VIRTUALS OR FATS IN MY TOKAI??

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victor

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:roll: I love my e stamped pups, sweet ,bright, and twangy, but I also have a set of Virtuals (heavy blues, virtuAL2-mid, and solo-bridge) and a set of Fat 50's. Has anyone tried any one of these pups, I have an early 80's TST-80 with maple neck- reg. fender shaped head stock. I would like some feedback on which direction to take. Tks.
 
Most people buy Tokais to get a faithful replica of the guitars that Gibson and Fender once made, long ago. The nuances, brilliance, flaws in the timber (remedied these days by F&G with the use of veneers) and mechanical flaws (including microphonic pickups) are all faithfully recreated.

If you feel the need to put "hot" pickups on your Tokai, it's just nature's way of telling you that you need an Ibanez!
 
Hey Nakamichi,

I tend to agree with you. I plan to keep all three Tokai strat replicas completely stock. The 56 I have has low-gain pickups (even with raising them a bit higher) but I want to investigate (play them) further until I even think about replacement. I think the subdued qualities of these pickups are intentionally built in, which means I need to monkey around a bit more to get the tone I seek. Given the sheer quality of every Tokai I've either seen, read about or played, it's probably for the best. I'm going to give mine some time before I may ruin things. :eek:

cheers

Steve
 
Hi!

I once saw a really nice old tokai LEs Paul (a high end model) that had the pickups replaced with some kind of coverless "blade" humbuckings.... it was enough to make you cry .....

Just my 2 cent's!

Cheers,
Rob
 
London Barry,

Well one thing Tokai gave us all was an authentic "platform" to fart around with different pickups/wiring/finishes etc. If we foul up big-time it's a lot less expensive to replace a Tok.

I've been guilty in the past of chopping a humbucker-size cavity in an ash Fender Strat body, cutting a space for a humbucker in a 1971 Telecaster bridge plate, taking the cover off a 1964 Telecaster neck pickup and ripping the windings out, and other sacreligious stuff. If only I'd had Tokais to play with (I never heard of them until a few years ago) I'd have learned a lot quicker as my mistakes would all have been made more cheaply.

I also admit to being a BIG fan of any Seymour Duncan vintage style pickups. It seems to me that you can "wind back" on an amp to get the old sounds. Hot pickups seem to eliminate all the nuances of the originals, and a decent amp can do much more to create a "hot" sound that any pickup.

Anyone remember "Motherbuckers"? A winding too far!
 
Hi All!

I unfortunately lived and played through the dreaded 70's, when lots of intelligent people cut old 50's Fender strats (and lots of other great guitars) to pieces with routes for humbuckers, drilling for Grovers and all other sorts of horrors, because "they are old". YIKES!!!!!

The guy that got to what became my favorite restored ' 59 Strat did about $15,000 US damage to it in todays monetary terms. I can assure you he improved nothing.......

How about buying bodies and necks to play with if you want a labratory with strings???

If you love em.... leave them alone!

Just a thought!

Cheers,
Rob
 
:lol: It is good to hear both sides and I feel that I can up grade my Tokai pups for something different which will enhance my sound without touching the inside cavity and not drilling any extra holes. It would be neccessary to change the pots which is normal wear and tear on a 20 yr old TST-80. I will remember to keep the original pups.
 
I don't think you should ever leave anything alone if you want true tone! If your not happy with your guitar put some more love into it and buy the FAT 50's! I currently have two MIJ Fender strats and have the DG20's in one and FAT 50's in the other, they both sound very sweet! I like the sonic variations the DG's give but love the sweet vintage bell like tone the FAT 50's have. I prefer them to the Texas Specials or stock PUP's but that's my preferrence. I plan on buying a couple of Tokai LS75's and putting in Fralin PUP's next!
 
I have been bad, I replaced my VS-1 "E" stamped in my TsT-80 for a set of Texas Specials just to hear. Boy, very impressed with tone, not so twangy or sweet but alot hotter in a nice way. I put the Fats in my 58 strat and wow, they are great pups just what the reviews stated in H.Central., so later i will have the fats in the tokai for alittle more sweetness. Tokai and good single coils are a win-win situation.
 
Hi!

When I said "leave then alone!" in an earlier post, I meant don't do anything that can't be reversed. Swapping pickups out is easily reversable, as long as you save the old ones!

If it involves a router, chisel or drill, why not buy a Schecter body (or some other) and do the experiments on it if they are major.

Who would have thought Tokais would bring the kind of values they are bringing today - just wait 20 years!

Cheers,
R
 

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