Tokai fretting versus G****N

[Kappie]

This afternoon I took my 2005 LS 85Q to my guitar repair shop in order to have the poor 3 way toggle switch replaced by a decent one (It is a shame that Tokai puts such a bad switch in their superb Love Rocks).
The owner of the shop, a top luthier in the Netherlands, had a look at my Tokai and mumbled: This is something G****N can learn from. When I asked him what he meant he said that he not only liked the overall look and quality of the instrument, but that Tokai had done a far better job on the fretting of the guitar. At Tokai the frets are rounded again after the frets and the fretboard have been flattened. The flattening of the frets initially causes the frets to have a somewhat square top which can be very annoying when playing. When, for example, you slide up with your fingers your fingers seem to get caught by, or hang behind, the frets. He told me that G****N does not round the frets afterwards because it is too time consuming and too expensive.
So there you go. If you are looking for playability then buy a Tokai and make sure you replace the poor quality toggle switch. (My 2006 SG75 suffers the same problem, so it is not an incident). If you want to pay too much and are only looking for a name then buy the other thing.

 

[togps]

Herbert, hi.

re toggle switch: I'll pass your claims to Tokai

Further example of Gibby craftmanship:

Inlays:

Frets:

 

[C]

Yeah, I consistently see gouged fretboards and hacked up binding on newer Gibsons.

This is a pic form an SG Classic I bought last year. I had to dump it because of the fretboard and binding issues.

This is another pic (not mine), it more clearly illustrates the point. This fretboard is on a $2000+ Gibson Les Paul. Very sad.

 

[Kappie]

togps wrote:

Herbert, hi.

re toggle switch: I'll pass your claims to Tokai

Further example of Gibby craftmanship:

Gotfried,
Thanks, I really appreciate.
Also thanks for the moonlandscape/filler/square frets Gibby pictures.

Herbert

 

[luis]

Kappie, I have a similar story as ytou with a luthier who saw My LS70,he was pleasantly susprised about the quality,he liked it.And I have the same trouble with the 3 way toggle swith going bad in a Love Rock nad replaced by a Rockinger one.My guess is Tokai is using the same togglwe ina the entire range whatever the modle was,so it surprise me as far as Tokai builds gret quality guitar sbut use so cheap parts,I cannot understand it,but I supouse it would have a explanation for them.It's a minos issue hoewever,as the great Jack Lemon says in that well know picture says..."Nobody's perfect!"

 

[bruno]

I haven't had any trouble with the switch in my 145s, but I guess they're diferent on the new models...

the fretboard work is impecable, no nasty fillings, no square frets... really smooth, the ls-80's I've tried are also like this

 

[Alpedra]

Having some issues with my toggle switch too :-? .... sometimes (not often, fortunately) the bridge pickup just fails (no sound) when I switch to that position... neck is always ok.... switching to the middle position and then to bridge again usually solves the problem.. going to try to use some WD40 on the switch.. if the problem is still there.. I guess I will just have to bug the person who sold me the guitar, since it?s still under warranty and it is an electronic problem.. :evil:

 

[TUNAFREAK]

Bruno, all the high end models use switchcraft switches and they are the best. Made in the USA.

Mark

 

[supreme]

This is another pic (not mine), it more clearly illustrates the point. This fretboard is on a $2000+ Gibson Les Paul. Very sad.

This comes close to how my new Tokai LC70-80 looks like on some frets. Just read my thread on the main page..........also their is filling visible and when you go over the inlays you can feel a bump.

I am not for Gibson, I think they are way too expensive and I just don't buy American stuff, period.....but I also see the propaganda that some bashers are posting on different forums, and it has become a bore, using the same 3 pictures for 2 years now. Why not take new pics of those issues?
Now I find out my Tokai (that I bought because of the reviews of the same people who bash Gibson) turns out to have more issues than any Gibson I tested.

Yes, I am pissed at Tokai for OK-ing this CRAP guitar for sale that I got. I actually want to say more, but this is a Tokai forum, so I hold back.

 

[Amo]

Hello chaps,

Ive just bought my first Tokai, a ES120 and its the best fretting ive ever seen, The only fault with it was a dirty fingerboard and even that was sorted out after a quick wipe with some lemon oil


Even the missus said "oooooh thats really nice!" when i opened the box

...which bodes well for any future LS150's i might have my eye on in the future