Left Handed Tokai SG

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Edward

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2002
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Mars
My first post on this forum - hopefully you guys will be able to help me more than harmony central!

So, I'm considering buying another guitar (aren't we all!). Already have a Fender Strat and an Epiphone LP Std, as electrics go. The Epi is actually a pretty good guitar - I guess a mix of careful selection and luck! - it's a very nicely finished animal and really well built - tho I know all of them aren't like that. Still, given my limited budget at the time, and given the law of diminishing returns, for all you get more for a "real" Gibson..... I intend to switch out the pups soon (and have the Peter Green Wiring done), but it's a really nice, solid workhorse guitar.

Thing is, had i had more money at the time - and, crucially, had i know they were available left handed (Tokais weren
t available in the UK for a long time then when they were again, they were, according to all the reviews in UK guitar mags, not available left handed), well, then i might have ended up with a Love Rock. I'm not sure whether I will or won't buy a Love rock in future - for LP types i think i might well stick with Gordon Smith, tho if the right second hand deal comes along....

Anyhow, I want a couple of SGs. One will be a bit of a custom, so I'm going to go to Gordon Smith for that - I don't care if it blooks like a "real" SG or not, and quality wise the GS SGs are easily a match for the Gibbos - and entirely hand crafted for half the price!

I also want a more traditional SG, tho - basically, i want the reissue 62 model with the little scratchplate, but even if i had the money, i could never justify spending it on the Gibbo.

The choice boils down to two, really - I've discounted the Epi as they don
t do the model i want left handed, and anyhow while i like their LPs (with care you can get a great guitar, I don't buy into this "Korean = Krap" notion that goes around), their SGs do seem to be very much in the lines of a budget instrument, not the 'workhorse' guitars that i prefer (and which tend to come in at the middle market). So the choice is really between gordon Smith again, and Tokai. I'm torn a bit - the GS you can't go wrong with, but the big attraction of the Tokai is that while i don't care that it has the "right" name on the headstock, it does have the overall look of the 62 totally nailed. Problem is this: according to their website, the lefty version is not a true left handed version of the standard production model - for a start it's nato, not mahogany, and the pick ups appear to be different. Is it a cheapo version? Would the nato - i have no idea - sound any different (appreciably so) to the mahogany?

Also, I don't fully get the deal with Korean and Japanese Tokais - i am led to believe that the Japanese guitars are far superior, but i don't know what is and isn't available in the UK....?

Sorry if this ignorant posts bugs anyone - but hell, we all have to learn. None of us was born knowing what a Telecaster looked like...
 
Welcome to the club! I have two Tokai SG's and an IbanezSG Custom. The two Tokais are the 61-62 mahogany with the small pickgaurd, one from Japan, and one from Korea that I bought last year from Mike's Music in Canada. The only differance between the two is the scarf neck on the Korean. To be honest with you the tone of the new Korean one is my favorite. It has that Clapton woman tone of the early Cream recordings. The pickups have a power and clarity that is Classic SG. They have changed the headstock on the current one and it looks like an Epi. Find an old one! I would defanitly go for the Tokai, Songbird has a Japanese SG on thier site or I would check with Mike, he made me a great deal and he is a heck of a nice guy! Good Luck
 
Thanks for your reply.

When you say they changed the headstock, is this in the Americas only due to the lawsuit? I ask cause the one i've seen as a lefty model (that plus one Love Rock constitute the entire range in the UK available left handed at the minute...) on the UK website is totally spot on, even the headstock shape...

I guess at the right price i could always change the pickups, I'm just concerned as to the construction - what difference would it make being NATO istead of traditional mahogany?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Edward on 2002-02-27 12:56 ]</font>
 
With regards to the UK models, I don't know whether they are mahogany or not. Ask the Guitar Shop if they know. I'd assume the right hander is mahogany, so I cant see why the lefty is going to be anything else but mahogany.

As far as I know the Gordon Smith's dont use "correct" timbers unless specified by the purchaser, although all the UK mags rave about them.

If in doubt, go with what feels / sounds right for you, regardless of name or style or whatever.
 
I'd assume the right hander is mahogany, so I cant see why the lefty is going to be anything else but mahogany.

Yeah, that's confused me ... but the UK site very definately says that the lefty model they offer is nato body and neck, tho otherwise it looks identical (except the other way atround, obviously). I'll probably ask instore - i emailed tokai a few days ago, but haven't heard from them. Oh well, give it time...

As far as I know the Gordon Smith's dont use "correct" timbers unless specified by the purchaser, although all the UK mags rave about them.

I think the most common one with them is mahogany for all their Gibsonesque stuff, tho yeah they seem to be pretty happy to do them in whatever you want - i hesrd of a guy who had a white SG made out of Spruce...

If in doubt, go with what feels / sounds right for you, regardless of name or style or whatever.

Yeah, i may well end up gong with the GS to get the mahogany..... i dunno, i guess that style of the 62 has a real appeal. Ah well... I'l just have to try a few of each out to see.....

thanks for the help!
 
Hi Edward.
Nato is a mahogany relative used by Samick and another korean manufacturers so the sound must be close to each other.

Talking about mahogany Tokai use.My love rock got a dark red mahogany.What kind it cold be?
 
On 2002-02-27 16:47, luis wrote:
Hi Edward.
Nato is a mahogany relative used by Samick and another korean manufacturers so the sound must be close to each other.

....so most likely then the lefty is a cheaper version - that would explain the difference, if it's Korean and the right hander is Japanese....

Is it just me, or do lefties seem to get screwed over on availability on everything? ;o)
 
I guess lefties do get a rough deal when it comes to choice. Wonder if Ned Flanders' left handed shop stocks guitars? :wink:

Luis, the mahogany on your guitar is probably stained that colour - its pretty common for guitar makers to do this to make the wood look nicer.
 
Back
Top