Tokai Love Rock pickup resistances

Hi

Does any one out there know the resistances of the Mk2, Mk3 and Mk4 pickups that are in the Japanese Love Rocks. I am sure there is something on the Registry but can I find it!

Early 1980's Gotoh 57 PAF's: neck 7.8 k bridge 7.5 k

Recent Keiyo MkII's:
neck 7.84 k - bridge 8.39 k ohms
neck 7.78 k - bridge 8.52 k ohms

Reborn, are you sure that neck DC resistance is higher than bridge on those early gotoh's?

just for info, on my '58 gotoh's (early 1980) i read 8.44 bridge-8.40 neck.

MKII on Love Rock i had: 7.76 neck-8.29

?79 Reborn Goto back silver plated 8?29 and 8?34 K both.

'2005 LS-150 MK-I Keiyo? high 7?s and 10 K bridge. They could be MK-IIs but Tokai told me MK-I as specs when asked.

I will check '82 GOTOH back gold plated ones very soon.

1978-1981 X, D and T (LS50 & 60) pickups generally measure 8.2-8.4
1978-1981 S (LS80) generally measure 8.5-8.7

I think the OP is asking about the CURRENT Mk2, Mk3 and Mk4 pickups, not historical ancient vintage mysterious Tokai pickups that were hand wound by Abigail Yabbaro's long lost Japanese cousin.

Thanks for the response, it is interesting to see how older pickups tend towards the range of the early Gibsons LPs of 7-8k, the initial reason for asking was to do a current comparison but I am delighted that older Tokais are being listed. What I couldn't understand was once you get to a model which is all mahogany the only difference then is the pickup. All of the top range seem to trend towards Mk II's, what is so special about them.

Just to keep the data going I have a 2008 chinese LR model ALS 48 and the original picks were 8.3K in the neck and 13.6 bridge. I changed these out for humbucker with no cover and Alnico 2s, 7.39 neck and 7.45 bridge great sound and range!

Keep sending you resistance in I am sure there is a lot of people interested in what make a good guitar.

scotsrock said:

What I couldn't understand was once you get to a model which is all mahogany the only difference then is the pickup.

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What do you mean?

Hi Diamond thank for contributing.

As you can guess I am not an expert in Love Rock, (I collect older Japanese strats). I was thinking about looking out for an early Japanese Love Rock but when I started looking at them I notice from the Catalogue on the registry and the Tokai web site that the cheaper models have maple necks and Alder bodies. As you progress up through the models they start to trend towards what Gibson used ie mahogany necks and bodies. All of the top range models have these features but still the price increase and the assumption I came to was it was the quality of the pickups that added to the further increase in price!

I also own a Goldstar strat and it is the quality of the body and the pickups that dictate the model and its price.

scotsrock said:

Hi Diamond thank for contributing.

As you can guess I am not an expert in Love Rock, (I collect older Japanese strats). I was thinking about looking out for an early Japanese Love Rock but when I started looking at them I notice from the Catalogue on the registry and the Tokai web site that the cheaper models have maple necks and Alder bodies. As you progress up through the models they start to trend towards what Gibson used ie mahogany necks and bodies. All of the top range models have these features but still the price increase and the assumption I came to was it was the quality of the pickups that added to the further increase in price!

I also own a Goldstar strat and it is the quality of the body and the pickups that dictate the model and its price.

Click to expand...

The current "cheaper LS models" are made in China, with maple necks and Basswood bodies, MK4 pickups.

The Vintage series models, mahogany necks & bodies, now come with MK11 pickups.
Pickups make almost no difference to the price, the difference between MK3 and MK2 pickups is more or less $50.
The reason the Premium Series models cost more is because of wood selection and hardware, one piece mahogany body, solid maple flame top, CTS pots, aluminium tailpiece, brass saddles, etc, etc.

For example, MK11 pickups are as good as Seymour Duncans, I know, I've put in Duncans, the difference was less than 10% on the clean tones, and virtually indistinguishable on distorted tones.

How much difference can pickups make to the price?, a set of boutique pickups costs $300, and a set of MK11s $100.

scotsrock said:

...it is interesting to see how older pickups tend towards the range of the early Gibsons LPs of 7-8k

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That is because the older Gibsons is what they were copying with the early LS series. The Gibson PAF concept has never been bettered IMO,
but today there is something for everyone with the standard offerings and boutiques from various companies.

Tokai have PAF types and hotter output humbuckers, as it's quite common for people to favour a hotter bridge pickup.

All info is regarded,old and new in my book.

A difference between MKII and MKIII would be braided wires in MKII (Keiyo).
2000s era first half Gotoh picupks MKII have plastic insulated wires however. Crazy!

I just found MH-3 pickups model recently, anyone tried any of these?

scotsrock said:

What I couldn't understand was once you get to a model which is all mahogany the only difference then is the pickup. All of the top range seem to trend towards Mk II's, what is so special about them.

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Unfortunately, Keiyo MkII's are far from being the best pickups available.
The biggest differences in price between mahogany body models will always be wood grades used in a guitar build.
Current premium series models (LS-160 and up (now 170)) all feature one piece backs, , eastern hard maple tops, better electrics and hardware.
Lower models may have softer sycamore or veneer tops and/or multi-piece backs, and possibly heel caps, and therefore cost much less.
Top LS premium models feature Honduran mahogany backs and necks and Brazilian fretboards (as did vintage G!bson bursts).
All mahogany bodies should be reasonably close to sounding the same. Wood stock used accounts for the largest portion of model price differences, then hardware, pickups + electric components used.
Model differences are all itemized in catalogs. http://www.tokairegistry.com/tokai-info/tokai-catalogs.html
If a model doesn't specify a one piece mahogany back in modern catalogs, then assume it isn't one piece. Same goes for eastern hard maple tops, brass saddles and USA electrics.

Les Pauls that approach 1958-60 G!bson materials and build specs, will always be more desirable (and expensive) than examples that don't.

The best Tokai I've played is an LS92 weighing 8.9lbs with Lindy Fralin pickups...no other mods or upgrades, just the pickups.

Btw.
Have any of you guys tried completely disconnecting the tone pots from the circuit?
My guitar tech has been doing some testing and the results are quite amazing.

Hi Reborn Old

Thank you for your full descriptions of the differences. I have obviously got a lot to learn. These guitars are a whole lot more complexed that the Strats I have been collecting. The discussion is developing well and the info people are posting is a brand new education. Thank all of the contributor for all the help

scotsrock said:

These guitars are a whole lot more complexed that the Strats I have been collecting.

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Actually they're not complex at all.

The most complex thing about Tokais is where to buy them.