Tokai LS-85S

Japanese gold top with P90 pick ups,well crafted,sounded good just out of the box,but I took it to a guitar technician to have the usual set up plus a little filing to the fret edges.I changed the bridge and the tuning keys,as the ones supplied didn`t suit the quality of the guitar.These parts tend to not be up to par,as I found out on my other two Tokais (Japanese SG and Korean SG).The tuning keys on all tokais I came across seemed quite bad actually,considering the guitars are otherwise constantly of good quality,regardless of their price tag.As far as features,you`ll find everything you`ll expect to find on a Les Paul.

I play in a soul band with a rock edge and a lot of variety in my guitar sound is required.With this guitar,in conjunction with a vox tonelab SE and various valve combos,I can get any sound I need.Playing clean it has good presence and clarity while retaining warmth,I particularly like the neck pick up with some compression for the bluesy lead sounds.Adding various degrees of grit or distortion will squeeze out of this guitar its more rocky side ,without adding any mud or unwanted boxiness.It also work well with various effects,such as modulations,whawhas etc.without loosing its character.
Not being fitted with humbuckers,I get the occasional buzzing noise,but nothing too drastic or that can`t be cured with a little attention,like good quality cables,finding a good spot not too close to the amp etc.At gigs I get lots of compliments about its sound and more than a few surprised faces when they come up close to find that the guitar is NOT a Gibson!

As I said above,the guitar sounded and felt good straight out of the box,(I bought it new on Ebay).The technician that set it up for me said that it`s pretty much a faithful copy of a 59 Gibson LP gold top.
The finish is beautiful (you may or may not like that finish,of course..),and although I tend to have my guitars properly set up by a professional,it could have been easily used as it was,the action and string allignment was fine.I also play regularly with strats,teles,SG`s,335`s and I find the LP to be a little on the small side for my size,but that`s another story....
I must add,though, that a guitar of this quality deserves better tuning pegs and a better bridge,wich is why it gets only a 9 in this category.

I have had it for almost two years and gigged and taken out trouble free,except,with the original bridge (again) I started breaking strings a lot more than I normally do.Since I replaced the bridge,all has been hunky dory.The guitar is solidly built and I can`t see much going wrong with it,obviously given due care.
I`m keeping an eye on the pick ups switch tough...

Never had to deal with them.I`ve been checking their web page but I didn`t find necessarily the same products that I`ve seen on the high street.Interesting all the same.

I`ve been playing guitar and bass for over thirthy years on a semi professional level,mainly gigs.I like most classic electric guitars for vintage tones,couldn`t just stick to one or two,so I got them all.
If anything should go wrong with this tokai,I would star to lock to replace it immediately,wouldn`t want to be without.Bravo Tokai!

made in japan Tokai goldtop P-90's early 50's style Les Paul. I'm a guitar builder and player of 30 years. Played all kinds of electric and acoustics and bulit everything but archtops. this has the old baseball bat neck and everything else and seems a spot on replica for those who care. i don't. it's beautifully made. pickups are good, the finish is flawless but does not appear overly thick. don't know if it's nitrocellulose or a synthetic.of course it's mahogany(all quartered and a one piece body!) with a painted maple top.

well i don't like humbuckers except when other players are playing them so this is the only kind of les paul type guitar i could use and boy is it a monster. mostly i play a super bright tele i built myself with a maple body(ouch!) so the sweeter and heavier sound of this lp is the antedote i was needing. i play mostly through a keeley comp, modded tubescreamer, aramat greenmachine, and sometimes an old crybaby and a microvibe into (my first ever purchase) a 1970 princeton. lovely garage and bar sounds.. feels like i can talk through my fingers and give my mouth a rest. don't know about versatility but i imagine it's in there. the neck pickup clean with a little reverb and tremolo is beautiful for playing fingerstyle.

flawlessly made guitar. setup not so great but do i care? restrung with 11's and will replace the very soft lame plastic nut. had to mess with the trussrod,bridge and tailpiece to get it playing clean and it could use a little more there but i think this is to be expected. i'm still driving a "66 datsun so you can what i think about the japanese and ther long standing love of craftmanship.

can't imagine anything but the normal things we all worry about.

guitar 699, shipping 120, case 90. this thing is so much better than a regular gibson it's a joke. make sure it's made in japan. don't know how they do it paying regular japanese workers but they do and you should scout one out. hard to find.....took me a casual poking around of over a year.