Tokai LS150 weight

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marcusnieman said:
Mine tips the scale at 9lbs 4oz.

Over the weekend, I asked my guitar shop tech what the heaviest Les Paul he ever saw was...... 14 lbs 6oz. That's like strapping on a coffee table.

:lol: Nearly spat my morning coffee all over the place at that!
 
marcusnieman said:
Mine tips the scale at 9lbs 4oz.

Over the weekend, I asked my guitar shop tech what the heaviest Les Paul he ever saw was...... 14 lbs 6oz. That's like strapping on a coffee table.

My beloved '83 Gibson LP Deluxe probably weighs in that ballpark. One of the many reasons I wanted a Tokai.

I'm setting the Deluxe up for rockabilly (P90s and a Bigsby B7) but I still don't fancy wearing it for a whole gig.
 
Hi guys,

New tokai owner - ls90q in cherry sunburst from Richtone - beautiful guitar, just weighed her in on the electronic scales at 8lbs exactly, happy with that as my back is not the best......

Sounds great and is slighty less 'dark' than other LPs I've heard/played - also fitted Faber bridge and tail so thats a factor too - I love it!
 
My 2008 LS150F weighs in at exactly 8.5 Lbs. this is with DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge and Gibson Burstbucker in the neck and speed knobs. just added pics to the previous thread.

My 2008 LS80 weighs in at 9.5 Lbs this is with a DiMarzio SDHB and a Gotoh Aluminium Tailpiece and speed knobs. - I thought it was heavy !

My 1990 Gibson Les Paul Standard comes in at 9 Lbs this has nickel grovers and pup cover removed.

scale is accurate to .25 Lbs - checked these twice got same results for carpet and hard floor !

Matt
 
swissaxes said:
You are right there are not many original '58/'59/'60 Les Pauls that fall in the 8 pounds range - although there are some.

Some numerical information you just cannot live without :)

An average weigh of an original burst is 4.020821 kg (8.86439lb), minimum 3.674 and maximum 4.411 kg, while standard deviation was 0.203877 kg. Sample size was 28 bursts from '58,'59 and '60.

Reference: Beauty of the Burst by Yasuhiko Iwanade. Very nice book btw.
 
We should try to get a similar sample of LS150s and see if there's a significant difference :) I'm guessing the mean would be a few hundred grams higher.
 
We should try to get a similar sample of LS150s and see if there's a significant difference I'm guessing the mean would be a few hundred grams higher.

yeh but any variations could also be down to hardware differences if people have changed pickups. My DiMarzio SDHB is almost twice as thick as a Seymour Duncan SH5 and the Tokai Mk1 and Mk2 pickups seem to have oversized covers. I've not weighed any of these but must all make a difference ...
 
MattThorpe said:
I've not weighed any of these but must all make a difference ...

Not to my ears.... at the end of the day, does it really matter? Just play the thing.

I can see talking about the difference between an 11lb and 9lb guitar but when you're considering the weight variances due to larger pickup covers, I think that's a bit much...... I'm just sayin'......
 
MattThorpe said:
yeh but any variations could also be down to hardware differences if people have changed pickups. My DiMarzio SDHB is almost twice as thick as a Seymour Duncan SH5 and the Tokai Mk1 and Mk2 pickups seem to have oversized covers. I've not weighed any of these but must all make a difference ...

I used to bicycle quite a long time ago - back when the top Cat 1 cyclists had just started drilling out their chains for weight reduction. At top levels, it was all about getting weight off the bicycle. This was in the Reynolds 531, Columbus SL, titanium frame era.
But anyone quickly learned that all weight wasn't equal. An ounce off the frame wasn't nearly as important as an ounce, or even a fraction of an ounce, off the rims or pedals. That frame only has to go to the top of the hill once; those pedals go round and round lots of times.

For a guitar, I don't think those ounce or fractional ounce differences in the p/ups or tuners is going to make a sound / tonal difference. But the difference in wood, with air, and minerals, and all the rest - that makes the difference.
 
Mick51 said:
MattThorpe said:
yeh but any variations could also be down to hardware differences if people have changed pickups. My DiMarzio SDHB is almost twice as thick as a Seymour Duncan SH5 and the Tokai Mk1 and Mk2 pickups seem to have oversized covers. I've not weighed any of these but must all make a difference ...

For a guitar, I don't think those ounce or fractional ounce differences in the p/ups or tuners is going to make a sound / tonal difference. But the difference in wood, with air, and minerals, and all the rest - that makes the difference.

I can say that Grover vs Kluson tuners make a difference - the Grovers are much heavier than the Kluson type tuners and damp out some of the headstock vibration, or something like that.

So, like the frames and rims analogy, saving some mass off the pickups probably makes no difference but reducing the weight hanging on the end of the neck probably does!
 
Well frankly I agree - I'm not that bothered about the weight either.
It's just that someone suggested running an average weight statistic with standard deviation of the sample and a seemingly very scientific approach. My observation about pickups differences was just one of many possible reasons why it wouldn't really be that accurate, scientific or meaningful a statistic.

What does it for me is the guitar delivering 110% when you only requested 99.9% - you are at the pinnacle of a blistering guitar solo on a large stage and the band is rocking out. It has been my experience that my Tokai delivers where other guitars including my Gibson Les Paul only gave me 99.8% after a fight !! That's the priceless difference those guys in the 70's found between current production and the 'holy' 1958/59/60 Gibs LPS. Another Tokai LS150 even though it may look gorgeous it may not deliver at all just like you'll find remarkable Gibsons even amongst current production.

The weight only defines what it does to your shoulder, if it bothers you. This thread was about weight.

Matt
 
MattThorpe said:
Well frankly I agree - I'm not that bothered about my Gibson Les Paul only gave me 99.8% after a fight !!

I hear you on that. I love my Gibson, but it's not as good a guitar as the LS150. It doesn't resonate from one end to the other with every chord like the Tokai. The stock pickups were pure rubbish. And it's a hippo.

Look, it's not like it'd be worth anyone's time, but I reckon if you took a sample of stock LS150/LS160 guitars you'd get some idea of how close they are weight-wise to that (pretty reasonable I'm guessing) sample of '50s 'bursts.
 

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