I just bought a real Gibson Les Paul Standard

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Barry NYC

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:-? I don't know, maybe I got caught up in this "Buy American" wartime crap. I own 2 of Mike's Love Rocks which I have been upgrading over time & they have been working out very nicely. However, I always had this doubt that "maybe they're not as good as a real Gibson"Since I have never OWNED one I had no basis for comparison . I E-mailed Yoshi about ordering an LS75 with a goldtop. I did not want to wait 4 months but I'm sure it would have been worth it. In the meantime, I came across an UNPLAYED thin neck black LP Standard from the year 2000 [I did not believe it at first, but it's true] for close to $1500. I plugged it in to my Marshall rig today & let it rip. Bottom line: Did it sound good? Yes. Better than Mike's Tokais? After the mods I have been making to them, the sounds are nearly indistinguishable. Are Gibsons worth the price? OH HELL NO! I bought TWO Love Rocks AND FOUR Seymour Duncans PLUS cloth braided wire & new pots for less. Did I make a mistake in buying one? Kind of, but aside from the prohibitively expensive price, I can always sell it if I decide not to keep it.
 
I jam occasionally with a couple of chaps , one who owns a Fender Bullet, the other owns a Gibson "The Paul" and they both can't keep they're hands off my Love Rock. They of course are totally unaware of what a Tokai is and are not quite sure where or when it was made. I've told them that it's a custom shop guitar from a disgruntled former Gibson employee, and of course use the obligatory Lawsuit rap :roll: :lol:
They just respond with blank stares. :eek:
 
I owned an LP Classic + for a short time...just never felt quite right...most of the Tokai LPs I've played did.

You are right. I just took a very expensive lesson to come to the same conclusion. :-?
 
I have been a Les Paul freak since forever, and bought a Love Rock LS-60 in the 80's because it was the twin of my original burst I'd sold a decade earlier. At the time I'd never heard of Tokai. Today, I still love going into guitar stores and trying out Pauls, but in all honesty, I've never come across one that has what my LR has all in one package. I'd definitely put it above the production model Les Pauls, but maybe a notch below the Historic line (although the baseball bat neck of the one Historic I tried was a real turn-off to me). "Cherry" will be accompanying me to a vintage guitar show in Seattle later this month, and I'm proud to show her off. No more apologies!
 
Sorry guys, I don't come here often to talk about Tokais as I should. I just spent a year with another Gibson Les Paul [Custom] I acquired for $950. this one is an 11 pound boat anchor with a tobacco sunburst [yeccch] finish. It has been refretted. has Sperzel locking keys & a few dings on the top that look like they were filled with melted crayon. Surprisingly, it has a MUCH sweeter tone than the GLP I bought new. I put a gold plated ALU tailpiece, SD SH6 in the bridge & burstbucker in the neck. Once I got past how much I hate the finish, I said "You know what? I see no reason why all my guitars can't peacefully coexist in my collection." My black GLP Standard, however, is still a pig. I'm pissed that I spent $1800 for that guitar & still have to spend more money on it.
 
When I started playing (ages ago) everyone wanted a ?real? Gibson or Fender, but none us could afford more than the cheapest copy (long before Tokai got going). Over the years I slowly realised that expensive stuff is almost always a waste of money ?.overpriced & over-hyped. Yet, that feeling of wanting a ?real one? always remains lol!

Put it another way?.I think I know why you bought the Gibbo, hard to put into convincing words,?but probably same reason I just bought a 78 US Tele. Good luck with the LP-std., give it time, get used to it, & it will probably prove a wonderful guitar :-? .

Ian.
 
I had always wanted a LP guitar.I was let a cherry Lp from late 80's he bought in London by a friend.And I got very dissappointed,a very heavy guitar(about 5 kg.) and excesive strong sound,not sweet at all.Some time after I went to Gibson main distributor and played a couple of late 90's and while they felt nice I was shocked when I saw target price.Then I bought my Tokais ...and since them.And Tokai LS-70 model was very very near from a Gibbo Standard for a fraction of the price.
 
:eek: I can't and will not knock Gibson and Fender, they had some great desighns! But face it ,today and thru the late 80's and 90's they are in the same buisness as Tokai...Replicas! What have they done that was worth a **** since the 60's? They basterdized the original LP and Strat thru the 70's and 80's with 3 bolt necks , huge headstocks, maple necks on LP's? Paaleez! I had a 59' plain top in the 90's paid 25k, sold it for 30k six years later and replaced it with a collection of early 80's LR's. I have aLP Classic that I love but the Tok's are much closer to the feel and look of the 59'. I know the Classic is a 1960 rep with the slim neck but all things considered the Tok is the better replica. It was Tokai that "Kicked them in the ***" to to go back and start making the guitars we all want! So Who's following Who? Play the Tok with pride, anyone who really knows will only have to play it ! 8) TG
 
I think I've actually have become obsessed with alternatives.

Jackson usa soloist.- Nope, I bought Carvin Dc models instead.
Gibson LP. - Nope, I bought a Diodati 59q and Fernandes Ravelle Deluxe instead.
Brian Moore MC/1. - Nope, I wanted a piezo equipped guitar with a trem. I went with a Parker Fly Deluxe instead. Now that Carvin offers a Fishman piezo trem, I'd take that over the Parker.
Ibanez Universe. - Nope, I went with a Schecter V-7 and Carvin Dc727.
PRS Custom - Nope, my plan is to get either a Carvin CT, Dean Hardtail, Tokai PR japan, or Cort M1200.

