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• Tokai comparison |
Recently I was given a chance to play a Tokai guitar - a japanese Les Paul copy (it's called "Love Rock" - the name written in Les Paul style). Here are some thoughts on the subject.
First of all, about the guitar itself. I've got a Tokai catalog '2000 (thanx a lot, Lacroix!) and I noticed that there are very cheap guitars (materials used on Les Pauls includes plywood, alder etc., bolt-on necks) as well as rather expensive high-quality models with original LP specifications and good materials (beautifully figured maple tops etc.) So, the guitar I played is from the latter group. In addition, it's one of the most expensive guitars in all the product line. The price is something around 1000$, according to owner (in the catalog, there are two more guitars that are very expensive, that is more than 2000$ and 3000$). So, it's one of the most carefully crafted guitars in all Tokai line.
The model is one one the pic below (LS 75Q, but the colour is different - just like on the next pic, LS 65. It's called 'Violin finish'. The photos are from the Tokai catalog. The number in the model's name is the price in thousands of japanese yens. That is the LS 75Q costs 75000 yens). The quilted maple top is very beautiful.
 
So, my impressions and coomparison with Washburn Idol WI-64 (at the price of about 300$).
Very well assembled and polished. The frets are nice and well rounded. No flaws here.
As to the fret buzz, it's just like on my Idol, that is you can hear it when the guitar is unplugged. I was amazed. But the buzz can't be heard through the amp, so it's not a big trouble.
What about the sound? Well, no surprise. The sound quality is better on the Tokai. It's up to you, if you are ready to pay three prices of Idol for the good sound. As for me, it's worth that. The sound is more even, the sustain is longer. And even I can hear the difference!
So the QUALITY of the sound is better. As to the sound character, I can't say anything, 'cause the pickups are so different. I replaced stock Idol pickups with a SD Dimebucker in the bridge and Alnico 2 Pro in the neck (read my review). And the stock Tokai's pickups are a PAF-like humbuckers. In addition, the Tokai was plugged into Marshall AVT 20 (50?). And I use Randall RG75. So the resulting sound is much too different. My Idol's resulting sound is more aggressive with more trebble and a sharper attack. So for a metal rhythm sound it's perfect.
While the sound quality is better on the Tokai, the Idol is more comfortable. The first thing is that it's much lighter. I'm so used to Idol, that when I'm putting it on my knee, I almost can't feel the weight. When I placed Tokai on my knee, the weight was pretty big.
The Tokai's neck is a standard LP's fat neck, so it was rather strange for me to play it. I really like my Idol's slim neck.
Idol offers great access to the upper frets, while it's not so with LP. And pickup switch is placed differently, so each time I tried to switch pickups, I pulled my hand to the lower part of the guitar.
Anyway, I guess all these things are a matter of habit and you can easily get accustomed to it. The only thing I want to keep is a slim neck. So it seems like a Gibson Classic is more suitable for me:)
The bottomline: I think that the Tokai is definitely worth its price. It's noticeably better than lower-class models (like Idols). As compared to Gibson LP, according to owner, it's just different. Anyway, the difference in price is great (2500-3000$ for Gibson LP STD vs 1000$ for Tokai), so it's like the guitars are from different price ranges. Each instrument (Idol, Tokai, Gibson LP) occupies its niche, so, the question is, how much money are you ready to spend?
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