Yet another awesome and thought provoking video. Agree with others that top wrapping the strings seems to have made the most noticeable difference so far. Looking forward to round 2!!!
Awesome series! Waiting for next episode ;) I'd love to see similar upgrades done on an affordable strat like the Mexican Player one or the Squire Classic Vibe.
I have an early 80's Tokai that I love! It was in rough shape when I got it but now its amazing. It has A Seymour Duncan 59 in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. It's amazing. Next step is to upgrade to CTS pots.
You always do such a great job with these films. Your show is one of my favorite guitar oriented shows on UA-cam. I’m hoping to see your subs and views skyrocket, because you deserve it. You are always such a gentleman, you have a great sense of humor, and your playing ability is very unique, and out of this world!
I absolutely like all your videos! I've got a Japanese 1981 Tokai Reborn Old and I tried similar modifications. Faber make great replacement parts but I ended up leaving the original bridge on the guitar but got an old aluminium Tokai stoptail to replace the original heavy one. The original pickups were good, right now I've got Bareknuckles (The Mule in the neck position and a Blackdog in the bridge position). Looking forward to the next videos.
I’m really gonna enjoy this series. Awesome idea and I know the way you do things it’s gonna be the best comparison video of “bits” on the Tube. Thanks in advance. I’m pumped for this.
This is a brilliant idea! A Tokai is a strong instrument to start with. I do know that older Tokai guitars were exceptional for the price, but I don't really know much about the modern ones. Looking forward to it.
I purchased a 20 year old Chinese made Tokai LP Gold Top with P90's from Cash converters for peanuts a few months ago just cleaned it up upgraded the the tuners with Klusons and installed thumb bleeders new strings and a Faber tailpiece and its now a keeper!
I traded a Japanese strat I didn't use for a tokai LP a few months ago. Didn't like the pickups in it so put a set of ToneRiders alnico 2's and replaced the wiring with a monotone solder less harness. Changed the bridge and tailpiece to tonepros locking ones and also got adapter for the bridge to change from the epiphone/import style bridge to smaller ABR1 posts, the result is a more lively and louder guitar in the primary (unplugged) tone. The amped sound seems fuller/thicker, not sure if that's the pickups ar the hardware or a combination of everything
Colin your videos are so entertaining and feature the best reviews/comparisons by a country mile. So much of what your doing resonates with me as I do a lot of modding and yeah, installing wiring looms can be a fiddly nightmare. I've fitted a Faber 59 brass saddle abr bridge (the nylon saddle version is cool if you want a Paul Kossof vibe), conversion posts and tailpiece + studs on my LP Tribute (along with an Emerson 50s wiring loom with prewired toggle switch, SD '59 pickups & Luxe bumblebee caps) and it plays and sounds absolutely killer. And Yeah, top wrapping is the way forward - once I tried it I was sold. Great hearing you're a fan of Hawkwind - (on your SG comparison) - Motorway City is one of my fave tracks; Huw Lloyd Langton & Dave Brock were a fantastic guitar duo. Cheers mate keep up the great work!
Cheers Dave, I'm hearing that Tokai have changed ownership so wondering if these (or at least the Japanese models) are hot tips for future investment guitars? I'm definitely on the hunt for a Japanese model anyway as they are reputed to be the real Gibson beaters. Take care man and have a great weekend! 😎🎸
I found your channel when searching for reviews of the new "Gibson Inspired" Epiphone Customs. Five minutes into the first video of yours that I watched, I was hooked. I'm watching through everything on your channel now. Thanks for all your time and effort. It's not going unappreciated. (Also, because of your review, I did end up with the new Epi Custom.)
great video mate! i was listening/watching as i took care of some sharp fret edges on a monoprice os20 i recently got.... felt like we were both in the same room working together lol! awesome!
I'm really happy you made this film, Colin! I like upgrading and LPs very much, so I'm looking forward to the next Tokai adventures. It's also a good reference concerning the parts used, if I consider a similar kind of upgrade to help me decide if it makes sense. But for this purpose I'd prefer the before/after bits to be exactly side by side, same pickup, melody and everything as our hearing memory is quite limited. I'm aware it probably wouldn't be such fun to make and would include some tedious editing. Just saying... Cheers!
This is so cool. People may knock on “cheap” guitars, but quite often they are great mod/upgrade platforms. Yes, sometimes you can fall down a rabbit hole and end up spending as much in upgrades as you did for the guitar itself, but it is fun to build up something like this and end up with a killer “signature” guitar that is unique to YOU. I’m excited to watch this series and see how this thing ends up. CHEERS!!
