I came across Tokai thanks to a UK guitar store by the name of
Regent. This was back in September of last year, 2005. But, they sadly do not deal with Tokai any longer.
I was on the look out for a new guitar, I'd been playing for about two years and thought I deserved a new, good quality axe. I owned a Stagg PRS Copy, which was not a very good guitar at all, but it was my first electric and served its purpose. I was starting to lose interest in playing because I wasn't really enjoying it a whole lot, even though I always wanted to play, but I wasn't seeing myself progress a whole lot once I reached a certain level, and it was getting me down, so I decided to get a new axe to reignite my desire to play. I narrowed my search (with the aid of the great forum members over at the Regent forums) down to an SG, and a Les Paul. I was of course looking at Gibson, but I wasn't too happy about the price tags on their guitars so then I looked to Epiphone. I wasn't going to make the beginner mistake again by buying without knowing anything about the guitar, so I registered at the Regent forums and asked around. I was put onto Tokai, who were being talked up on various sites around the internet, not only the Regent forums, for their value for money, and build quality, among other things. I eventually put a line through the choices of Gibson, and Epiphone, and circled Tokai, based on the numerous positive comments I saw for Tokai.
Anyway, I eventually opted for the Les Paul, over an SG. I live over in Northern Ireland, and Regent are based in England, so I would be ordering online with no hands on demo of the guitar, but I felt secure enough in choosing a Tokai, and in dealing with Regent. I ended up with a Tokai Love Rock LS-70F in Cherry Sunburst, and a Hiscox Hardcase. It's one of the most beautiful guitars I've ever laid eyes on, and it plays like a dream. It has a great sound too, but my amp (a Marshall MG15 DFX) doesn't really do the guitar justice, so it's only really got to shine when I've played it through a friends (Kustom) amp. I have honestly yet to find a neck to rival that of my Love Rock, it's just the most comfortable necks I've ever played on. There was literally nothing negative to say about the guitar. In fact if I was to go over it with a fine tooth comb all I could complain about was the disappointing fact that the toggle switch went intermittent without a matter of weeks, but that's just a switch. The build quality, the playability, the sound, and the finish are all top notch.