[Al M]

What’s people’s general opinion of these guitars? I have heard from several people that for the money they are unbeatable and in some cases are actually better than those they are trying to mimic!

I'm particularly interested in the PRS copies; does anyone have any opinions of these?

Cheers

Al

 

[fettouhi]

What's people's general opinion of these guitars? I have heard from several people that for the money they are unbeatable and in some cases are actually better than those they are trying to mimic!

I'm particularly interested in the PRS copies; does anyone have any opinions of these?

Cheers

Al

Their PRS copies look very nice and with a Wilkinson VS50 trem . Do you know if they offer lefties of those .

Regards

André

 

[the.godfather]

I dont know too much about Tokia really, apart from their "Love Rock" series guitars are great! I played a Love Rock Les Paul briefly last year and I really liked it. I thought it was very good for the money, and comparable in quality to a Gibson. Especially the more recent Gibsons.

 

[nickcoumbe]

My guitar tech loves them, although I have never played one.

I believe that he thinks that there Les Paul copies are as good as (if not better than) the originals. I have definately played some Gibson Les Pauls that really sucked alot. The guy who owned it was all smug saying "I have a Les Paul, therefore I am a better guitar player than you with your rubbish LP copy", and I am thinking something like "this Les Paul is better than my guitar, but not a £1000 better".

I would definately have one. I think that PRS, and Gibson are over priced, I would almost take a copy over one of them so I didn't feel fleeced. I actually bought a 1980's korean copy, and it is genuinely really good. I couldnt see myself parting with that kind of money when you can buy better copies.

 

[jim777]

They're like Ibanez, basically. They have fantastic high end instruments and less fantastic lower end instruments. If they have multiple versions of a particular instrument the top of the line ones will be reliably high quality. I believe the PRS type with stoptail is the LR-30, with trem it is the LR-40. I haven't played one, but I've owned and played a number of Tokai's and the top line ones are very nice indeed.

 

[sniperfrommars1]

My guitar tech loves them, although I have never played one.

I believe that he thinks that there Les Paul copies are as good as (if not better than) the originals. I have definately played some Gibson Les Pauls that really sucked alot. The guy who owned it was all smug saying "I have a Les Paul, therefore I am a better guitar player than you with your rubbish LP copy", and I am thinking something like "this Les Paul is better than my guitar, but not a £1000 better".

I would definately have one. I think that PRS, and Gibson are over priced, I would almost take a copy over one of them so I didn't feel fleeced. I actually bought a 1980's korean copy, and it is genuinely really good. I couldnt see myself parting with that kind of money when you can buy better copies.

Maybe you should check out the ibanez lawsuit series then and check out their les paul copys. You can get them that look Eerily close to a les paul standard.

 

[old_metal_head]

I talked to some people in Japan (well emailed them really) and they said the Epiphone Elitest series is better than the the new Tokai. However the older Tokai guitars are the ones you want.

 

[nickcoumbe]

Maybe you should check out the ibanez lawsuit series then and check out their les paul copys. You can get them that look Eerily close to a les paul standard.

Are they set neck?

 

[pawel]

I think some of the Ibanezes were set-neck, but I am sure quite a lot of them were not. The thing with Tokais is that most of the newer models are made in a different factory (in Korea), than the older models. The older Japanese Love Rock models are thought of as very fine guitars, and they fetch pretty high prices thse days too.

 

[jim777]

If you are looking for a Japanese Les Paul copy, and not a Tokai PRS style LS guitar, then Orville, Burny, Greco, and Edwards all maker guitars worth considering. The original Tokai "Reborn" and Love Rock series LP copies are outstanding instruments, no doubt about it. There's lots of good Tokai info on their LP copies at tokairegistry.com, you should definitely look at that page before buying a Tokai LP.

 

[shredfreak]

I have Tokai Strat and it's good guitar and i play it pretty much. I have played those Tokai Les Paul copys aka. Love Rock models and they are simply great guitars! They are best Les Paul copys, and about 1000 times better than crappy Epiphones. Going to get one!

 

[stealthgerm]

i tried the LS-75 (pic below) & was thoroughly impressed by the feel & tone. it's equipped with a set of .009 as default, something i'm more comfortable with & it plays like a dream. getting it soon...

 

[dragsternj]

I checked the website and this is the most despicable collection of gibson copies ever. There is almsot not one model which doesn't look like a G.

 

[Al M]

I checked the website and this is the most despicable collection of gibson copies ever. There is almsot not one model which doesn't look like a G.

What do you mean despicable? I've heard many say Gibson are just cheap Tokai copies recently :lol: . I'm really not a fan of gibson any, purly on principal. Also they're totally over priced

 

[jim777]

Gibson makes a very fine archtop. For solidbodies, it's just romance that still has people buying Gibsons. Play an L4 or L5, and you'll be impressed.

 

[stealthgerm]

i played those & bought a PRS instead...

people get worked up when it comes to Tokai. yes it's blatant piracy but if you are looking for a good, curved top, single cutaway model, you should treat the Tokai as it is- a good guitar.

 

[jim777]

I just played on of these Tokais yesterday, and it was really, really nice. My brother has two, and for the price ($265 ish?) they can't be beat. I'm thinking of getting one myself and sticking Phat Cats in it.

 

[stratoskier]

Does Tokai have a retailer in the US? A quick web search popped up the UK distributor, but nothing for US outlets. Just wondering...
Bert

 

[jim777]

My brother has two and he imported both from Canada. I myself just bought a '91 Gibson Explorer, and while neither of his Tokais can touch it, they are still fantastic for the 300 dollar price tag. Look in the Bay for a Canadian dealer, or see if you can get one off their website.

 

[stratosqueeg]

Hey guys

No doubt that PRS and Gibbys are expensive but the few Tokai I've played are
to me way better than the newer Gibsons. For a lawsuit company that
copies guitars, they copied the old LP's beautifully.

It's all a matter of preference I geuss.

Did you guys read about the Gibson VS PRS lawsuit.

http://www.prsguitars.com/news/stories/091205_victory.html

Too Much

Both companies will continue to be overpriced................................

Squeeg