Aftermarket products are famous for exaggeration. More tone than you can imagine. More resonance than you can dream of. Greater warm image than you can see. The guitar is superior cause they thought about how to improve the Les Paul but YOU DIDN'T. YOU'RE JUST A HORRIBLE copycat. Copycat men are everywhere and they're famous for ruining perfectly fine instruments.
@theguitaristas I have a destroyed Gibson Les Paul Custom black beauty. So your whole concept of the standard is WRONG. Lots of standard Les Paul's were destroyed for no good reasons. Your collection shows consumption. That's what 1 of each is. Have you even begun to buy the 1st level of set buying? Which would be, buying a PAIR OF GUITARS. Have you started to buy a matching SET of 3 guitars??? Buying into mass produced products is about buying a big set of guitars 🎸 🎸 🎸 🎸 . Otherwise you'd be buying the professional built guitar which is the handmade guitar. Factory 🏭 is just factory built. You're not some genius by buying factory made.
Interesting video Colin. For me when you first played the Tokia, to my ears it actually sounded quite dead. However for me the biggest improvement was new strings (appreciate the strings on it were quite new anyway) and then top wrapping. That significantly improved the sound to my ears. The new bridge and tail piece enhanced it further but the biggest and best so far was that string change/top wrap. Clearly all subjective but just my ears. Looking forward to listening to various pick up changes next week. Thanks as always mate.
Cheers Mark, yes I agree that bag fresh strings are always seem to be the biggest improvement which I suppose is why several sets will be sacrificed in this series! I did expect to hear more of a difference with the tailpiece change but not so much this time to my ears... 🤔
I really enjoy your videos! You can get that 90% or more to a Gibson. The wood ( more quality mahogany) makes that bit of difference in a loud setting. In bedroom levels you would never hear it. As always great job, God Bless.
This is so great, love the concept and look forward to the pickup comparison. The end bit was so funny, I’ve been rewiring an Epi today with 50’s braided wire, it’s such a pain in the arse poking that stuff through those small routes and of course I’ve an untracable short circuit/dodgy pot/my incompetence problem. Effing and blinding all day. Loved the slo-mo accidents too. Why do we do this ?
Ah nice one Keith I laughed when I read you were sharing my pain!! 🤣 It really never is as simple and straightforward as we think it's going to be is it?? 🤣🤣👍
Excellent presentation... I've always wondered in chasing the holy grail of tone, ( wood tone, construction,and finish, not addressed... a different level of questions) what would be the best options. The course your pursuing would be the same as my mindset.. the only difference, in my mind would be the electronics...I had thought that a Fishmann classic humbuckers would be my choice... Since their claim is a modeled accurate representation of the originals... Looking forward to future episodes on this... Keep up the great content!
Great video Colin. I could tell a huge difference in tone when I put the aluminum tailpiece on a 92 Classic I had. That guitar had the ABR-1 bridge post going directly into the wood. I usually like the lightweight tailpiece but can’t say they make a difference. Pickups and pickup height will make the most difference. Shame you don’t have a set of burstbucker pros to try
OMG, now I own a Tokai myself, this looks like a vid for me on order. BTW, there was a garage sale, I got myself a second Tokai Love Rock. One may be modded like yours. Anyways, many thx mate, I love your vids, keep them going.
I think it was during the epi 59 Les Paul upgrade videos that you used some waveform visualization tool to display the waveforms for each sound test for visual comparison. For me, that does a lot to show if the sound changed (and how it changed) even if the change was slight and not really something easily noticeable. That would be very interesting in this series. Thanks for all these comparisons. They're always eye opening!
Cheers George, yes I considered that for this series but it only really works if you play identical riffs and I decided to try and make it more interesting this time... not convinced I have succeed though! Good point though so maybe I can try to roll it out when filming tomorrow... 🤔
@@theguitaristas yes they were but it wasn't very messy. Just a little wipe down, nothing crazy. I feel like it opened up the tone a bit? A touch more high end.
Hi Colin. Great video. I thought I could hear a difference. I think the next time I string one of my Les Pauls I'm going to wrap the tail piece. Never tried it. Looking forward to the next video. Cheers.
I have a 2004 LS150... Stunning guitar with solid AAA top, lightweight Tailpiece, one piece back and nitro. I put a pair of Duncan antiquity buckers and changed the caps to PIO. It sounds wonderful.
