axchisler said:

Hey thanks Mike . I know it's off MKII's topic but can you concur with Jockai that the 83 Springy had a better made pup then the 86 Goldstar, or was it just a better guitar?

If my question seems strange let me put it to you this way. From what I have gathered the LP's have been reproduced more accurately than the Strats, correct me if I'm wrong. I'd like a Tokai Strat (or Tele) too, but have not seen nearly as much praise about them as the Tokai LS's. Makes it hard to choose which one.

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No, I can see no reason why the pickups in those 2 guitars should be different in quality, but it depends what pickups they were - they should (usually) have a stamp on the bottom to indicate this. You have to compare like for like. Maybe the 83 guitar was simply a better guitar? ie just a luckier mix of bits of wood? Also the specs changed at different times in different markets - maybe a 1986 guitar in the US was different to what was on sale in the UK at the same time?

Have you read this?

http://www.tokairegistry.com/tokai-info/Andrew%20Munro%20Article-July2008.pdf

I know much more about the Strats than the LPs, but I wouldn't agree that the Tokai Gibson clones were better or more accurate than the Fender clones. The Springys, Goldies & SSs I have tried have been excellent & accurate vintage Strat copies, & you have to pay a fair bit more money to get anything better. Put a set of Voodoos in a humble Goldstar ST50 & I would happily take it in preference to almost any Fender below Custom Shop level. And in fact, I have. :wink:

Which is probably why I took delivery of a red Goldstar about an hour ago - just restringing it now - pics later.

That's what I mean, forgive my ign., "Voodoos" ???

Congrats on the newborn btw :wink: .

Sorry will check the thread later, off to work :x

Axchisler said:

That's what I mean, forgive my ign., "Voodoos" ???

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http://www.voodoopickups.com/Strat%20Replacement.htm

Les Paul owners on here tend to be fans of Voodoos, but less is written about the Strat pickups Peter Florance makes. I have a set of ST50s & 2 ST60s, both in Goldstars, & I think they are excellent.

Thanks again Mike, just had a chance to go thru the article above, great stuff. Are all pictured real MIJ Tokai's? Noticed different logos on the headstock. Great, more fakai's :x . I'll certainly ask here before buying! :wink:

All the guitars in that article were mine, though I have since sold the green Goldie (I don't like maple boards, so I've bought another green one with a rosewood board) & the Silver Star should be with it's new owner today, hopefully. All the guitars were discussed on this forum when I got them, so I am confident that they are all genuine 80s MIJ Tokais. And very nice Strats too. 8)

Anybody with a good stock LS with MKIIs should try plugging in a Blackstar amp.


My LS150 sounds like it would eat Slash and Steve Jones for breakfast in my HT5!