Love Rock Really Dialed In Good Now And Tone Versatile

[stratdeluxer]

Fellow Tokai players and tweakers! :lol:

I did some more work inside my Love Rock today after putting a Classic 57 in the bridge replacing a microphonic Classic Plus that Gibson exchanged for me...The Classic Plus has more mids and more highs.The Classic is still pretty bright but it's warmer and sounds better to me...My bridge Classic 57 pickup measures 8.1K

Here's what I did today to the electronics today...Took the 500k tone pot out and made it a No Load pot by scraping the carbon off from the internal disc..

Put a 1 meg resistor across both outside legs of the 500k volume pot which brought the volume pot resistance down to around 325k or so...This took a little(Not a lot)of the toppiness away from the bridge pickup and it seemed as though the bass is stronger and the tone is fuller.Exactly what I wanted.I have a .03 cap across the bridge tone control and I have plenty of tonal adjustment either brighter or darker...Playing clean,the bridge pickup is still fairly bright but not in a strat/tele way like it was but with a fuller tone..I like to roll the tone knob back to at least half way for clean playing...When playing with gain I'm finding just the opposite in that I roll the tone pot up more towards 10 to really cut and back it off to smooth things out...

I have an 820pf cap across the bridge volume pot but I may either remove it or drop the value down to about 680pf because I want the change to be transparent when I roll my volume off...

The neck pickup is the stock pickup from Tokai and is great(Measures 8.2K)...I have a .012 on the tone pot and it also is a No Load tone pot by me taking the pot apart and scraping carbon off...I have the 820pf cap on the volume pot also but it seems perfect with the neck pickup...

Both pickups are adjusted down aways because I feel it helps tame some shrillness and highend and it allows the pickups to see a larger area of string vibration..The neck pickup is pretty much flush with the cover and I'd say the bridge pickup is around 3/32" from the top of the pickup cover to the bottom of a depressed string high on the neck...The guitar looks,feels,and sounds absolutely amazing for about 3k less than a Gibson 59 lefty reissue...Wanted to pass this info on to someone. ;o)

John

 

[Novosel]

Stratdeluxer, I really envy you that you can do that mod stuff. I totally love the neck pup in my 80's Love Rock but sometimes I get a little frustrated with the tone from the bridge pup. I usually have to play with the knobs on my solid state Marshall to get the tones I want (but they are lovely). I'm a carpenter, not an electrician - wood I understand, not electronics. When I opened the back of my Tokai and saw a printed circuit board in the cavity, I said "Yikes!", and closed it back up.

Someday I'll go out and get me a soldering gun, and you better stay close to your keyboard for some frantic emails!

 

[ramsale]

Novosel and Fireman John: I am also a carpenter/cabinetmaker that dabbles around with these **** 6 strings. It's pretty cool what John is doing with the electrical stuff inside his Love Rock. Almost everyone I have talked to says that the Tokai structure is great, but the electronics suck. It's a small price to pay for the fun of owning/playing great guitars that we otherwise might not be able to afford... Let's just hope that too many people don't catch on too soon, and drive prices up to the sky.

 

[Novosel]

Yes, you can't fault the structure of Tokais. I'd have to put my 80's ALS60 midway between a production Gibson LP and a Historic Reissue, although some of my Gibson buddies may scoff at that. But I'd have to say the LR neck pickup is by far the most "useable" tone I've ever had, including an original 59 burst I owned in the 60's.

I know pickup and pot swapping is quite common, even expected, among Gibson-type owners; however I was told on another thread some time ago that I would notice no difference between the Tokai printed circuit board and new pots. But I'm a little skeptical of that. What say you to that, John?

 

[tokaiguy]

I thought I was pretty good at the regular stuff like a great set-up, polishing frets, changing pup's... and I am But , Some of you guys make me want to stick with what I do best ...Play'n em and keep'n em looking good! Hat's off to the Fireman and all of you guys who know what the're doing when you start soldering and tweak'n the electronics!:wink: SALUTE!

 

[stratdeluxer]

Hey guys thanks for the support or whatever? ;o)

Basically just about every guitar I Own or have owned has been tweaked in some way by me.I tweak to get a certain tone or vibe that works for my style....Usually it ends up being strings,pick types,then onto capacitor and or pot changes,and lastly the pickups....

I imagine the Tokai circuit board could be totally taken out of the guitar as soldering and working around circuit boards can sometimes be a pain in the rearend.. ;o)
My model just had all pots screwed inside the wood of the channel with those cheap mini pots that the japanese and koreans always use....I guess they work but the taper sucks on those....Today the CTS pots are probably the best a guy can get for his axe...

I know a little bit about how caps and resistance can change some things inside of a guitar so I experiment with it until I get where I want the guitar to be....9 times out of 10 I end up with a guitar that has very usable tone controls,no loss of highend when rolling off volume,and more overall tone control range from bright to dark....I also like messing with pot taper and different values of resistances that the pickups see....

I ended up disconnecting the 1 meg resistor that I used earlier to knock my volume pot down to a bit over 300k.The guitar just is more open sounding with the pot at 500k....A little bit brighter but I'll just let the tone pot do what it's there for.....This is a really great guitar and I Know it's just a novelty at this point,but it's the only guitar that I've played since I got it! ;o)

For rock n roll this guitar just has everything going for it in spades....It's crunchy,clean,warm,articulate when played clean,but it can growl,sustain,and sing once you gain things up....Absolutely no problem nailing anything from Thin Lizzy crunch,to AC/DC,to Bad Company,and Santana's Black Magic Woman tones....Also Dicky Betts and Warm Cream Clapton stuff.....Just estatic with this guitar.....Anyway....