I've taken several different models of pickups apart, just to see the construction of them. They were damaged and not working. But what I found is the Epiphone classic pro Humbucker is constructed with the same materials, except the flatwork, as the original PAF's. Checking there impedance on a working guitar, I've found that the readings are virtually identical to the original PAF's. I know some folks are going to whine and cry and say they are shit because of the manufacturer. But I've been repairing guitars and winding pickups for a very long time. And I personally own a court sets of Gibson '58 PAF's and had to rewind one of the bridge pickups. The Epiphone classic pro is the closest to the original PAF's on the market today. They are amazing pickups. You should use them in the tokai gold top
Cheers Donny, I have heard others say similar things about Epi pickups which is why I wanted to put them against a couple of PAF clones and Burstbuckers... maybe we can dispel some urban myths!
@@theguitaristas definitely, I think the only difference you will find is the Epiphone pickups don't have the long legs. But everything else is virtually identical.
Interesting. Were the Epiphones unpotted, scatterwound, and mismatched windings on the two coils of each pickup? Because those are the things that make the tone of original PAFs what it is, from what I’ve heard.
@@darwinsaye anything new will always be wax potted. Unless it's a custom pickup to your spec. With the machines they have now, unless the wire is guided by hand it's not going to be scatter wound. But I have done scatter winds that I try to clean up and smooth out towards the end. Just so it's a bit cleaner. Now the coils are wound different on each pickup. One coil is hotter than the other. That's really what gives the PAF tone, the scatter gives it that raw tele on steroids tone. Almost like a '50-'51 Esquire. Not quite the raw you hear in a p-90. The dog ear, the soap bar has a different tone because of the way it's mounted through the pickup instead of out on the ears of the base plate. But most people you hear talking about that "PAF" tone, they never heard or seen a PAF. Let alone played a guitar with any. If I had a way to show you, I have pictures of a PAF and the epi pickup dismantled. And you can see that everything is the same. I can show the readings and gauss measurements. They are virtually identical. Epiphone really did their homework and did one hell of a job.
Another cool video Sir thank you. I tried soldering new 50s pots in with pickups and totally ballsed it up and just got bad feed back from pickups, confused the hell out of me as I followed the instructions gave up lol, so bought and obsidian set up for my iron gear blues engines but having issues with that now works fine between the two pickups on distortion but I select clean on my amp and the sound of clean goes right down to hardly hearing any sound out of pick-ups very annoying so stopped modding for a while and chilling
Cool idea Colin😎👍 This series is going to help expose the positive and negative and neutral results of upgrades😉😎👍 Personally like top wrap IF the neck angle allows enough downward pressure on the bridge. If the angle is off by just one degree, it could negate the top wrap.😉 To the ears, the Tokai right from the start sounded woodier, more sustain and warmer with a softer attack whether plugged in or unplugged. The original bridge does sound more...robust...? However the Faber bridge may be more suited for jazzy blues...? Regular wrap may produce a more rock friendly response...? Not at all convinced on the stop tailpiece's affect. Hat is off for this undertaking you have decided in for our benefit. Thank you so much....you have the patience of a saint 😉😎👍 Looking forward to the whole series 😁 😎👍❤🖖 Love Brother
@@theguitaristas Ah...yes, there will be pain eh...? The lengths you will go for your fellow Guitaristas has never been in question...We Salute You😉😎👍 😎👍❤🖖 Love Brother
Your videos are excellent! 🥂💯 Some folks like the slinkier feel of top wrapping because of course the angle from tailpiece to bridge is reduced, but you could string the normal way and just raise the height of the tailpiece to get the same slinkier feel. IMO Of course some guitarists insist screwing the tailpiece down to the body is the way to go. However, all Tokai Japan models come setup from the factory with the tailpiece about 3.5mm from the body!...I like it that way.
I have one of these. I didn't mod anything at all, since I'm still just beginning to learn guitar. More than enough for me without the mods. Guitar feels great 👍
I love the Faber hardware. I use it on all of my Gibson guitars. Tailpiece, studs & bushings, posts with inserts, and ABR-1 style bridge. Well worth the money in my opinion. Next time try Fabers 2-piece tailpiece studs that sandwich the tailpiece and transfer more vibration to the guitar.
"Top-Wrapping" your next new strings backwards then over the stop tailpiece (as is normal on a one-piece "Special-1" style bridge) is a super hotrodding tip that costs nothing but totally changes the feel and sound of your guitar. Easier bending due to lower overall tension, a little more Fender-ish 'twang' maybe if you like that, and as you noted, less breakover at the bridge saddles meaning your strings will stay brighter sounding and last and/or stay in tune longer. You might even find the stock nut on your guitar is not so bad after all. Great tip there, Colin!
