theflyingturtle Posted September 12, 2017 Author Share Posted September 12, 2017 A Tokai isn't, and never was, a Les Paul. rct It sounds like semantics and hyperbole to me. I read a lot of "Yay Gibson" but very little that I can quantify in musical terms. It's all forest for the trees to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theflyingturtle Posted September 12, 2017 Author Share Posted September 12, 2017 AMEN! Couldn't have said it better myself :-) That works for you. It doesn't work for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 It sounds like semantics and hyperbole to me. I read a lot of "Yay Gibson" but very little that I can quantify in musical terms. It's all forest for the trees to me. Ok. Don't take anything I say the wrong way. It is offered with an olive branch that has a dove sitting on it. By your own admission you are figuring this out, don't know what you are doing, and haven't gotten the hang of Les Pauls yet, and you are valiantly trying to. I definitely get that. I have been playing since 1971. I've owned and gigged more than a couple dozen Les Pauls. I remember when we laughed at Love Rocks, when they were new, long before they assumed the mantle of legend that somebody, somewhere, sometime in the 90's assigned to them as they tried their dangdest to sell them as vintage "lawsuit" guitars. They weren't. They sucked as much as Ibanez, Kent, Degas, and countless other copies that I can't name any more but I remember them. So you can call it hyperbole, I'm ok with that too. If you want people with experience that can steer you away from fairly common mistakes I'm even better with that. A Les Paul is pretty heavy, mahogany on the back, maple on the top, usually some nice paint, decent tuners, and whatever good pickups Gibson is putting in them at the moment, today you really can't go wrong with anything they are shipping them with. After that, getting a decent sound out of one plugged into a decent amp at decent volume is pretty easy, and if you are unable to do that you need to practice a bit more until you can. There is no way a Tokai is going to deliver anything like a Les Paul experience, and trust me on this, for as long as you own it and try to use it with other guitar players you will spend inordinate amounts of time explaining how great it is to people who know, or that the very least believe deeply, that it ain't that great. Good luck brutha, while you have a long road in front of you that I don't admire, I do remember being there 40 whatever years ago, figuring this out. Just ask, me and lots of farts like me can help you miss the big mistakes and some of the small ones. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 I thought you had an awakening where the clouds parted, the sun shone down and you found that tone back about a month ago. I'm not familiar with Tokai guitars, other than they're Japanese, but I've never played one. They're not Gibson Les Pauls but it may be close enough for you and that's certainly ok. One thing you have to think about is that these guys that got that classic Les Paul/Marshall sound you're looking for were playing through Marshall Stacks or half stacks at least. Big cabinets with 4 - 12" speakers and they were most likely playing the JTM45 or the 100 watt Super Lead variety amp head and had them CRANKED. The choice of amp head and speaker combination makes all the difference in the world as well as its volume. My little Marshall combo sounds pretty good by itself. But, when I plug it into my 4x12 cabinet, it has a much fuller sound, even at low volumes. Then, cranking it up a bit with it being a tube amp gets that much better of a sound. Most of those classic guys who played that guitar and amp combo had lots of horsepower and speakers that were "broken in." They may have also changed out tubes and such. They didn't have these high gain amps that are available these days. They got the high gain by cranking the volume. I have a Dixon Flying V and my friend had a Dixon Les Paul. Great guitars for what they were but the real deal blows them away. My guitars sound pretty good through my little Fender Mustang I amp with high gain. They sound really awesome through a Marshall half stack and I don't always crank the gain. A lot of times I'll use the clean/crunch channel unless I need that kick in the face kind of sound. A couple weeks ago I put the same Les Paul through an old Crate amp, a Fender Twin and a Fender Deluxe amp (three different sets, three different amps) and it sounded great but not what I'm used to but worked for the classic rock and blues stuff we played. It only took me around 40 years of playing to buy my first Les Paul, mostly because it took me that long to have the extra money to do so. Good luck in your search for the "holy grail." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megafrog Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 Turtle, I wish you the best on finding your tone. I agree with what everyone else has been saying in that your Tokai isn't a real Les Paul because it isn't. It sounds like you like the idea of a LP but don't like LPs. As I said previously, not everyone will like Les Pauls and it is fine. Enjoy your Tokai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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