Tokai Inlays

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
No, but it's nice to see you admitting there's a problem at all with the guitars posted.

We understand that it's in your best interests to defend Tokai, and that's cool mate. What gets people's back up is the "oh your camera is wrong, there's no problem" response to what are pictures of dodgy inlay work on very expensive instruments (the anniversary model in the above case).

We're all on your side when it comes to Tokai - or we wouldn't be here! But blind defence from someone who has an official connection of sorts with them is always going to get attacked.
 
Diamond said:
Look at the two photos Amo posted...his has a dark brown fretboard, and the other one has a red fretboard.
I didn't accuse butrus of "editing" his photo, or a liar, or a cheat, I just said it's a completely un natural photo, the colours are all wrong.

Well you might not have directly used the terms liar and cheat, so perhaps I was unfair on you, but you implied or hinted at his purposefully trying to make the inlay look worse than it is. I think the photo comes from an ebay sale. You would not expect an ebay seller to purposefully make the inlay look worse than reality.

Diamond said:
Inconsistency...a quality control problem? lol

What percentage are inconsistent?
How many thousands of photos have guys posted here of their Tokais, how many have this inlay inconsistency?
Because butrus posted 2 photos of inlays that have too much filler, it's now become official internet guitarist policy that Tokais inlays are inconsistent and a quality control problem?

And you expect me to take internet guitar forums seriously? :roll:

Err, but you posted a photo which showed cosmetically flawed inlay. What does that indicate about the % of Tokai guitars that show cosmetically flawed inlay. One example posted by Butrus is merely from a recent ebay sale. If we look at the way the inlay is done, they are using a drill to create a rounded corner in the fretboard, then cutting out the outline, inserting an inlay and then using filler. Are you saying that the majority of Tokai inlays are made in an alternative manner?

This is not a recent concern. See here:

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14320&highlight=inlay+filler

According to that thread quite a few people have seen the 'problem' so it is not rare, and it is not someone's imagination.

Anyway, if I buy another Tokai LP, I'll visit the shop in person, and drive them potty with my OCD inlay inspections. Simples.

Diamond, perhaps you would have done better not to react, and just bask in Alan's recent affirmation of Tokai over Gibson. As he said, when we buy a Ferrari, we expect total perfection. This isn't a Gibson you know. (I thought I'd better add that for you.)
 
Diamond said:
Inconsistency...a quality control problem? lol

What percentage are inconsistent?
How many thousands of photos have guys posted here of their Tokais, how many have this inlay inconsistency?
Because butrus posted 2 photos of inlays that have too much filler, it's now become official internet guitarist policy that Tokais inlays are inconsistent and a quality control problem?

And you expect me to take internet guitar forums seriously? :roll:

I have bought 4 Tokai LP in two years. Everyone of them had that inlay 'inconsistency', some more some less, but everyone had it. To me it is not a problem tough, and I would not talk about quality control problem but it sure is typical for Tokais.
 
Sorry to jump in the mix here. I am new to this site and just happened to purchase a used 2007 Tokai LS-380 recently. While I was looking to buy an upper end Tokai I watched this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180557595803&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT , LS-custom go to auction. Please look at the photos of the neck and inlays. The fingerboard "looks" red in the photos and the inlays are not perfect. The inlays on my LS-380, now that I have looked closely at them, are not perfect either. The corners are drilled out and filled. Unfortunately my Gibson Standard faded will not be back until Friday so I cannot compare the Tokai to a Gibson.

I will compare the two once I have the Gibson back. Sorry again for my ingnorance but I will have to research how to post pictures on this forum. Once I get that figured out I will post pictures of the two guitar's inlays. Do you think the inlay corners are drilled out, round, to prevent splits in the fingerboard?

As a side note perhaps someone can point me to infomation on the LS-380's finish specs. I know of the nitro finish but do they use grain fillers on the honduras mahogany back? Do you think the nitro finish is too thick? Maybe a topic for another thread.

BTW thanks for all the great information, opinons and all.
 
bodark said:
...Do you think the inlay corners are drilled out, round, to prevent splits in the fingerboard?

No, they're drilled out so some poor inlay person doesn't have to take a lot of time and meticulously cut the accurate shape of each inlay into the fret board by hand.
 
