Please tell me about the Tokai PAF-Vintage MK2 LS150 pups

wrxplayer · Jul 16, 2010

I just bought an LS150. Should have it in a few days.

The stock MK2 were removed and Seymour Duncan "Slash signatures" installed but the guitar includes the stock pickups.

I'm hoping I like the Slash pickups (they certainly sound good on his guitar :lol: ), as I'd prefer not doing further mods as I'm not great w/ a soldering iron.

That said, I'm wondering how you'd describe the tone of the stock Tokai pickups.

Thanks for your input.

marcusnieman · Jul 16, 2010

MK2 pickups are as good as many of the boutique sets out there. Warm, vintage tone with plenty of spank

DaveWW · Jul 16, 2010

If they are the same matk IIs there's some clips here:

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=20880#20880

I think they're great pickups - I put them in my 80 LP Navigator.

looktoyourorb · Jul 16, 2010

The mark II are very good.

You can play them clean, blues them up on Rock them really nicely. With the right amount of drive you can get close to the Zeppelin sound.

If I were you I'd try the duncans and leave them if you like them. Just leave the originals in the case and retrofit later if you fancy a change.

For the record I have Duncan 59's in my LC85 (it came this way) but will find a pair of gold MKII at some point to return the guitar to its original condition. While the 59s are good the MKII do the job equally as well. A guy on a forum was saying they reminded him of the /gibson 57s, can really comment as I have never come across these.

NWOBHM · Jul 19, 2010

I bought a set recently to retrofit in an old Gold 85' Love Rock. Sounded pretty good to me and I'm a Corksniffer. :wink:

Diamond · Jul 19, 2010

NWOBHM said:
I bought a set recently to retrofit in an old Gold 85' Love Rock. Sounded pretty good to me and I'm a Corksniffer. :wink:

Most Corksniffers I know agree with you.

pedrocortez · Jul 19, 2010

FWIW,
I was comparing my LS150 with My '94 McCarty at the weekend.

accounting for the difference in the 2 guitars i think the Mark IIs are a little rounder and smoother than say the Dragons in the McCarty, which seem to have more aggressive bite.

For classic blues/Rock and smooth tones i think the Mark IIs are excellent and dont need swapping out for other PUs in the LS150.

I think they have a really good vintage feel and enough horsepower for really full on Rock too.

Rgds
Pete

shan564 · Jul 22, 2010

The McCarty had Dragons in it? Doesn't PRS normally have a specific pickup that's just called the "McCarty"? The Dragon usually goes into the Custom 22.

pedrocortez · Jul 23, 2010

Hi

its an early 1994 production - i think it came with Dragon Bass and Dragon pickups fitted - before they started fitting McCartys.

it also had no coil tap - which came later as standard. I retrofitted a coil tap tone control.

bit unusual - but fine by me !

when I enquired with PRS they told me they thought it predated the factory move.

Rgds
Pete

looktoyourorb · Jul 23, 2010

I never had much time for PRS pickups until I discovered the 245s, great big fat tone engines they are.

pedrocortez · Jul 23, 2010

last weekend me and my geetar pal compared 2 McCartys - mioe and a 2005 sunburst with the Tokai Ls150 for tones through a Park 1210 Rockhead.

The LS150 was "rounder" sounding with less "bark" or picking dynamics but still tone to die for....( no coil tap obvioulsy )
there was minimal difference between the McCartys and the Dragons in the 2 McCarty axes.

Al 3 sounded superb through the Park.

certainly not lacking in any way.

Rgds
Pete

looktoyourorb · Jul 23, 2010

They're excellent guitars...

Almost as good as Tokais :wink: !

pedrocortez · Jul 23, 2010

verrrry niiiice........

cheers
Pete

wrxplayer · Jul 26, 2010

looktoyourorb said:
They're excellent guitars...

Almost as good as Tokais :wink: !

Hi there,

Nice PRS. I had a singlecut in the same finish.

I'm curious how you'd compare it with your LS150.

pedrocortez · Jul 26, 2010

That really is a beauty
- what styles do you play ?

love my LS150 and cant wait for the SG185 - but really have soft spot for my McCarty 1994 Goldtop as it arrived the day before my son Leo was born - so its a keeper.

must take pics ( err, this is a Tokai forum - sorry Moderators ) ...
Rgds
Pete

looktoyourorb · Jul 26, 2010

Well the SC245 is 24.5 scale so you do overbend a bit to start with but once used to the tension it plays like the proverbial butter. It is very different from the LS150, the Tokai is awesome of course. I find it less raucous than the 245, truer to a lower output PAF.

Fit and finish are both excellent, better than lots of competitors with way more expensive guitars. I picked my PRS from a batch of 50+ and played it against other 245s, 250s, a Tremonti, and a Larrivee RS4 (beauty). My LS150 was the only one they had in the shop and the setup was **** really, I took it home loosened the truss rod slightly and it became instantly my best playing guitar over a Yamaha SG.

The neck carves are different, the PRS feel wider and not quite as deep but close.

Love them both equally.

The LS150 is like a stunning curvy wife while the SC245 is the next door honey in a miniskirt...

looktoyourorb · Jul 26, 2010

pedrocortez said:
That really is a beauty
- what styles do you play ?

love my LS150 and cant wait for the SG185 - but really have soft spot for my McCarty 1994 Goldtop as it arrived the day before my son Leo was born - so its a keeper.

must take pics ( err, this is a Tokai forum - sorry Moderators ) ...
Rgds
Pete

Mostly Rock - DC, classic rock, heavy rock, stoner rock when in the mood

Minoupark · Jul 28, 2010

Hey, wrxplayer,
How are the Slash pickups? I was planning on changing pickups to either SD alnico II pro or the Slash signatures, but I am kinda starting to like MKII. Still want to change them though.

wrxplayer · Jul 30, 2010

Minoupark said:
Hey, wrxplayer,
How are the Slash pickups? I was planning on changing pickups to either SD alnico II pro or the Slash signatures, but I am kinda starting to like MKII. Still want to change them though.

I just played last night w/ the guitar in a band context. Got a good feel for it and the Slash pickups.

In short they sound very good. Cut through the mix well but weren't super high output. It's hard for me to compare them with others as each guitar is different as is each rig, but I'm pleased enough that I'm not going to consider swapping them.

FWIW I was playing through a Crate vintage club 50 (best $300 I ever spent) and a tube screamer.

Please tell me about the Tokai PAF-Vintage MK2 LS150 pups

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