Tokai TOD-1 Overdrive

Pretty easy to get a good sound out of it. I got it used & the manual, if there ever was one, has long since been recycled into the atmosphere. I would guess this pedal is from the early 80's. It has a matt-silver coloured metal chassis. Later Tokai pedals were black & eventually white plastic. As per any overdrive pedal, play it through a TUBE amp as nature intended.

I use this one through an Ashdown Peacemaker 60 & a Sovtek MIG 100H w/ Celestion V30s. It sounds a little muddy through the Sovtek, which has quite a dark Marshally sound, but really nice through the Peacemaker.
The only other overdrive unit I have is a Boss OD-3, which is far more transparent & a lot louder than the Tokai. By comparison, the Tokai cuts a little bass, adds a little noise & generally colours the tone even when not engaged,
BUT
......it's a shitload warmer sounding than the Boss. Maybe 'cos it's older, or maybe 'cos it's circuitry is allegedly patterned on the legendary Tubescreamer design. I've never played through a TS, so I can't comment, but it's true that the Tokai seems to work best with brighter sounding amps & may also prefer single coil pups. I've used it with a Burny LP Custom (humbuckers) & a Tokai TJ-60 (single P-90) which yielded slightly better results, though it still sounded very good either way. It can work in a subtle way & can be left on for the duration of a set, no bother. I give it an 8 'cos it's a great unit that works best in certain applications, but may not be all-purpose enough for some. BTW, 8 is a very good score.

It's lasted this long, hasn't it? It can certainly be used as a stand-alone overdrive, (provided you're not into metal, in which case your problems run deeper than anything I can help you with) so no need to worry about a back-up. The LED doesn't always work & the switch seems a little stiff (ooer missus etc), so it pays to press it down with a little vigour. Other than that, it's dandy.

Tokai have long since stopped making effects pedals, but any electronics expert with a little stompbox knowledge should be able to perform any necessary tweakage. I've had some experience of Tokai UK regarding other matters & they've been great, so they get a 9.

My styles are old-school garage rock/'77 punk when gigging & ambient bluesy stuff when I'm noodling at home. I favour Les Paul & Les Paul Junior style axes, whether the "real thing" or the generally superior Japanese lawsuit models. I was slightly dissapointed at first, but I'm growing to really like this pedal. I'd definitely snag another on Ebay while they're still cheap if this one was lost/stolen/or went south on me. Old Tokai stompboxes are still quite a well-kept secret, but I suppose like everything else they'll skyrocket when more people discover their attractive price/performance ratio. Reviews like this add to the problem, so I'll shut up now.

this is updating my last review...................bypass the 10K ohm resistor that is inline (on the PCB) with the input jack.........holy crap! more gain and a little more bottom end.

still by far my fave for blues and rock. with this resistor bypassed, i plug my les paul into it with the drive and tone at 10, level at 6 with neck pickup selected, what an incredible sound......smooth and creamy overdrive...........wicked.

Great sound! I was given this lovely pedal when a friend of mine moved away. 3 knobs...nice and simple, easy to get a useful sound.

strat loaded with vintage jackson alnico single coils, running through a super reverb.....WOW! This pedal is addicting! level at 6, drive at 6, tone at 7... super smooth overdrive, but a little light on bottom end.

Without a doubt, the toughest little mother f***er I've ever seen(Uses: door stop, wheel block for my car, hammer, etc...) Nice and quiet when switched on and batteries last quite a long time. I have gigged this pedal for over four months now, and it has never let me down... except that the footswitch is quite tempermental on switching on and off

Don't think tokai even exists anymore.

Dont use this pedal with any humbucker equipped guitar. HB's dont sound very nice through this little guy. This is the pedal for blues and tex-mex playing, not enough gain for metal or hard rock.

If anyone aquires one, you'd be a fool to get rid of it.

This is an update to my first review from 99 and my advise has changed drastically since I got the pedal repaired.

