New Tokai ES158....chuffed to bits!

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BrianGT

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Hi everyone, bought this ES158 a couple of weeks ago and I am over the moon with it.
I'm an older guy and have had Tokai's over the last 35 years and never had a bad one. This is absolutely flawless with not a glue line to be seen.
I'm also an inveterate pickup swapper but I am really pleased with the std pickups.
It has taken about a week to get the pickup heights sorted (vital) but I now have 3 great sounds and really don't feel any need to change. The neck pickup is really good without any flab and a nice "pop" on the bass strings. The middle is really funky and the bridge is clear but not shrill...it has great chime and swirling harmonics within a chord.
The pickups also respond really well to the volume controls and retain clarity when you turn down really low. Well pleased!







The pictures don't do justice to the flame top as they bleach it out a bit.
Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Brian
 
Congrats :)

I have owned a few Tokia ES models from various years of production but I have found the necks to be typically 'smallish'

what is the neck on that one like?
 
guitar hiro said:
Congrats :)

I have owned a few Tokia ES models from various years of production but I have found the necks to be typically 'smallish'

what is the neck on that one like?

First of all thanks guys....

I'm a big neck fan and it was one of my concerns when I bought it but I was assured I could return it if it didn't suit.
Well it turns out to be perfect for me. It's rounded like a 59 but not as big....more D shaped than C shaped and it just feels right. My previous ES120 had the same neck on it so that made me happy. I'm told that the block marker necks are more of a shallower C profile but I have no personal experience of this.
I have smallish hands but the web between my thumb and first finger is quite wide and deep and a C shape feels really awkward to me!

I can't get over how sweet the pickups sound when on 3 or 4 and retain the tone ....I have no plan to change anything as it is really blowing me away.
 
Looks like you have a nice Yamaha SG hangin on the wall as well. You have great taste in guitars.
 
brokentoes said:
Looks like you have a nice Yamaha SG hangin on the wall as well. You have great taste in guitars.

:D Thank you!

I just love the quality of Japanese guitars. They are always constructed well and Tokai and Yamaha are the only two brands I would buy online.
I'm not knocking Gibson but I know from experience that you have to have them in your hands to know if it's a good guitar or not.

Here's a couple of other Japanese guitars I own. A 1983 SG1000 and a 1994 SAS1500. The semi sounds fantastic but it has a really slim C shape neck and I hate that. However I lusted after one for 20 years so I force myself to play it! :eek:

This is beaten to death but it plays and sounds fantastic....it's my rock guitar! It is also quite rare in that it has a Brazilian rosewood finger board.





This came out before the Gibson 336 and is the same construction except for the mahogany top.


As I said earlier I'm an older guy so my little collection didn't happen overnight.

Many thanks for looking!
 
Wow, very nice Yamaha's. I'm a fan also and have a Superflighter SF1000, and a little SC300T. Always wanted an SG but they are not too easy to find around my parts and when you can they are a trifle spendy lol. Your SAS looks phenomenal !! `Nice to see others with a love for Tokai and Yamaha.
 
brokentoes said:
Wow, very nice Yamaha's. I'm a fan also and have a Superflighter SF1000, and a little SC300T. Always wanted an SG but they are not too easy to find around my parts and when you can they are a trifle spendy lol. Your SAS looks phenomenal !! `Nice to see others with a love for Tokai and Yamaha.

Well it sounds like you have a great taste in guitars too!

I've played the SC300t but a long time ago but a band member once had the SF500 and it was a fabulous guitar so the 1000 must be a serious piece of kit.
Yamaha's just play so well and stay that way no matter how old they get.
I've found that with my Tokai's too but my Gibson LC335 developed a warped neck after 7 years and cost an arm and a leg to fix it correctly and I find I just can't bond with it now.

The SG series is also quite pricey over here now even though they were quite popular in the 80's and early 90's.
The only Canadian I know who played one was Rik Emett from Triumph. He's a fabulous all round player and I loved his white SG3000.

Right now I am in love with this ES158 because it plays and sounds superb! 8)
 
The SF1000 is a guitar you could take to war, and not worry. The SC300T is just a fantastically fun guitar to play, but the tremolo, is more of a tremoNo lol. I remember Rik and his SG3000 well. Serious chops on ole Rik, a true master.

34e9bmp.jpg
 
Very nice indeed! You can see they actually get played too.

Love the natural finish on the SF....and I always wondered how good the trems were on the SC's and now I know!!

This seems like a decent Forum and looking through the various sections it looks like people just get along...kudos.
 
I got lucky with this guitar buying it on line!

It's alive and I have no plans to change anything.....except....I rubbed the finish down with 1500 grade microcellular mesh to take off the "plastic" look and now if I polish it back up it will look more natural.

Oh...and I changed the knobs to reflectors ...but apart from that it's staying as is!!





After the pics were taken I actually managed to get the knobs back in the right place.....doh!
 
marcusnieman said:
Notice you top wrap your strings over the tailpiece. Not seen that before on an ES.

Yeah.
I've been top wrapping my Les Paul's for years and started doing it on 335's a few years ago. Basically I like the tailpiece hard against the body and if you top wrap it stops the strings catching on the rear of the bridge.

 
Yeah, I wrap my Les Pauls too. I use the Faber locking tailpieces so that I don't have to crank them down against the body - you're right too.... the strings resting on the back of the bridge stresses the posts and I don't think sustain is as good. Read somewhere once that you want to be able to just slide a piece of paper between the strings and the back side edge of the bridge.
 
I've tried wrapping and it's not for me. I loved the way it felt under my hand - a nice smooth continuous line, like a Fender Jazzmaster - but to me it seemed to make the strings feel 'saggy'.

A harder break angle against the bridge is said to be better for sustain etc. as well, a similar argument to toploading vs string thru on a tele or a 14 vs 18 degree angle on the LP headstock. But like anything else... Personal preference!

It's a beautiful ES and the new knobs are a definite improvement 8)
 
marcusnieman said:
Yeah, I wrap my Les Pauls too. I use the Faber locking tailpieces so that I don't have to crank them down against the body - you're right too.... the strings resting on the back of the bridge stresses the posts and I don't think sustain is as good. Read somewhere once that you want to be able to just slide a piece of paper between the strings and the back side edge of the bridge.

That bridge on the LP is a Faber but a Gotoh lightweight tailpiece.
That LP is a replica so it has the original 59 Neck angle which means the bridge sits low on the body and top wrapping it means there is just enough downward string pressure over the saddles to keep it taut but it rings like a bell.
On other LP's I owned I found that the B and E strings rested on the back of the bridge and I didn't like that, no particular reason just didn't seem right from an engineering point of view. :D
 
Paladin2019 said:
I've tried wrapping and it's not for me. I loved the way it felt under my hand - a nice smooth continuous line, like a Fender Jazzmaster - but to me it seemed to make the strings feel 'saggy'.

A harder break angle against the bridge is said to be better for sustain etc. as well, a similar argument to toploading vs string thru on a tele or a 14 vs 18 degree angle on the LP headstock. But like anything else... Personal preference!

It's a beautiful ES and the new knobs are a definite improvement 8)

I agree it's just a personal choice that's not for everybody. :)

The LP shown is a replica and has the 59 headstock angle which I love. It allows the bridge to sit low on the body and the pickups to sit just above the rings and I think it looks elegant......some later LP's look like you can walk under the bridge! :D

It came from a luthier near to yourself...........!
 

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