Why Tokai, why gibson, why epiphone????

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I wouldn't be too quick to trash the idea of an Epiphone, solid or acoustic. If it's solid and has a set neck, and if it's acoustic with a full heel and solid top, there are some really nice ones out there. The Epi LPs that I've seen/played have been pretty decent instruments for the money, and some have been better than the entry level Gibsons. I have owned Korean and Japanese Tokais that were good, but also had some QC problems. If the new Elite Epis are really being made by the folks at the Japanese Orville plant, they will be an excellent guitar line. I think that the Japanese are religious about "doing it right", while the American products are more hit and miss on quality. The Koreans are fast catching up, and I own a couple magnificent LP copies made there. The people that "have" to own a Gibson won't be happy with less than a Gibson. The guy with $500 to spend might be well served with an Epi or Dillion, or Korean Tokai. I think the stockbrokers and doctors can have the Historic series for $3000 and up... but the average player (read: not wealthy) can get a great workable clone for MUCH less.
(My $.02)
 
SO! It's all mathematic here! :D
Greco: 300$ to 600$
Orville: 500$ to 700$
Burny: 400$ to 700$
Tokai(MIJ): 500$ to 1000$
Epiphone(MIK): 350$ to 500$
Epiphone Elitist(MIJ): 1000$ to 1400$
and...
Gibson(MIUSA): 3000$ to X00000$ (and more)

all the same specs (for a deaf guy like me. :wink: )
I personnaly went for the Greco one.(I can even be a Japan made guitar SNOB)
How much are you ready to pay for the name? 8)

(By the way korean Epi seem to be made in the Cort fabrik!!!)

PS: ain't it funny the name of the japan made Epi is tryin' to reach the snob ones that don't have the money?!!! :lol:
 
I just read a review in Guitar World on the Elite Epis. They claim that the plant producing them also makes Gretsch guitars... Hmmm...
:lol:
 
When I was young I was collecting He Man figures... Some were made in France and some in Taiwan. By the time I already had a preference for the asian ones... They were lookin' VINTAGE!!!! (the same stuff with poly and nitro :wink: ) But they were all the same price with the little comic book... Now I'm a decent adult (most of the time) and the big difference is the price of my toys!!! 8) ... If you gave up the idea of getting the real stuff (some 59'Gibbo Les Paul) go for the cheapest one dude!!! :D (hmm, as you now know the differences between each brands...)
Yes, sometimes everything is obvious....

The elitist Epi sound great!!! But my 20 years old Greco has some darn soul !!! And I don't even mind sweat on it... Because, well, I still play on it!!!!
 
Here?s something you might find interesting, in case you haven?t read it already:
http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/interviews/MrX.shtml

Maybe here?s the reason why people say, get a Tokai, Don?t get a Tokai, get a Gibbo, don?t... and so on. I always try to get to play nice guitars that I see on shops and everywhere. And I must agree mr.x that they are all not the same. This thing goes with Tokai?s as well. My own Love Rock?s are good example of this. The other one looks good, and the other sounds good.
 
LondonBarry said:
I thought all Orvilles were made in Japan, but the ObG were higher spec? I think our forum buddy Dana knows better than me, though.

There are "orville" and "orville by gibson" guitars. the latter have gibson pu's and nitro laquer, all in all pretty close to the usa counterparts. the "orville" series preceeded the epiphones if i remember correctly and were stopped in the early 90ties.
btw i've just bought an old epiphone goldtop les paul with '50 gibson small headstock, probably some kind of first series. it was made in japan and has mahogany back and neck and i have absolutely nothing to complain about that guitar. it's far superior to the korean ones.

japanese selling charts for used les pauls are

1) Tokai LS 80 and upwards reborn (old), Tokai early LS xxx loverocks, early 80ties greco EG 1200, ObG solid flametops - starting at yen80k, average 120k, high end 200k and more

2) Tokai LS 50 & 60 reborn (old), Tokai early loverocks LS 80, OrvillebG plaintops/veneers - yen 40k to 70k

3) early LS 50 & 60 loverocks, newer jap. loverocks, early 80ties burnys, orvilles, small headstock epiphones - 30k to 45k

4) korean tokais or epiphones and all the rest - "don't sell to yen 20k"


generally the 1980/81 made high-end les pauls are most wanted apart from the solid flametop reborns and ObG.


Another Tokai question :

i've never seen any gibson replica starting with a 6xx serial. if we all assume that 501xxxx to 504xxxx means 1985 what happened from 1986 to 1989. which serials did they use?
 
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