Cheers Ed, I don't think I mentioned it but this guitar has a cow bone nut already which for many is the holy grail anyway? I will be leaving that alone I think.... 😎👍
@@bvanfossen01 I'd be interested in seeing a scientific study on this, can you say where we can find it? I'm willing to have my mind changed because this may well be one of those counterintuitive things in mechanics. But subjectively, my Les Paul seems more stable and easier to play when I top-wrap my stop tailpiece, just as you would on a Special with a one-piece bridge because there is no choice. Please enlighten me.
I was really hoping you were going to throw a set of Gibson 57 classics ( with a plus in the bridge ) in there too. But hey, you can't do 'em all or you'd never get done. This is why I love this channel so much. It'll drive me nuts waiting to see the rest.
I understand that buying a new guitar every week to review (unless you can borrow some) is not feasible so I am glad and interested over these kind of videos: upgrading, modding, etc. existing guitars and see how well they stack up against other similar instruments but more with an approach towards: is this good enough? is it worth upgrading? is it worth the hassle? should the money be better spent just buying a guitar already 'done up'? kinda thing. Thanks for the videos and PLEASE keep 'em comin'!
Fascinating stuff and you're just on the hardware! Looking forward to the rest of the ride - the pick-ups bit will be really interesting! I tried some 70's Seymour Duncans in my LP Custom back in 1975 but found them too 'hot' so kept the originals in. So - wondering if now might be the time to find a cheap Gibson copy and give them a shot - I'm inspired. P.S. Lollars going into my Casino as we speak!
Hey Morton, hot humbuckers were the fashion back then I suppose... mind you this JB SH-4 for the bridge is no slouch! Now, you don't seem to be very stressed out so am I right to guessing someone is installing those lollars for you? 😆👍
Didn't see the tonal difference in the brass saddles coming like that. But it makes sense. Brass being softer than steel. Makes me wonder how Tele's fair with regards to the various saddles they are outfitted with. Maybe another video series down the road, Colin?? 🤔 It's much appreciated to see you working through the madness on our behalf! The ultimate question... will spending money make something good, even better? Or is there a bias in our perceived outcome because we spent all of our hard-earned money like this in the first place?? I certainly hear the differences. But are they enough that a good amp or pedal wouldn't overcome? We guitarists can certainly be a finicky lot. 🥴 Looking forward to the pickup differences. Thank you, kindly!! 🙏
Cheers Sammywhat, I do think confirmation bias is a big problem for us guitar nerds and I’m going to do something on this in the future. A series on Telecaster’s and various upgrades is definitely gonna happen! 😎👍👍
Hi Colin - nice project! Looking forward to the result! BTW - finally a SG made its way to my home. I found a 2010 Epiphone 1961 les paul sg 400 custom in vintage ivory with 3 PUs and for a SG the lady has a really chunky neck. Love it! At the end you see: the SG has landed.😂 Greetings from Germany P.S.: I own a Japanes Tokai Love Rock in 1982 - today I wish I never sold it to afford a Hamer Standard (Explorer) with a wonderful flamed maple top in sunburst! That neck was way to small!
Aloha and Mahalo Colin! This should be an interesting series. I just happened to see a Cherry Sunburst Tokai Love Rock today's Craigslist. As usual, I find these guitar when money is tight. As I said before, Tokai guitars are rare here.
Hey Victor, that's the danger of looking at Craigslist and the like... always something you want but can't afford! I currently have enough ongoing projects for filming so am trying to not buy any new guitars this month... the trick so far seems to be not to look at them online!! 😆👍
@@theguitaristas Colin your right but I been in bed since my accident so eventually out of boredom... And I got several projects to do also. Guitar related and other stuff.
great episode.. can you see the edwards e-lps. is a very interesting les paul copy made in japan by ESP.. people said that is the rabit hole of the les paul copies, a perfect construction about 900 euros
I own a couple of Japanese Tokai's, one having the stock PAF MK2 and the other with Monty's PAF's. I have to say the stock pickups sound so good I wouldn't even consider replacing them. I bought the other Tokai already loaded with the Monty's. Dare I say I think I prefer the stock Tokai pups, but they're close.
@@joehahn8817 Those stock pickups are probably pretty decent. I'd guess not as good as the Tokai (Gotoh?) PAF MK2 that are typically found in the Japanese models, but not complete shit either.
