Tokai 2005 LS90F Arrives

[whitehall]

New LS90F arrived. From Noriko at Ishabishi. About $850.00US including shipping. No duties,at least not so far. We open up the well bubbled box to find the usual cheapo gig bag. Upon taking it out this feels really nice. Not at all like the MIK's . More like my Gibsons. Ist surprise,a pretty fat neck !! This is great. About a Gibson 50's profile. Not as fat as R7 by any means. Weight is great for me at about 9LBS. I like them at 8.8 and below. It's a one or 2 piece back and neck. I can't find any seam. The back and neck paint match exactly. Beautiful top, feels like lacquer or really.really thin poly. Fretwork is supurb. Big old tokai frets over the binding. Binding on the body is fake, but well done. Even has the fake sliver of maple in the cutaway like my Gibsons. Pointers on the knobs and chrome hardware (which I hate) I have to laugh, as most Gibson owners will because the plastic pieces don't match at all !! Just like Gibsons!! this is too funny because on the MIKs they match exactly. Open it up and we find 500K pots . Nice switchcraft toggle too. Neck is dead flat with a hair of relief. I may crank just a touch more in. Action is real low and no fret buzz. Great set-up from the factory. Nut needs a little filing on the low E but, then they all do. Pull out the front pup and there's a 1/2 thick cap of something. This is a very well made guitar. Be careful, pickup screws are ultra cheap and will round off. Replace them . Plug it in and it's great. Nice warm neck tones and great bite from the bridge. Pickups don't need to be replaced at all. Overall this is a hell of a guitar for 850.00. If you have the money buy one. The MIK is nothing and I repeat nothing like this guitar in any way. I am very pleased with this, except that I bought the VF finish which in real life looks too much like my Gibson Honeyburst in the pictures. I thought it would be different. [im

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[sixstringslinger]

How can you find the Tokai guitars on the ishibashi website?

 

[ArthurS]

Congrats on the new guitar; it looks great!

Some things I noticed in your post:

It's a one or 2 piece back and neck. I can't find any seam.

It's most likely a two piece back, but the bookmatches on the backs of newer Tokais are fantastic. Keep looking and you'll probably find a seam in the center.

Binding on the body is fake, but well done. Even has the fake sliver of maple in the cutaway like my Gibsons.

I don't know if they've changed it, but the binding on my 03 LS80 isn't 'fake'. Same goes for the thin sliver of maple in the cutaway: it's not fake at all, you're seeing the maple cap that is not covered by the binding.

Pull out the front pup and there's a 1/2 thick cap of something.

That's the maple cap you're also seeing in the cutaway.

Be careful, pickup screws are ultra cheap and will round off. Replace them

Indeed. Not sure if they're cheap (they're "authentic" size) but they do round off. No need to replace them if you get the right size screw driver, though.

Nice warm neck tones and great bite from the bridge. Pickups don't need to be replaced at all.

If you have same ones I have in my LS80 (the Gotoh PAF Mk2s) then they do sound acceptable, but the guitar will definitely benefit from better pickups in my opinion. Especially the bridge pickup. If you like them, though, then that's all that matters.

Enjoy the guitar!

 

[Paladin2019]

Also the hardware on MIJ Tokais is nickel, not chrome.

 

[ArthurS]

Paladin: are you sure? I thought the hardware on mine might be nickel though it seems to be "more yellowish than blueish" but I mailed the UK importer a few weeks ago and he said the hardware on the ALS75Q is chrome.

It would be great if it is in fact nickel, since I've decided that some dull (though not rusted) hardware would look much better on my matte finish and chrome doesn't dull anywhere near as nicely as nickel.

 

[whitehall]

..Sorry guys but the "binding" on this guitar is indeed paint. And the hardware is chrome. But don't get me wrong. This is a wonderful guitar , especially for people who own a lot of Gibsons. As I do. It certainly makes you wonder if a fancy top and some plastic binding is worth an extra 1000 dollars to you.

 

[Paladin2019]

Paladin: are you sure? I thought the hardware on mine might be nickel though it seems to be "more yellowish than blueish" but I mailed the UK importer a few weeks ago and he said the hardware on the ALS75Q is chrome.

It would be great if it is in fact nickel, since I've decided that some dull (though not rusted) hardware would look much better on my matte finish and chrome doesn't dull anywhere near as nicely as nickel.

Unless they've changed it, I'm 99% sure it's nickel. It certainly is on my LS200 and it looks that way in Whitehall's pic (though I've never been certain about tokai's pup covers), but then again I haven't seen one of the standard models recently.

The painted binding sounds odd too. Again, it's real on mine. Whitehall, do you have any closeups of the binding that might help us clear this up? Are you sure it's not just the different finish making it look different? We're quite keen on being up to date with the latest spec. :wink:

 

[tubedogsmith]

Those are real nice guitars. I just wish they'd get a new sheet of laminate to use for the tops. Something a little more interesting looking than the straight stuff. I"m not knocking your new guitar, this stuff is purely a, to each his own thing.

 

[whitehall]

Fellow "guitar gods " you are indeed correct. Upon close examination--very close in fact- It really is plastic binding. I removed the screw at the pickguard and poked around. under magnification you could tell. Also the hardware does in fact appear to be nickel, as the I sweat it , it starts to tarnish. This is a good thing, I hate chrome. Question--- I may go the no pup cover route so they don't look so much alike, are these pups wax potted ? and are the bobbins double black or - I hope - zebra's ?

 

[ArthurS]

Fellow "guitar gods " you are indeed correct. Upon close examination--very close in fact- It really is plastic binding.

That's what I thought

I couldn't imagine it being paint, so after reading your post I went over my LS80 extensively; especially on the neck it couldn't be more obvious that it's real binding, and the body is very clearly bound as well (there's a slight level-difference in the cutaway, and there's also some slight overspray for instance; why would anyone spray the binding before the red back coat). Glad to hear yours is the same.

Also the hardware does in fact appear to be nickel, as the I sweat it , it starts to tarnish.

I don't really lean my hand on the bridge, so only the high-adjustment screw seems to tarnish slightly. One of these days I'll try some nickel aging method on the hardware and see if it is indeed nickel.

are these pups wax potted ? and are the bobbins double black or - I hope - zebra's ?

Yes they're potted. The uncovered models are Zebra, but I'm not sure about the covered ones. From a manufacturing point of view, it would make sense to me that they are zebra as well. It's easy to find out though

 

[tokaiguy]

Both of my 84' LS80-F's have covered pup's but we have Zebras underneath! Thats part of why I love the Tok's! Even if you don't see it they take the time to do it right! 8) TG