Tokai Prices Getting a little aggravating. Come on People.

[Paladin2019]

I suppose this is a very na?ve question, but why don?t they make wooden guitar bodies from a single piece of wood?

Ian.

Cost. Several small, good pieces of wood = cheaper than 1 big good piece and sounds better than 1 cheap bad piece.

 

[Swollentone]

I have seen guitars made out of one piece of wood from Alembic and a couple other high end Guitar manufacturers. BUT.... The original 57 through 60 Les Paul is the most sought after solid body Electric guitar because It was the magic combination of woods, Electronics, Desighn finish etc. Even where they chose to put the Glue contribute's to the sound.


This Is cool and all but at the end of the day It's all about what inspires YOU as an individual. If you love the sound of your guitar wether it's a laminate or Balkalite (!) then Looking under the hood to much isn't really important.
It's all about vibe. Use your ears and your heart.
More of the tone of the guitar comes from the neck than most people realize. If you've got the right piece of rosewood, etc. Great tone is certainly accomplishable. Especially with that big beautiful 59' style neck that Tokai absolutely Nails!
If it sounds rite, It's ALL rite. keep on pickin.

 

[Novosel]

I suppose this is a very na?ve question, but why don?t they make wooden guitar bodies from a single piece of wood?

Ian.

Actually, they do. If I'm not mistaken, aren't Strat and Telecaster bodies one piece? And also, the mahogony slabs that make up the back of Les Pauls are a single piece, at least on the older ones. I believe the maple cap was added as a tone wood. LP Customs, however, are all mahogony, but I'm not sure if the carved top was as add-on or part of the solid slab. Considering the body thickness, it's likely it was added - unfortunately I don't have a '55 Black Beauty handy to check out the pickup cavity. The "pancake" or layered body of the seventies Norlin-era Les Pauls are a different beast altogether, although the tone hasn't suffered alot on some of those models.

As far as the tone coming from the neck (God, I hate to agree with Swollentone on this!) - I had a chance to play a 1960 'burst this summer, and I swear, as I noodled with it unplugged, the sound was coming right off the fretboard! And sustain! I bent one note that seemed like it would have rang out all day as long as I held it. Major woody! :wink:

 

[vaporboy]

I've never read such a lot of crap before in all my life - my lowly Korean LR (yes with the knobs in the right place and the correct headstock) is the best sounding les paul style guitar I've ever played (and believe me, I've played a few). It also looks great and cost under $500. If it sounds good why not enjoy it for what it is, it's an electric guitar for gods sake, not some 19th century heirloom.

 

[sneakyjapan]

vaporboy... never read such crap?
Thats `cause you`ve been here only a short time. Stick around and I`m certain I`ll astound you with crap more mind boggling than my input to this thread.
I read on another site this week..." it`s not the wand but the magician " so we should play what we have and do the best we can.

 

[Swollentone]

Ian sorry I miss read when I replied, I thought you were talking about the whole guitar being one piece of wood. (Including the neck)
The reason that the les paul has a maple cap is because mahogany alone is very dark which some peopl dig. (Bob Marley comes to mind)

Vapor boy, Ignorance is bliss rock on.

 

[Anonymous]

null

 

[guitarboy]

'The original 57 through 60 Les Paul is the most sought after solid body Electric guitar because It was the magic combination of woods, Electronics, Desighn finish etc. '

mmm..... I always thought it was because Eric Clapton used one on the Beano album?

Seems to me SRV managed quite well without that magic combination

 

[Jonathan]

ahhh...well he had a tokai!

 

[tokaiguy]

Fender thought so much of the Strat that it almost went away! When I started playing in 62' everyone wanted a Jaguar, I bought my 62' Strat Candy apple red{$15 for custom color}new for $215. For a little more I could of bought the Jag and been cool! 8) In Junior high I traded a 64' Melody Maker double pup and sunburst even for a LP junior with one p-90. What is sought after has always been a slippery slope. I thought the butt-ugliest guitar in the world was a pale green Gretsch Anniversary,until I saw Brian Jones playing one! The Van Halen frankenstrat started a trend and thank God for Slash and his Les Paul, even Gary Moore was playing those goofy looking Jacksons{ I have a Soloist in a case under the bed with Flames!} I'm waiting for a comeback! We want the great sounds we heard on the Hendrix/Beck /Clapton and Page records we love. They would sound very close to the same no matter what year or model guitar was used as long as it was in their hands. Page's best stuff was done on a hand painted Tele, but the Danelectro he plays "Was" made from hand selected Masonite! There must have been some magic in the glue that held that thing together! Just like I said about the Wand and Magician "it aint the Meat ,it's the motion"! TG