This 2009 LS-370 appears, from the few close up photos, NOT to have any of the corners of the inlays "drilled". I can see no evidence of fillers either.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270636012578&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

So why does Tokai seem weak in the QC of the inlay process?
 
If LPs had dot inlays, like proper guitars have, we wouldn't have to have this tedious discussion.....

:D

:roll:

:evil:

:eek:

:-?
 
stratman323 said:
If LPs had dot inlays, like proper guitars have, we wouldn't have to have this tedious discussion.....

Translation: you're all nit picking dickheads for discussing this...?

Thanks for turning the thread into a pathetic "Strats/Teles are better than LPs" sort of thing. Your comment is totally irrelevant, just stay out of threads if you think they're boring and tedious.

I'm not giving up my nice block inlays for cheap ***** dots.

If you had put a smiley I wouldn't have said most of the above. :)
 
As far as I am conserned,I would ruther have nothing at all(not even dots),than filler on the corners...and fretboards would be nice to look at and guitars would be cheper...
 
butrus said:
As far as I am conserned,I would ruther have nothing at all(not even dots),than filler on the corners...and fretboards would be nice to look at and guitars would be cheper...
Well, then, why aren't all the keys on a piano white (or black)?

However, I do hear you regarding the overuse of filler to make up for poor fitting.
 
butrus said:
As far as I am conserned,I would ruther have nothing at all(not even dots),than filler on the corners...and fretboards would be nice to look at and guitars would be cheper...

Yes, but then it would not be a true Les Paul copy. It is even said that the Tokai workers have to regularly chant phrases such as "Yee haaa" and "You're not from around these parts, are you boy" to get into the mind set of a southern states Gibson worker. (Okay, that second part was a lie.)

Bear in mind that you can buy a nice mid range MIJ Tokai with binding, a solid mahogany body, and a solid mahogany neck, and beautiful workmanship (inlay excepted) for a similar price to a Gibson studio, which is rather basic, and did not appeal to me. Especially since Gibsons have more reports of quality control issues than you can shake a big stick at. I'd rather Tokai used rounded inlay corners thus allowing CNC cutting. I know the Les Paul extemists will turn pale at the thought.
 
Leif said:
Bear in mind that you can buy a nice mid range MIJ Tokai with binding, a solid mahogany body, and a solid mahogany neck, and beautiful workmanship (inlay excepted) for a similar price to a Gibson studio, which is rather basic, and did not appeal to me. Especially since Gibsons have more reports of quality control issues than you can shake a big stick at.

And thats exactly why I joined this forum.
and If you look long enough even inlays could be nice :wink:
 
butrus said:
As far as I am conserned,I would ruther have nothing at all(not even dots),than filler on the corners...and fretboards would be nice to look at and guitars would be cheper...

Get one of the older Bacchus Dukes - no board inlays at all, but it does have the little dots on the edge.

They look quite good actually (IMO); after you get over the "something's missing" vibe, it looks quite classy.
 
JVsearch said:
stratman323 said:
No apology necessary.

8)

Is that "no apology necessary" in a kind of "you'll keep mofo" type of way? :cry:

No, as in you didn't say anything you need to apologise for, you expressed a point of view, which is what we all do. If I had said "apology accepted", it sort of implies that you were right to apologise, & I didn't want to give that impression.

Everything's cool maaaan.

8)
 
Look at the filler on this thing. It's disgusting.

DaemonessCimmerianAH7_12.jpg


Disgustingly talented, arf! Bloody hellfire, this man is good (though some of you chaps might need a lie down and a cup of tea after seeing the guitars themselves).
 
Leif said:
It is even said that the Tokai workers have to regularly chant phrases such as "Yee haaa" and "You're not from around these parts, are you boy" to get into the mind set of a southern states Gibson worker. (Okay, that second part was a lie.)

While the current Gibson Custom Shop production is in Nashville, TN, I can attest to the fact that, in the 1950's, very few residents of Kalamazoo, MI ever said "Yee Haa". I certainly never heard it, either in Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids. In Tokai's quest for historical accuracy, it would be better to give the workers snow shovels and point towards Lake Michigan. I recall some snowy winters in the mid to late 1950's.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top