We might even find out next week that they are as good as many of the others... I mean there already wasn't a massive difference between the Gibson was there?
I have 2 awesome Japanese Tokai LP's, both made by kunishi Furuhashi, a master luthier who builds high end guitars for various Japanese makers. Ones a prototype from 2001, It has all the LS320 specs of the era except it has a one piece curly maple top, Honduran mahogany and ebony board with fret edge binding, it has the tightest long tenon neck joint I've ever seen, It sports an aluminium tailpiece standard, it is one of six made {far right in my avatar}. The other is a 2003 Tokai custom order gold top, again Honduran mahogany, long neck tenon, rosewood board aluminium tailpiece and I have fitted some custom wound pickups, It has a thinner neck and is my main guitar {second from right in my avatar}. Both are excellent to play but the prototype stays in its case most of the time. My other go to Les Paul is a 1982 Greco RR65 custom with dry 1982 pickups, it has a fatter neck but has a smooth tone that I just love {far left, the 2nd from left is a Bacchus}. The Japanese sure knew how to make some awesome guitars...
I have been upgrading my 90's Encore S style over the week and when it came to the thin lightweight trem block I couldn't afford a Wilkinson beefed up one so I bought some tire weights off ebay and stuck them on. Worked a treat, more mass in the bridge, more sustain and better tone :-)
Don't forget to try it with an amber switch tip! I've got into this stuff in the past and my conclusion is that, with the knobs on full, 99.8% of the tone comes down to the pickups. Want to upgrade to a vintage '59 sounding LP? Save your money for some decent PAF clones (there are lots now. It's '50s tech, not a quantum computer). Put them in, set the heights right and you'll get that Beano/Greeny/Pearly sound without any trouble - even on a Cort. The rest of this stuff is mostly about feel and satisfaction. My 2010 Tokai LS150 is one of their Premium range within the MIJ LPs. So it had the lightweight tailpiece, CTS pots, brass saddles, good capacitors, switchcraft switch and jack, and all that malarkey. Changing the wiring to '50s made a big difference when rolling back the volumes. Putting a pare of Bareknuckles in it made a huge difference. Not because the Tokai pickups were poor - they were just halfway between a '70s/'80s humbucker and a '50s one. I top wrap because Jimmy Page did so it feels cool. But really it makes no real difference. If the break angle is _really_ shallow you'll lose sustain and may buzz. If it's way too much you'll probably break strings and have tuning problems. But otherwise it won't do much. It's nice to have a tricked out Les Paul. But many of the biggest feel factors are in the wood and finish. And for that you have to pay a bit extra for the basic guitar (though you don't have to pay Gibson prices). It's really all about the pickups with a well set up Les Paul. And decent pots and caps wired '50s will make the controls actually useful. The other stuff is more just nice-to-have.
Cheers man, looking forward to changing the pups to see what we can coax out of this... I tend to agree that no big gains so far but I did forget that switch tip! 😂👍
In my experience with my Gibson SG swapping the lightweight tailpiece and bridge for heavier ones to alleviate some of the neckdive i noticed it has lost some harmonics acoustically but it did get a bit more sustain. Playing clean it is noticable comparing the two, but there isn't much difference in overdriven sound. Same on my Gibson LP when i swapped the kluson tuners for a set of Grovers, the difference was just a bit less pronounced. Having said that, if you have a dark sounding guitar you can brighten it a bit by using lightweight hardware or dull down a very bright guitar replacing the hardware with heavier equipement. But ofcourse we all know that most of the tone comes from the massively expensive catalin switchtip and Cellulose Acetate Butyrate plastics which cost an arm and both legs (and maybe your house) :P anyway nice video, looking forward for the next video
Cheers man, that is an interesting conundrum... sustain vs harmonics... I think there's something in that for sure. But of course you're right they don't make plastic like they used to so maybe we need to get some of that in! 😆👍
I just put one of those Gibson/Epiphone fine tuner tailpieces and a Kahler behind the nut string lock on a beautiful old Samick Artist Series Les Paul with a bubinga top and you couldn't knock that thing out of tune with a hammer. With a Seymour Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid in the bridge and a 59 in the neck - the thing is absolutely incredible - all for about $200.
