Which bell TRC for an LS?

[singemonkey]

For a start, I've realised that not all bells are created equal. I bought a cheapy and, guess what? It's really cheap.

I bought it as a blank replacement for the "Deluxe" TRC on my Gibson but the Gibson one was so much higher quality I couldn't even think about it.

When I got the Tokai, I used it just to see whether it would fit. It doesn't.

Questions: which bell fits an LS150 - the new Gibson ones, or the historic 'burst TRCs?

Also, is there any off-brand supplier that does quality blank bells and posts internationally? Especially since I want two (still want to replace the Deluxe TRC - why didn't Gibson just stick with blanks?), I'd prefer not to spend $8 a piece, and if the Tokai takes the historic, that's like $21 - for a little piece of plastic...

 

[Anonymous]

I bought a couple of fairly cheap plain black bell shaped TRCs, & I'm pretty sure I got them here (I get 90% of my guitar bits from here)

http://www.axesrus.com/AxePlateTRC.htm

Here's the strange thing. They fit perfectly on my 2007 LS85S, but the screw spacing is different on my 2003 LS70 (or whatever the hell it is!), so the same TRC won't fit on it! Crazy huh?

Mike

 

[JonnyFriendly]

Indeed - I had one of these which fitted perfectly on my 2004 LS65, but would not fit on my 2004 LS200. Why the different screw spacings? No idea.

 

[JVsearch]

I think $8 is pretty reasonable for a TRC, it's still a non regular shape that has to be specially cut out and finished. Guitar makers probably only make enough for the guitars they build, so they charge heaps for "spares" or else somebody else has to do small runs off their own bat which costs.

My fave TRC is the one on the early Tokai Love Rocks, and I think they were avaialble through the forum somewhere (could have been Togps).

 

[settebello]

My fave TRC is the one on the early Tokai Love Rocks

+1
Its not a Gibson,its a Tokai.You should be proud of it.

Volker

 

[Anonymous]

My fave TRC is the one on the early Tokai Love Rocks, and I think they were avaialble through the forum somewhere (could have been Togps).

And it's really a question of whether or not you wish to support someone whose business practices we are banned from discussing or questioning. Personally, I wouldn't support any person or organisation that stifles free speech, which I regard as being of paramount importance.

Anyway, the problem with Tokais is clearly that the hole spacing varies, so there's no more guarantee that one of those TRCs will fit any better than the bell-shaped ones will.

 

[settebello]

Just take the space between the screws of mines.
Old ones
'81 LS100 and ES100 - 53 mm
New ones
08 SG155,TJ85 and SG90
09 LSS195 - all 54mm

Volker

 

[dombat]

I had ordered 2 early '80 Tokai TRCs to this shop, manufactured from a draw I had done using a real one.
Maybe they still have my draw, so you won't have to pay for the first one which is always more expensive.
You can choose your own space between the screws, of course
http://www.terrapinguitars.com

Ask for John at [email protected]

And these TRC were much less expensive than the ones from the "german no name" which cost 20? each

 

[Paladin2019]

I had one made specially but sadly it was some years ago and I've lost the guy's contact details.

As others have said it all seems a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to screw spacing, but if it doesn't fit it should be a simple job for a technician or anyone with woodwork skills to fill the existing upper hole and drill a new one 2mm away. There's a 'halo' of bare wood around the screw hole that makes this very low-risk to the finish.

 

[singemonkey]

I bought a couple of fairly cheap plain black bell shaped TRCs, & I'm pretty sure I got them here (I get 90% of my guitar bits from here)

http://www.axesrus.com/AxePlateTRC.htm

Here's the strange thing. They fit perfectly on my 2007 LS85S, but the screw spacing is different on my 2003 LS70 (or whatever the hell it is!), so the same TRC won't fit on it! Crazy huh?
Mike

Yep. This is where mine came from. I'm not at all happy with the quality.

As to being proud of my Tokai - I'm not covering over the name, am I? If I didn't want it to look like a Les Paul, I could have bought another kind of guitar. If Tokais came with non LP shaped pick-guards, I'd swap those out as well. The bell cover is just another of those little elegant details that makes a Les Paul perfect IMO.

I guess what I'm concluding from this is that I should go ahead and buy a Gibson bell, if I want the quality, and then simply deal with hole spacing. What I must do quickly is try my Gibson's TRC on the Tokai, and see if it'll be a drop in match. If not, I'll consider getting the historic bell for the Tokai - although it's a lot of coin for a piece of plastic.

 

[Anonymous]

I bought a couple of fairly cheap plain black bell shaped TRCs, & I'm pretty sure I got them here (I get 90% of my guitar bits from here)

http://www.axesrus.com/AxePlateTRC.htm

Yep. This is where mine came from. I'm not at all happy with the quality.

It's a small piece of laminated plastic - what's wrong with the quality? There isn't much you can do to laminated plastic, from a quality point of view. They seem perfectly fine to me. The only reason I don't have one on my LS70 is that Tokai can't make up their mind what the screw hole spacing should be. There's nothing wrong with the TRCs, unless I'm missing something obvious. But I don't think I am.....

 

[marcusnieman]

While they don't line up, I've put a Gibson TRC on one of my Tokais - just drilled another top hole because the Gibson TRC is a bit longer than the Tokai. The Tokai hole is covered up and I can always plug it but since it can't be seen, it doesn't bother me

 

[JVsearch]

I bought a couple of fairly cheap plain black bell shaped TRCs, & I'm pretty sure I got them here (I get 90% of my guitar bits from here)

http://www.axesrus.com/AxePlateTRC.htm

Yep. This is where mine came from. I'm not at all happy with the quality.

It's a small piece of laminated plastic - what's wrong with the quality? There isn't much you can do to laminated plastic, from a quality point of view. They seem perfectly fine to me...

Oh there's a difference all right - cheap is cheap I'm afraid. Sure I haven't seen the actual TRC, but in a comparison between the pick guard on my Momose Strat and a cheapie Strat it's very obvious that one of them is made out of lighter, thinner cheap ***** and badly finished off to boot. No, it's not the Momose.

Yes it is possible to make a cheap crappy TRC, and although it will never be noticed from a distance, life is too short for cheap crap unless you're a person who simply does not notice those kind of things, or maybe a "musn't grumble" type, or you get a good feeling from having cheap and cheerful stuff. :lol:

Sorry, I want the good stuff, which is pretty frustrating these days , but MIJ guitars are a positive area.

 

[SkyNet3D]

Why don't you just make your own? Buy a cheap 2 ply or even 3 ply strat pickguard or whatever and cut your own TRC. That's what i did for my LS-150.

I made mine from 3-ply, which meant a lot of work to make one of the layers go away. I sanded it off, then cut the shape with an x-acto knife and sanded it smooth and then polished it.