OakleyVisor
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2004
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Hi, I am new to this forum, and new to Tokai guitars. I am hoping someone can shed some light on what I have just purchased and whether or not, I got screwed in the process.
Here is the deal...I was away from playing guitar for about 4 years and recently picked it up again with the intention of jamming with some friends and possibly gigging with them in the future. I had a Peavey Raptor EXP that I had kicking around here that is ok to use for a practice guitar, but I longed for the tones of a Les Paul. I previously owned a Epi LP Cherry Sunburst on Bird's Eye Maple. (veneer top, ?plywood body?)
SO I sat out on a quest to acquire an Epi Les Paul (can't afford the Gibson name) only to find that in my town, there is only 1 Epi LP that I like, only problem is that it is a lefty. So.. I try the guitar shop across the street, and the salesman there says, "dude....you gotta look at these Tokai's.. Gibson sued them because of the headstocks." So I looked at it and danged if it doesn't look almost IDENTICAL to a Gibson LP with the "open book" headstock...I play it, and it sounds great.. looks great.....
I went home that night and did a bit of research and find that 97% of reviews are all very positive. I check out the models and head back to the guitar shop. When I got there, I explained to the sales guy that I looked them up the models on the internet and was wondering which models he had in stock. He said he wasnt sure, as they just got them in, and was just happy that they had the Gibson headstocks....
Anyway long story short, I bought the guitar b/c I am a sucker, and I wanted a LP.
When I got home I tried to decipher what model I indeed did buy, but all I can for sure figure out is that I have a Korean made Tokai, made in 2003.
It is a solid black, with cream accents. Cream pick guard, cream bindings, cream pot covers on the back. The volume/tone controls are the bell shape (similiar to an epi) Mother of Pearl block inlays, 22 frets, olive colored tuning pegschrome hardware. The truss rod cover has ONE screw in the top of the cover. Pickups are chrome PAFs, on the back of the pickup there is a single letter "L" stamping on the neck pick up.
My concern is that I have bought a guitar with a plywood body, adn I was defnitely hoping to stay away from that.
Can anyone shed any light on this matter?
Here is the deal...I was away from playing guitar for about 4 years and recently picked it up again with the intention of jamming with some friends and possibly gigging with them in the future. I had a Peavey Raptor EXP that I had kicking around here that is ok to use for a practice guitar, but I longed for the tones of a Les Paul. I previously owned a Epi LP Cherry Sunburst on Bird's Eye Maple. (veneer top, ?plywood body?)
SO I sat out on a quest to acquire an Epi Les Paul (can't afford the Gibson name) only to find that in my town, there is only 1 Epi LP that I like, only problem is that it is a lefty. So.. I try the guitar shop across the street, and the salesman there says, "dude....you gotta look at these Tokai's.. Gibson sued them because of the headstocks." So I looked at it and danged if it doesn't look almost IDENTICAL to a Gibson LP with the "open book" headstock...I play it, and it sounds great.. looks great.....
I went home that night and did a bit of research and find that 97% of reviews are all very positive. I check out the models and head back to the guitar shop. When I got there, I explained to the sales guy that I looked them up the models on the internet and was wondering which models he had in stock. He said he wasnt sure, as they just got them in, and was just happy that they had the Gibson headstocks....
Anyway long story short, I bought the guitar b/c I am a sucker, and I wanted a LP.
When I got home I tried to decipher what model I indeed did buy, but all I can for sure figure out is that I have a Korean made Tokai, made in 2003.
It is a solid black, with cream accents. Cream pick guard, cream bindings, cream pot covers on the back. The volume/tone controls are the bell shape (similiar to an epi) Mother of Pearl block inlays, 22 frets, olive colored tuning pegschrome hardware. The truss rod cover has ONE screw in the top of the cover. Pickups are chrome PAFs, on the back of the pickup there is a single letter "L" stamping on the neck pick up.
My concern is that I have bought a guitar with a plywood body, adn I was defnitely hoping to stay away from that.
Can anyone shed any light on this matter?