Any love for the Tokai MKIV and mkII PAF's?

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Derby Ant

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I do love tokai guitars but I find the stock pups to be the weak link on the sub ?1K models.
The MKIV's that were in my Explorer very dull and weedy (vastly improved with some A5 mags) and the MKII's in my love rock sounded not much better.
I'd actually say it's one of the few areas Gibson have the edge, then again the price differential would buy a lot of pickups ;)
Now I've been hot rodding guitars since the mid eighties and I'm a big fan of after market pups (especially Seymour Duncan's, but that's an aside) and find very few pups from most manufacturers to be up to the mark.
But I get the feeling that many of you are quite fond of the Tokai pups, so what is it you like about them?
 
Who knows what is a Tokai mk2, mk3, mk4 pickup?
These references mean nothing, at least concerning the manufacturer, the DC impedance, etc....
For example, from the last 70's to now, they're all mk2, but they are all different, impedance and sound wise.
I think that the mk2 Keiyo, 7,5 neck and 11,5 bridge, are very good, a little on the treble side, but we all have tone pots to soften them.
And with a good tube amp with the right speaker(s) ...
 
Hi everyone, have been comparing the pickups sound on the Tokai LS125SEB with Edwards E-LP85CD lately. Any advise or things that can be done to improve the tone on the PAF mkII pickups? Its slightly muddy sound than the E-LP85CD. Thank you.
 
Just my personal opinion...I find the better you play, the better the pickups sound. ;)

BTW, the LS150 has MK2 pickups in it, and it's not a sub 1K model.
 
blunty said:
Any advise or things that can be done to improve the tone on the PAF mkII pickups? Its slightly muddy sound than the E-LP85CD. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Try adjusting your amps controls, don't leave the amp settings the same as when you play the Edwards. ;)
 
Truthfully, I dont have something I can compare it with, but my ES100 has the Mk II pickups and it sounds great. The pickups clean up nicely and respond to both picking and the volume pots in a way I like. There's no muddyness to them to my ears.

After being used to playing over Guitar Rig for a looong time it was quite an eye-opener plugging into a Mesa Mk IV last week. Really showed me how much definition I could get out of them.

The ES is quite impossible to compare tonally ot my other guitars though since all of those are solid bodies.
 
Yes guys!
We agree that there are no graal pickups.
It's just a matter of adjusting the whole chain: wood, string, pickups, pots, amplifier, speaker.... and last but not least : two hands and a brain!
 
Agree that theres no best pickups, all pickups sound differently, a matter of different taste. Even the planetwave guitar cable sounds different from the normal cheap cables. :-?

Still adjusting all the pole height on the PAF mkII. Trying to get a little more tone out of it. :wink:
 
dombat said:
Yes guys!
We agree that there are no graal pickups.
It's just a matter of adjusting the whole chain: wood, string, pickups, pots, amplifier, speaker.... and last but not least : two hands and a brain!
Click to expand...

I just got a Tokai LS100Q and here is my 2 cents about its pickups;

I'm really impressed with the pickups, nice blend of lows, mids and highs with a little extra bite on the top end, at least with the Soldano (X99). Not as compressed sounding as the Duncan JB or Distortion, or the EMG 81. More like an EMG 60 but with more warmth and character. More organic sounding than a Dimarzio Distortion or Tone Zone. No fizz, just bone crushing crunch! Again inspiring, I finally found a pickup that can get that old Judas Priest crunch like tone on You've Got Another Thing Comin' without it being too grainy, still need a cranked amp to get that sound; very low gain with power tube punch. There is a whole array of different tones on that album and this guitar can do them all, except for the dive bombs of course. I'd go as far as saying death metal would be no problem either if that's your thing. Naturally, classic rock it does in spades.

That's my opinion, I haven't tried Bare Knuckles or some of the high brids, but I am very happy with what it came with. To each their own...
 
If I can elaborate, Ive owned 50+ guitars and have tried many pups. Full Shred, Parallel Axis etc. Problem I have is there are sooooooo many to choose from. When I finally see a manufacturer that produces only one pickup, with the clame "this pickup will make your guitar sound like god!" Then maybe I'll try it. It's almost as bad as trying tubes...
 
there's no doubt that some pickups are better than others ...

however there's no doubt that the PU's on my "83 Springy" sound better than my "86 Goldstar".....

but having said that my ?150 Tokai Korean Flying V sounds better when recording on my Mac ..than my '85 Love Rock Goldtop"....

and my e-bay bargain ?200 MIJ SG 60 sounds better than all of them !!!

my philosophy is ....

usually the more money i spend on gear the more disappointed i am

everything sounds better when your playing with friends and having a few beers

everything sounds **** when you've got a hangover

everything sounds really good when you've had a decent nights sleep and you're full of beans (rare)...I know it's boring but true

i'm sure we can go into the minutie of pickups MK 1 etc ....but it's like trying to describe wine over

the phone.....i'll leave you with this thought


"I love them all ....but they're just bits of wood and wires"


Keith Richards :wink:
 
Well said Jockai, sometime all you need is just a SX strat copy for the music :wink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DReUPPyOVhA
 
So can anyone tell me the differences between the the MK models? What comes with the LS100Q that I like? I don't recall if it said II's or VI's, is there much difference?
 
Thanks leadguitar :wink: . I should comment that what I like may not be what everyone likes about them. I just received an LS230? custom koa top that came with Gibson Classic 57's which a lot of folks seem to like.
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14679

But at first plug and play seemed very bright to me. I've gotton more used to it but expected a warmer/darker sound from the koa as opposed to maple. I can't help but wonder how MKII's would sound in it. :-? 8)
 

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