Tokai LS-320 club

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I?m talking about Tokais I own or owned.
I agree Terry McInutrf opinion about a talented luthier(like him) can build a great guitar with sapele/african mahogany,the same it?s happening to classic guitars from spanish luthiers.The man at Tokai choosing the mahogany for my guitar knew what and why,it?s a pretty board with great grain.
 
I saw that thread Brazen. Of course Terry is more than capable of delivering the goods with a 2 piece body. Terry or anyone else, for that matter. It's no big deal if you choose two pieces with similar characteristics. But it's a whole different matter when you change the species of the wood. Regardless of the quality, the African mahogany and the Indian rosewood have different properties than that of Honduras and Brazilian. African is more dense, with more mineral content, that alters the tone and the balance of the instrument. Indian has a more open pore and less oil content than Brazilian, that dramatically affects the feel of the board while playing. On top of that, the tonal qualities of the two rosewood species are worlds apart.

Anyway, as a personal opinion, when I'm paying $4000-$5000 for an electric guitar, I expect to see certain aesthetics standards, and having a one piece body is one of them.

I?ll try to upload a pic of my LS320 later and talk about it a bit.
 
Ok, so here goes a pic of my guitar. Not the best of photos, but you'll get the idea:



2005 LS320. Last year of production as LS320. No fret edge binding as per 2005 specs (it became a custom option). Stock Seth Lovers pickups. Luis suggested me a couple of alternatives, but the guitar sounds so ashtonisingly good with the stock ones, I haven't feel the urge to change them yet. Sprague Black Beauties 0.33 PIO capacitors for both neck and bridge. All the electronics were made using cloth wiring. No "320" or "LS320" stamp inside the neck pickup cavity. I don't have a scale at home, but would say it weights 9 lbs, give or take a couple of ounces.

It doesn't have one of the fanciest tops or figured boards I've seen in other LS320's (the pic does a good job in catching the flame, but it is far less obvious when you look at it from the front), but in turn the fit and finish is just superb. The inlays are perfect, on the contrary of many other LS320 I've seen.

I think that's it. So it's your turn guys!
 
Nice 320s. :) They seem so wonderfully flamey compared to my daft idea. ;)

On tonewoods, etc... I'm a firm believer that if you crank up your pedal and/or amplifier distortion, then you completly mask the character of whatever wood and construction your LP has. Crank it up enough and you can mask other stuff, too (pickups, etc).

With a nice medium-gain vintage amp (Tweed Deluxe, JTM, 18Wer, etc), then there are differences with the older/better woods and pickups. That's where the LS-320 (and similar) guitars shine.

So... if you like to pile on the gain, an LS-320 isn't necessary, and probably isn't good value for money.
 
ampmaker said:
Nice 320s. :) They seem so wonderfully flamey compared to my daft idea. ;)

On tonewoods, etc... I'm a firm believer that if you crank up your pedal and/or amplifier distortion, then you completly mask the character of whatever wood and construction your LP has. Crank it up enough and you can mask other stuff, too (pickups, etc).

With a nice medium-gain vintage amp (Tweed Deluxe, JTM, 18Wer, etc), then there are differences with the older/better woods and pickups. That's where the LS-320 (and similar) guitars shine.

So... if you like to pile on the gain, an LS-320 isn't necessary, and probably isn't good value for money.

I agree, the differences between a good LP and a great LP are most noticable on a medium gain setting on a quality valve amp, that's where the biggest differences can be heared, and that's where all the classic recorded Les Paul sounds can be heared.
 
I'll play!

2003 LS-320VF. I've had an absolute love affair with this guitar since I was lucky enough to snag it 3 or so years ago.

DSC03695.jpg

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Beautiful burst finish and top on that one! Care to talk a little more about it? Pickups, hardware, electronics, etc.

I noticed you also have it drilled for a pickguard. Did you do that or was one previous owner?
 
Heck yeah, I'll talk about it as long as there is someone to listen.

It's 100% original with the Seth Lover pickups and factory electronics. I'm a bit of a tinkerer when it comes to pickups especially, but have felt no need to swap out the Seth Lovers. They seem to be perfectly matched, at least to my guitar. Here's a picture of the control cavity:

IMG_0890.jpg


You are right, it is drilled for a pickguard, but not by me, I would have left it alone. To make matters worse, whoever did the drilling used a much too large screw, so the hole is much bigger than it needs to be.

It weighs right at 9 pounds. It is by far my easiest playing guitar with very low action & no buzzing. I'm not good at describing tone, but to me it's a very clear sounding guitar that maintains it's clarity even with a moderate amount of crunch. Plugged into a 50W Marshall, it is everything anyone could ever hope for in delivering that classic 60's/70s rock tone.

A couple of months back, I bought an 06 LS-165 (currently the LS-260) so that I could compare the 2. The 165 is in the Premium line, but differs in wood (not Honduras Mahogany), Fretboard (Indian Rosewood instead of Barzilian), finish (poly w/ a lacquer topcoat vs. all lacquer) and pickups (MKII vs. Seth Lovers). The 165 was a great guitar in its own right that I would put up against almost any other Les Paul. However, for the type of music I play, it didn't sing to me like the 320. I traded it for something else, and the current owner is very happy. But the 320 is just on a different level.
 
