PRS SE and MIK Tokai NLP-40

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meanpeoplesuck1

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Does anyone have any idea on how the build quality of the PRS SE series and the Tokai NLP-40 compare? They are both PRS McCarty style guitars I think, and both made in Korea, but the SE works out as a hundred or so more expensive over here, while the Tokai boasts of a few extra features like the maple caps and bone nut..
 
meanpeoplesuck1 said:
They are both PRS McCarty style guitars I think, and both made in Korea, but the SE works out as a hundred or so more expensive over here, while the Tokai boasts of a few extra features like the maple caps and bone nut..
Click to expand...
Isn't the SE series from PRS a single cutaway Les Paul copy and the reason they got sued by Gibson, too? I have no answer to your question though, because I've never played a Korean Tokai PRS copy.
 
You're right! It used to be at least, and that's why they have come out with the soapbar II in the shape of the mc carty models, but it has driven the price of the guitars up 100 or so..
 
that prs se is a rip off, at least for the price i ve seen it at in europe - 780 eur... tried it, nothing special how could we not love old jap guitars?
if it helps, i have a MIK hummingbird tokai from 2004, and it kicks that PRS se right in the butt. i cant see why a proper MIK PRS Tokai (havent tried one) should be any inferior to the H-Bird, thery price at around the same price...
 
I convinced a buddy of mine to get a Tokai MIK PRS copy instead of a PRS SE. It's pretty nice, I've played it a good bit. It has a carved top whereas the SE's are flat (I'm pretty sure). It also has a nice (photo?) flame top.

I haven't played an SE, but he did when he was shopping and said the Tokai was significantly better (and cheaper, too). I think he payed something like $395 on ebay. I'd go Tokai!!
 
the one i ve tried is this one

http://www.prsguitars.com/showcase/current/seeg.html


as i said nothing special, and very expensive (at least here in europe). looks nice though
 
Hey ScottA your friend must owe you one now eh? haha. I think the SE's are flat, at least from what I have seen. On the Tokai, I'm positive there is a maple cap which is apparently flamed, or quilted, does that garauntee it isn't a photo or might they just stick a photo on top of the cap?

$395, lol, your prices seem so great compared to ours!

Chu71, I have seen those too, they are the same price as the new soapbar II's I believe. I remember playing a prs se soapbar (singlecut model) ages ago and thinking "hmm..plays nice", so I may have to go and pick myself up a tokai prs copy if they copied the same neck size etc :). 600 Euro delivered including shipping in 7 business days and insurance, and including all VAT and import taxes!
 
dang ! mind u, the tag price in a pretty good avg prices shop in madrid was 850eur!!!! guy said well id make it 780 eur for u... ridiculous...

that soapbar looks ok but i always stay away from the big manufacturers, heard recently PRS are already 3rd manuf in the world in terms of production
 
also what are soapbar pups like? are they like p-90s? what s sospecial about them?
 
They are P90 pickups, I never actually played them myself, but I hear they are like a cross between a single coil and a humbucker - a fat singlecoil almost. They are meant to be very nice for cleans, and for some distortion but I dunno how much they could handle!

Well, for around 200 euro cheaper then, if the tokai even only matches the prs se quality (it sounds like it beats it) then i think i'll be getting a good deal :)
 
im sure it will, as i said between my 2004 tokai and that se...NO CONTEST
 
The NLP-40 is a beautiful guitar and very well made like all the other MIK Tokais we get. There is a maple cap on mahogany body. Flame and quilt tops are NOT photo tops, they are real wood veneers that are used for the nice flame/quilt effects.
 
meanpeoplesuck1 said:
On the Tokai, I'm positive there is a maple cap which is apparently flamed, or quilted, does that garauntee it isn't a photo or might they just stick a photo on top of the cap?
Click to expand...

Usually Tokai only uses photo finish on highly quilted Korean Love Rocks, as far as I know. At least the 2003-2004 catalog says so for the ALS50Q, but I don't know what happened in the past or which special orders went to Canada. :wink:

$395, lol, your prices seem so great compared to ours!
Click to expand...

http://cgi.ebay.de/TOKAI-PRS-Style-NEW_W0QQitemZ7340306464QQcategoryZ107740QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Actual bid: EUR 321.00, one hour to go... ;) And there's another one from the same seller, it seems, as well as different finishes. I've also seen a model in natural finish on ebay.com for about US $320.00.

prs50tlarge1ak.jpg
 
Thats not the same as the ones we get here. Looks to be a total different animal. Some of the more noticable differences are the headstock, fretboard inlays, bridge, ours have receses controls and bound body, neck and headstock, that one shown doesn't appear to.

tokai_prs_amb3.jpg
 
Hey Hans-Jurgen,
I've looked at those Tokai PRS copies, and they certainly do seem to be MIk and cheaper, but I think they are definitly a lower model unfortunatly. I think they use alder bodys, have a very dillion like headstock and don't have a few details like the recessed controls. I've never seen the NLP's anywhere except in reference to Canada so perhaps thats why?

I'm moving house in the next week, so once I'm stationed at the new address I think i'll be putting an order in for an nlp-40, and get it before the summer is out :D

By the by JSD, I've been the one harrasing you via e-mail :oops: lol
 
Interesting, thank you for posting the picture. Here's the one from ebay.com for US $375.00 "Buy it now" that looks similar to yours except for the natural finish:

2f_1_b.JPG


http://cgi.ebay.com/Tokai-Double-Cut-PRS-copy-natural-flametop_W0QQitemZ7340247485QQcategoryZ2384QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
I'd have liked to get one for cheap off ebay like the one you posted, but most seem to only ship to the US, and seeing as someone tried to charge us 90 dollars to ship a freakin' spice rack, I could see alot of ebayers having steep prices to get it here. Plus insured shipping through a shop always seems the better idea..
 
meanpeoplesuck1 said:
By the by JSD, I've been the one harrasing you via e-mail :oops: lol
Click to expand...

I figured so, its never a harrasment answering someones questions, especially a potential customer...;)
 
meanpeoplesuck1 said:
I've never seen the NLP's anywhere except in reference to Canada so perhaps thats why?
Click to expand...
I think the English version of the Tokai Gakki homepage mentions them, and probably they are also available at Japanese dealers like Ishibashi etc., but e.g. they are not included in the 2003-2004 catalog. So it's a bit hard to tell if these different versions on ebay.de with alder body are brand new perhaps. The style of the photos looks familiar to me, so I guess it's our forum member togps offering them. :wink:
 
Thanks H.-J., there was some of remaining S/H guitars. It is the PR50T, as you already mentioned some threads before.
 

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