Tokai Violin burst and other questions.

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

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

deadonkey

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2007
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Location
Dublin, Ireland
Hello,
new here, anyway
I've had an epi les paul for a few years that's beat up, it sounds rather nice, but the frets are well worn and dented in a few spots so it's a slide guitar only now.

So i want a new and better quality les paul, and i refuse to pay gibson prices for the quality issues they have, plus the selection in dublin is crap anyway, so i'm looking at the import route, probably tokai.
I know that I want a burst, but unsure what colours they look like in natural light. I like the look of the heritage dark cherryburst in pics i've seen, but the violin burst looks good too, but a little too brown for my taste. Has someone got some good natural light pics of the violin burst? I know this shouldn't be a big deal but i'm like that, if a guitar is ugly i won't play it. I probably won't have a chance to try before i buy so i want to get this right.

Secondly, is having a sycamore top instead of a maple top releveant in the slightest (i know they're similar woods), and i don't know how much difference maple tops make to the sound of a LP, but i want to be fairly authentic to the classic LP if i can. I'm also presuming the flamed/unflamed makes zero difference. Are the LS80F series veneered tops or fully flamed sycamore, and again, is this relevant?

Are tokai stock pickups good? I'm looking for kinda airy, open disraeli gears PAF tone.

I'm willing to spent about ?1000 for the right guitar if i need it.

thanks for any help.

Johnnie.
 
Sycamore is a kind of maple.. so technically.... it is a maple top.. but it is just a veneer on the LS80.. underneath the vener there is a solid maple piece..

Stock pickups are just ok... I found them a bit too harsh (especially the bridge pickup), so I ended up swapping them for Lollar Imperials... much better sounding.
 
Welcome aboard Johnnie :)

If it's any help, I've got a lefty LS95F, which seems to be pretty much the same as the LS80 in terms of the specs. Acoustically, it's one of the most "alive" guitars I've played... if I hadn't already known, I would never have guessed (either visually or sonically) that it wasn't just the standard maple cap.

I've been very happy with the stock pickups, too, although adjusting the wiring and components to emulate the original 50s Gibson design has really added the icing on the cake (see the "LS95 Tweaking" thread).


adrian
 
and y'all reckon having a veneer'd top isn't a problem visually? (i can't see how it would be sonically different) I really like the wavy effect of flame when it catches the light and i doubt that happens with a veneer, but i'm not too fussed.

any more opinions on the quality of these guitars is appreciated, aswell as a photo of a tokai violin burst (is that the same as gibson's honeyburst?)
 
Hi there, have a look on ebay uk at the love rocks that Richtone music are selling , there's some real good photos there. I bought a LS85F in violin burst flame top from them last year and i love it. I was going to buy a Gibson but tryed out a couple of Tokais and was so impressed i bought one and pocketed ?750( I PAID ?500 WITH A HARD CASE).
The violin finish is very like the gibson jimmy page finish - golden yellow blending into a orange round the edges.
The stock pickupe are actually quite good although the bridge is quite brash sometimes.
Hope this helps.
 
MASTER VOLUME said:
Hi there, have a look on ebay uk at the love rocks that Richtone music are selling , there's some real good photos there. I bought a LS85F in violin burst flame top from them last year and i love it. I was going to buy a Gibson but tryed out a couple of Tokais and was so impressed i bought one and pocketed ?750( I PAID ?500 WITH A HARD CASE).
The violin finish is very like the gibson jimmy page finish - golden yellow blending into a orange round the edges.
The stock pickupe are actually quite good although the bridge is quite brash sometimes.
Hope this helps.


That's a good enough reference for me, Page is probably 95% of the reason i want a les paul :lol:
and on a minimum wage job a gibson isn't going to happen, and i don't see them as deserving of my money for what they do.
how much does yours weigh, master volume?
 
Errrrrrr..... haven't got any scales, but it's lighter than a Gibson(which i found too heavy).Just had a 3hr band practice this afternoon and i didn't find it was digging in on my shoulder at all)
BTW one of the main reasons i bought that guitar is i love zeppelin and plugging it into my handwired marshall 18watter is instant heartbreaker. It also does a very, very good AC/DC as well, lovely and crunchy :D
 
Here's a couple in Violin Finish. They are a LS65 (rear) with plain solid maple top and LS150 in front with solid flamed maple top.

DSC00036.jpg


150s007.jpg




You could also try Belfast Guitar Emporium's website and if you see anything you like get on the train and try them out 'in person'.
 
deadonkey said:
and y'all reckon having a veneer'd top isn't a problem visually? (i can't see how it would be sonically different) I really like the wavy effect of flame when it catches the light and i doubt that happens with a veneer, but i'm not too fussed.

If you?re not worried about a veneer, I can assure you that I?ve seen quite a few veneers much nicer looking than solid flame maple ones.. it all depends on luck a bit. Of course, higher specs guitars will have a much better chance of getting a good piece of wood...

Of course that, for me, I would go for a solid flame maple, even if it looked a bit less wavy than a veneer... just a matter of personal preference.. because sonically there aren?t so much differences... :wink:
 
yeah, that's what i thought. cheers.

last question i hope: that richtone music place looks good, do they have a place you can go try before you buy? gettin' a ryanair flight to sheffield for a day would be an option. I emailed them a while back about that but didn't get a reply.
 
Hi deaddonkey - if you give us a few more weeks we'll have our shop open and ready for people to drop in to pick up guitars in a nice environment.

At the minute you can't get through the door for carboard!!

On the LS85F guitars - James can pick you out the nicest flame top we have. I have seen them all personally and the consistency is very good.

Drop my partner James an Email via the EBay site today and i'll make sure he gets back to you with any queries you might have.

All the best in your search mate

Rich
 

Latest posts

Back
Top