If I can help anyone in anyway,please by all means e mail me! I have some drawings and I always keep track of any mods or changes I make to my guitars....Like Dr. frankenstein! Later buddies

John

 

[stratdeluxer]

Hey Tokai buddy.....I'm pretty darn good at doing setups myself,in fact,if you can set up a strat,you can set up most any electric...I'm a little scared doing fret dressing but I have done it...I'm more into truss rod adjustment,neck relief,action,intonation,and finding the right brand and gauge strings that work for my style on a particular guitar and pickup heights make a big differece also....right now with the many guitars I own I'm using D'Adarrio EXL .010's,GHS Nickel Rocker .010's,and DR Pure Blues .010's on both the Love Rock and my SG.

The DR's are a little dull to me on the Love Rock on the E,A,and D strings.I've balanced things out better though by getting the pickup heights adjusted to the strings and to match the neck and bridge volumes together...Maybe I'll try the D'Addarios on my love rock when I change strings,but I know they'll be brighter..Maybe I'll like it better?

John

 

[ramsale]

John,
As I get older, or time goes by, or whatever...I'm starting to use a thicker string set for more tone. Years ago I played 9-42s, then held with 10-46s, now the last set I put on the Everest was 11-49s, and they sound GREAT! I read somewhere that SRV played Strat with a HUGE set (Like vibrating aircraft cables...) and that kinda prompted me to go up a notch with the thickness. You might want to try it on the next string change. I didn't think it'd make much of a difference, but it does, and it's a cheap mod that can be reversed without grief. (Mine were Danelectro Vintage Tone mediums)
I'll give you a shout when it comes time to change caps and whatnot...

 

[stratdeluxer]

Thanks ramsale;.......I started out using .009's back in 73 when I started playing....I've tryed heavier gauged strings but I've found the .010's to be the right gauge for me. Different brands of strings have different tension in the same gauges though...I find D'Addario and the DR strings to be the easiest to bend on,but I hate the Ernie Ball Slinky strings! ;o)

I use .010's on every guitar I own and I have no problem getting around as well on a strat or Tele than I do on my Love Rock or SG....My Gibson SG is my most comfy guitar to get around on though....It has killer tone also and it's stock pickups!

John

 

[Novosel]

I've enjoyed using D'Addario XL 10's for a long time, although last string change I went to the lighttop/heavy bottom ones. I do a lot of bending and keep my action ridiculously low, so I needed more stiffness in those rattle-ly bass strings. The jury's still out whether I like 'em or not, but actually you can get used to just about anything after a while

And just to "stir things up", in my 30+ years of playing, I've learned so much of the tone is in your hands. When I'm hot, I can make my axe scream and sing; when I don't quite have it, no amount of tweaking can keep it from sounding like s**t.

 

[stratdeluxer]

"And just to "stir things up", in my 30+ years of playing, I've learned so much of the tone is in your hands. When I'm hot, I can make my axe scream and sing; when I don't quite have it, no amount of tweaking can keep it from sounding like s**t."

Yes I agree 100%.Anyone that has been playing for any length of time knows this too..The tweaking is just the anal part of being a player. ;o)

John

 

[tokaiguy]

How right you are! Back in the 80's when the A.R.M.S. tour for Ronnie Lane came to town...It was a rainy Sunday night, I talked everyone into going to see Lonnie Mack at the Tango club. Free admision, and a total of ten people showed up to see him...Into the club walks Little Bill Wyman, Kenny Jones ,Duck Dunn, Glyn Johns, Eric Clapton their "posse" and the worlds luckiest Man, Ray Cooper ! Master of the Tambourine! Between sets Lonnie asked Eric to do a number, he strapped on the second guitarist peice o'crap 70' SG plugged into a Roland Jazz Chorus. I suggested they do "Hideaway" so they did! There it was! That sound ! That sound that he made on the Beano album! When your that good you take the sound, and the vibe with you ! THE END! Make it a Great one Boy's, later :wink: p.s. but a nice tweaked guitar and a badass amp can't hurt!

 

[Preben]

SRV played .013's............. I don't ask myself where he got the tone :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

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[stratdeluxer]

Two other great players that I know of also use .008's....Toni Iommi and Trevor Rabin....I don't know if they still do but in articles they stated they did?

John

 

[tokaiguy]

8) I met James Burton and got to hold his Tele, I think they might have been thinner than 8's. Back in the days before they made an unwound third string he used banjo strings! Wich brings me to the question of how do you judge the tone of a banjo? It's all about how far you can throw it and the sound it makes when it hits the ground! Anyone out there who plays one or owns one...Help is available! :wink:

 

[beerslinger]

You can play lots of Stones stuff on the banjo though :lol:

I met a Gin soaked bar room Queen in Memphis...Banjo fill...

 

[ramsale]

That's the definition of "perfect pitch": When an accordian lands on a banjo in the dumpster...

 

[Novosel]

Wow! They actually make .008's? That's girly-man strings! :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

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