Well, I'm listening mate. :D

I usually swap the pickups in my guitars, but can't find an excuse with this one. They are so damm nice and balanced. Obviously the guitar plays a major role in that.

Mine was also drilled for a pickguard by a previous owner, unfortunately, but thankfully the hole isn't too obvious.

Nice guts shot by the way. Anyone knows how many different caps have Tokai used over the years on the 320's?
 
BrazenPicker said:
Mmmm thanks. Interesting. Sometimes I wonder if this fixation on rare Honduras / Brazilian woods is more about marketing than tone, but I can't speak from experience. What started me thinking along those lines was a recent thread on thegearpage started by Terry McInturff (guitar builder) where he asked forum members about their opinions on a 2-piece vs. 1-piece back. He was saying that it's increasingly hard to find good slabs of Honduran mahogany large enough for a one-piece back, but that he still can get plenty of good-quality slabs large enough for a 2-piece back. He's also of the opinion it would not matter with regard to tone but was afraid the market simply wouldn't accept it. I suspect that a talented builder could seek out superb African mahogany that's better than what's left of the Honduran (especially at high volume), and build better guitars from it, but good luck getting people to pay 4-5k USD for it.

Anyway, not to derail your thread. Like I said, I haven't played these guitars. Some day I'm sure!

Great woods are harder to find by the day, that's true. I can only comment on the Brazilian woods as I have just bought a PRS Modern Eagle I with solid Brazilian rosewood neck & fretboard but it does make a huge difference. A slab of this wood rings like a bell when you hit it so you can imagine how well it conducts vibrations. I would expect the Honduras mahogany to be denser than its African counterpart...

Shame it has been exploited so badly it will never be used again...well not for another 200 to 300 years anyway!

Good to see something on the LS320s! They have always tickled my curiosity.
 
Hi there!

In own this beauty now for 3 years, and it is the first and only guitar that I'm sure of keeping 'til I die,-))
2002 LS320VF
doorshot007.jpg


I pretty much changed everything, except for the potis, jackplate and the tuners.
Unfortunately the Vol pots on this guitar work really crappy, but after 3 years somehow I got used to it,-))
I am not too sure if the mounting rings for the Humbuckers are stock, or if the preowner changed them, because they are too "white" looking for Tokai plastic.
 
Jonas,

That is simply stunning! It's the first 320 or higher that I've seen that I seem to like the top even better than mine. **** straight you're keeping it (but please do call if you change your mind).

What pickups are in it now? I love the look of double whites with that finish.
 
Hi currypowder!

Thanks a lot for the kind words! Actually I thought nearly the same, when I saw the pic of yours,-))) I will never sell it, sorry, that's for sure, I walked a long mile to get it and actually it's pretty beaten up now, so at least cashwise I don't think I would get a good deal....and it is just the perfect Les Paul for me. Even if I'd convert to Strat or something like that, I would keep it for the looks and sentimental reason only, I'm sure,-))

Interestingly, when I bought the guitar in the shop I was a little bit disappointed by the flame, because it looked somehow weird to me. When I had it home and opened the case in the sunlight I was really shocked how dramatically different it looked then. Depending on the angle you see either thick flames or quilted figure, it never looks the same.

As for the pickups, those are Zhangliqun pure handwound Zhangbuckers, imo really great pickups for a decent price.
Reagrading the colour of the bobbins, well, I am not totally sure about that, because I loved the look of double whites in vintage Bursts, but mine are a little on the creamy side, depending on the light they look like old DiMarzios or nearly perfectly matching with the M69's. I've seen various double white humbuckers from other winders, but they all differ in the colour. I think, the most authentic would be a bone colour, a tad lighter than mine are, but what the heck, I love the look of my guitar!,-))))

Kind regards

Jonas
 
Congrats Jonas :eek: :eek: :eek:
I am absolutely not the quilted kind of guy but this is such a gorgeous piece of wood - just breathtakin'.
Never sell it anymore is the only acceptable decision ! Enjoy ! :wink:

Wow ! My 500th post :lol:
 
Hi Villager!


Yes, I know, you told me a year or 2 ago, and I saw it a while back on your website, small world,-)))
I never asked you, but did you change the pickup rings on this one, or are they stock? I'm asking, because they look completely different than the plastic on the other Tokais I owned, not pink at all.

Kind regards


Jonas
 
Hi villager!

Thanks for the info! Well, as stated before, I changed nearly everything, lol,-)))
 
Hello everyone, what a great club to be a part of. Some drop dead goregous guitars here. I figure I should bring my newly accuired LS-380 VF to the party.
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IMG_2479.jpg

When I bought this guitar the stock J.M. Rolph humbuckers were replaced with new Tom Holmes 450/455 humbucker set (uncovered; these are handmade in the U.S.A. by Tom, not the Japanese-licensed ones), the stock CTS pots were replaced with RS Guitarworks Long Shaft Super Pots, and the Bumblebee caps were replaced with the highly-rated RS-designed Danish-made Jensen Oil and Paper caps. RS Guitarworks preformed all the modifications.
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Keep em' coming!
 

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