Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 9:54 pm
I think the Tokai guitars are great. I owned one, it may have been Korean or Japanese... great guitar. I also owned an Edwards, great guitar as well. The Edwards was made in Korea but assembled in Japan.
However, and this is controversial, the best ones I have owned have been my Chinese replica of a Gibson Les Pauls. I was so impressed with it that I've bought them whenever I found them used.
Last night a bought an alpine white Chinese replica of a Gibson Les Paul Custom. First off, in my opinion it is much better than Epiphone. It's much better made, feels more solid. It does not go out of tune, whereas I was constantly having to tune up my old Epiphone. This latest acquirement, the alpine white Chinese replica of a Gibson Les Paul Custom, has a maple neck (no soft mahogany head stock snaps!) and a rosewood fingerboard. I don't know what the body is made out of, but it's heavier than my Mexican Fender Precession Bass. It's got a poly finish that looks cheap as hell: this is not a good poly finish. I plan on roughing it up with steel wool and 1500 grit sand paper and then polishing it with car wax to give the finish some depth. I also have facing a window in hopes of yellowing the finish over time.
The pickups sound just like Epiphone pickups, they're awful. I am swapping them along with the rest of the wiring and potentiometers. I am gonna go with CTS pots, Iron Gear Blues Engine pickups, vintage wiring, and a push/pull pot that will switch the wiring from normal to out of phase; Jimmy Page style.
I set it up tonight with 11s and swapped out the tail piece for a Gotoh aluminum one I already had. When I went to straighten the neck, the truss down farther than I am used to and was hard to move. I oiled it a bit, let it work in, and it was responsive but still hard to move.
The tuners are great. They say grover, but I doubt they are. In any case, they work very well.
The best selling point is the playability, this plays just like a U.S.A. made Gibson Les Paul standard... and that's the shocking part. If you closed your eyes and played acoustically you'd swear it was Gibson.
The cool thing is it's a Les Paul you can modify at will without out freaking out.
So I would advise you buy one of these:
http://www.tradetang.com/for-sale/2007- ... 80695.html
http://www.tradetang.com/for-sale/Gibso ... 79935.html
However, and this is controversial, the best ones I have owned have been my Chinese replica of a Gibson Les Pauls. I was so impressed with it that I've bought them whenever I found them used.
Last night a bought an alpine white Chinese replica of a Gibson Les Paul Custom. First off, in my opinion it is much better than Epiphone. It's much better made, feels more solid. It does not go out of tune, whereas I was constantly having to tune up my old Epiphone. This latest acquirement, the alpine white Chinese replica of a Gibson Les Paul Custom, has a maple neck (no soft mahogany head stock snaps!) and a rosewood fingerboard. I don't know what the body is made out of, but it's heavier than my Mexican Fender Precession Bass. It's got a poly finish that looks cheap as hell: this is not a good poly finish. I plan on roughing it up with steel wool and 1500 grit sand paper and then polishing it with car wax to give the finish some depth. I also have facing a window in hopes of yellowing the finish over time.
The pickups sound just like Epiphone pickups, they're awful. I am swapping them along with the rest of the wiring and potentiometers. I am gonna go with CTS pots, Iron Gear Blues Engine pickups, vintage wiring, and a push/pull pot that will switch the wiring from normal to out of phase; Jimmy Page style.
I set it up tonight with 11s and swapped out the tail piece for a Gotoh aluminum one I already had. When I went to straighten the neck, the truss down farther than I am used to and was hard to move. I oiled it a bit, let it work in, and it was responsive but still hard to move.
The tuners are great. They say grover, but I doubt they are. In any case, they work very well.
The best selling point is the playability, this plays just like a U.S.A. made Gibson Les Paul standard... and that's the shocking part. If you closed your eyes and played acoustically you'd swear it was Gibson.
The cool thing is it's a Les Paul you can modify at will without out freaking out.
So I would advise you buy one of these:
http://www.tradetang.com/for-sale/2007- ... 80695.html
http://www.tradetang.com/for-sale/Gibso ... 79935.html