As I said, obsessed with the alternatives.
I really like the "Bang for your Buck" aspect.

Kent
 
I have some Carvin stuff I like as well. I bought a new Bunny Brunel 5 string bass. Very fine craftsmanship for the money. Too bad they don't retain their value well.
 
my gibbys are 83 LPCust and 70 LPDlx....i like them a lot. i can't comment about the LRs...yet... :lol:

i hope you like your new gibby. if not, you can always sell it for (usually) what you paid 4 it. [read;perk]
 
Hi tokaiguy,

tokaiguy said:
:eek: I can't and will not knock Gibson and Fender, they had some great desighns! ... I have aLP Classic that I love but the Tok's are much closer to the feel and look of the 59'. I know the Classic is a 1960 rep with the slim neck but all things considered the Tok is the better replica. It was Tokai that "Kicked them in the ***" to to go back and start making the guitars we all want! So Who's following Who? Play the Tok with pride, anyone who really knows will only have to play it ! 8) TG

yes, I'm thinking the same. For the money I spent on my 320 I even could have bought a Gibbo, but I wanted no Gibbo. Today Gibson ist just a name. A Name which was bought by a few people. Shurely, an old (58-60) Les Paul is very desirable to me, but of course I will never be able to pay that amount of asked money. I'm no lawyer or dentist or...

The people who built these famous bursts do not belong to Gibson today, even the tools and machines stayed in the old plant at Kalamazoo, they started a new brand, The Heritage as we all know.

So Gibson is nowadays just a small Nameplate on a headstock to me, see how long they needed at Gibson to make the Les Paul "right", first time is 2003.

No way.

I have an old Melody Maker from the 60's which I love and there are a lot of fine new Gibsons on the shelf, but for the asked price they stay there if it's according to me.

I play my Tokais with pride. 8)

Have mercy

Joe
 
People talk a lot of crap about 'copies' and 'real thing', but in reality they're just labels. What would have happened if Martin had copyrighted the dreadnought design? Is every dreadnought considered a copy? And how can oyu copyright a musical instrument anyway?

I think replica designs are just good old fashioned capitalism at work in a highly conservative market. I can name several companies who beat gibson at their own game these days, but unfortunately the 'real thing' nonsense carries a lot of weight.
 
To a point, but we are also entertainers who play music for people to enjoy. The people that come to gigs only know two names and they love to see a 'real' strat or LP reproducing the songs they love.

I have both Tokai and Gibson - the Tokai is much sweeter and is used for everything but for the people that come up at the end of the gig it's the Gibson that gets the admiration, they love the music and they like to let you know that they know their intruments.

So you nod and agree - that's the heritage thing.......

Gibson deserve their rep because they gave the musicians the tool to write those great songs and solos


GB
 
guitarboy said:
To a point, but we are also entertainers who play music for people to enjoy. The people that come to gigs only know two names and they love to see a 'real' strat or LP reproducing the songs they love.

I have both Tokai and Gibson - the Tokai is much sweeter and is used for everything but for the people that come up at the end of the gig it's the Gibson that gets the admiration, they love the music and they like to let you know that they know their intruments.

Hi guitarboy,

sorry, but I do not believe this completely. First: yes, we are entertainers, but i believe that the normal guest (or the girl in the first row *g*) at a gig does not know if it's a Gibson, a Tokai, a Epiphone, Burny, Greco or whatever. Perhaps they know that one guitar is a Les Paul, "that thing which Slash plays" or a Strat, which is played by Clapton. :-?

Other are those guys who stand still, are not moving an inch, standing there with folded arms and long faces just criticising the musicians, but often or mostly they are musicians for themselves. We have a term in german, they are called: "Musikerpolizei" I do not know if there is an english expression for it, translated it would be: "musician police".

I'm not playing for the Musikerpolizei anymore, I play for the normal visitors. the Musikerpolizei is always better and would do this and that, rather play a hyperpentaphrygiandiminishedlocrian scale at that bridge :eek: . And how could anybody use THIS Amp? Everybody should know that a triplemegablablabla would do better and so on. :evil:

I don't care anymore. 8)

On stage I try to entertain the people, and want to do this with a smile on my face. The logo on the headstock is second to me and I believe it's second to 99% in the audience.

Remember Billy Gibbons and his Tokai, with the Questionmark on the headstock, where normally the Tokailogo would be? Only musicians notice that. 8)

Have mercy

Joe
 
:eek: Regarding the guys with the long faces and the folded arms...How many lead guitarist's doe's it take to change a light bulb? 6, one to change it and 5 to stand around saying "I can do that" How can you tell if a banjo has a great tone? That depends on how far you can throw it and what end hits the ground! :eek:
 
rotfl

What do you get if you drop a piano down a mineshaft?

A flat Minor

Have mercy

Joe
 
hmmm, i sold my fancy gibson r8, bought 2 ls80's,,,i prefer the ls80's. they sound better, and play better, both are 1980 guitars. that said, i just recently bought a cs336, it also kicks the r8's ***.
 
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