3 knobs, Level, Drive, Tone.... 'nough said; has the same size like the Boss pedals. Easy to use.

I finally got my box repaired (there was a loose cable from the power intake) and it became my #1 stompmine.

It is a very, very important part of my sound. I bought a Fender Bassman about a year ago and I was just playing around with different toys to see (NO! I mean TO HEAR!) what sound I could get from this super-clean combo. When pummeling the amp with this pedal, I immediately went "WOW". All knobs to high noon and the tone was there. It beat my 808 Tubescreamer and my Vox ValveTone in a direct shootout. It even made my sell two amps, because I now found MY tone with the TOD-1 and the Bassman.

So why not give it a 10?

Because it is a one-trick-pony and it only sounds right (to me) when not used at high-gain settings. It gets harsh when turned up too much and muddy when turned down. But with all the knobs set to half, it has a very musical grin nd a superbe mid-range honk.

I use it 200 nights a year without backup. The case is rock solid and everything works fine, no hum or crackle ..... scince it's been repaired. Pretty close, but no cigar, as we say here.

Do they still exist?

It is a very important part of my tone and music. I play for 30 years and have owned a lot of gear, good and bad. I would be angry if it was stolen and use my Vox ValveTone to replace it during the time it takes to find and buy another one.

I honestly have come to love it.

it is very easy to get a very nice tone through a Marshall (un-beatable and beats the tube screamer). Mine has no noise

Sounds great with (Stratocaster and Byrdland through)
Marshall: 1987X, vintage 1959 SLP purple plexi, 2550 Silver Anniversary, JCM900 MKIII, JCM2000 DSL, JCM2000 TSL, and 4500.

Peavey: 5150 MKI and MKII

Fender: Vibrolux and Bassman

Cabinets: All Marshall with greenback celestions

I have had it for over 11 years.......never failed

N/A

This is great from blues to heavey Metal, dial your tone and go

Like most pedals, this one is easy to use. To get the overdriven sound I was looking for way back when I got this pedal (1986 or 1987) I just cranked the dials all the way to maximum.

There was a noticable hiss at the extreme settings I used, but this pedal was only stomped on for fast solos, so no big deal. I found the pedal had to be cranked to deliver a worthwhile performance, and even then, the best thing I can say about it is that it brought the high tones out of the mud to shatter your teeth. At the time, I was using a Fender knock-off guitar and a Peavey amp (hey -- I was in high school at the time, gimme a break). So, take the other equipment into consideration as you read this review.

It lasted a few years before the battery patch became damaged and the on/off switch started giving me problems. For serious gigging, I'd turn to another company for better sound and quality (Marshall's Jackhammer pedal or several of the Boss distortions come to mind).

I never dealt with the company.

In the late '80s, I played highly-distorted heavy metal, so this pedal worked fine to boost my solos. I would not replace this pedal -- in fact, it is sitting unused now (I'm using that Jackhammer I mentioned above).

Level, drive and tone.
No problem

Very good, better than a Ibanez TS-10.

Heavy as a rock

Do they still exist ??

Good overdrive, I don't have the problems of hiss someone else mentioned.
Must be a defect unit.
If you have a good one keep it.
Old Tokai's are always good value for money

3 Knobs, Level (Volume), Drive and Tone in a rock solid full metal case. Looks a bit like a BOSS box and has the same size.

I got this by chance and figured it might replace my plastic TS5 TubeScreamer. No chance. While it can produce some very nice and warm sounds, it has a constant hum in it.

It seems to be physically solid, but it adds more noise than gain to my tone, so what? Maybe it is just a problem for me.... I used it for two years, but finally got me another TS5

Do They still exist? I haven't heared of them for some time.

It is basically a very sturdy and well built unit, but it has this hum to it.... I don't thin anybody would steel it. If so, he must undergo professional treatment imediately! But imagine..... I own a box, that nobody else ever reviewed.... rare thing that. Don't buy this unit anyway.