Hi Colin, as for my taste I would not use the Faber bridge, but the tailpiece. A big step you can make with the CTS pots , I suggest you to measure out the pots before and use one with 520K or even more resistance for the neck vol. 500K for the bridge. Cheers Nobby
Cheers Nobby, so far that's my feeling on the hardware too, but easy enough to try the different bridges again with some different pickups and see what gives. I got the loom pre-wired from Monty's so didn't measure them but hopefully he will have used the optimum components... one would hope so for the cost! 😆👍
I just finished a similar upgrade plan on a Vintage brand Gold Top w/P90s.. swapped the stacked Wilkinson pups for Tonerider Hot 90's, then a set of Gibson P90's, w/ sperzel lockers, Babicz full contact bridge, cleaned up a quite nasty rough, barely 'finished' control cavity routing, shielded everything, installed a pure tone jack, switch craft toggle, push back wire, Bourns pots individually shimmed for perfect knob height..PIO caps. It is freekin awesome....only one thing I would consider next is swapping in some really nice ( xpensivvvvveee!!) Lollar or ..? P90's...but it plays so well & sounds so great now I really don't see a need to fk with it for a while..... 💗 Plus at about $950 invested to this point not sure what more a set of $400 pups would bring to the party....then again, never played a set of baller P90's so maybe I don't know what I'm missing....
@@theguitaristas you bastige setting me off on a quest I have been pretending I didn't need to go on yet lol.. thanks for the great videos I subscribed a mo. or three ago ..enjoy your work and wish I had the patience to document all the upgrading in have done in just the last 2.5 years of my newly rekindled guitar obsession. ( Thanks COVID! ) Stay well!! Look fwd to episode 2 !
As far as the hardware, I really like Wilkinson/Gotoh. Wilkinson isn't very expensive and the build quality is on par with anything else on the market. I think the bridge and tailpiece on my Gibson SG cost me $35 for both. Their tuners are very good and are $25-$40 depending on which model you buy. I like the fact that they are inexpensive parts, but I won't buy inexpensive if the quality is shit. And I would never recommend anything that I don't use myself.
Wilkinson tuners are stunners. I've used them on a few builds. No idea how they will last, but they are certainly well made and I love the way the work at the moment.
@@alanst.4417 Well in this case I think if you buy the Epiphone classic pro humbucker set, it's still $200-$250. If I remember correctly. But the quality of them is just as good as any set you will find in any high end guitar. And definitely drags any PRS paf clone or any of their pickups through the mud.
@@donnyhall2535 great to hear that they're really good, because based on various shootouts I've already got one epi classic pro set waiting for me at home 😄 I think we share a similar viewpoint. Cheers!
This is going to be a Dr Frankenstein. It's gonna be the ying n yang. I think after you change either the Gibson's 59 pickups or Epiphone pickups and put the bigger pods its going to sound cool. But by the time you put the upgrades i bet overall cost is close to the studio LP Gibson. Try after this listen to your studio and the Japanese LP and it's very close. I put your studio LP video and listened to both and it's close. I can't take a guitar apart from my stroke but I'll watch you and your channel is a good learning channel. I bought the ZZ Top peddle and love it. I think you'll dig it to. Hand down its awesome. No dead spots on the volume,tone,gain. It's really good. Thank you
Cheers Lawrence, good point I just added it up and already it's £200 in hardware and strings!... by time we add pickups and wiring it will run to about £900 so we are in tribute territory but still a decent pedal away from the studio 😆 ZZ Top one sounds good... I'm very happy for you to you lay down a shuffle and jam along with me while I do the work! 😎👍
Brass seems to sustain longer, I had an old curtain pole which I cut to a few inches drilled the bolt hole I was going to use all the was through then on the bottom drilled a little bit bigger hole for the stud a little taller than what the stud would be then glued some soft cloth to the bottom I was then able to put a bolt in and screw out the piece with no damage or marks to my guitar,. Kept it for future jobs 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Fascinating video - great stuff! I have 4 MIJ Love Rocks...the 2 vintage series ones have the standard tail piece and bridge. The 2 premium series have brass saddles and aluminium tail pieces....you notice the difference playing quietly at home but on stage, playing a loud, sweaty punk gig the differences just don't matter. The Faber dealer in Germany, Gottfried, is also the Tokai German dealer I bought a white custom Tokai off him. In terms of hardware - are you going to change the tuners at all? Really looking forward to the pick-up comparison - all my Tokais are stock with the Japanese Mark IIs in 3 of them - Goldie has P90s. The Mark IIs are vintage output so not too hot and suit my 77-style punk rock....but will be very interested to see what difference the pick-ups make on the Chinese Love Rock. Have a great weekend and looking forward to the next instalment.
Cheers man, I have been looking at prices for the Japanese ones and quite shocked at how much they are! 😲... I may stick with this upgraded one although I have a bit of an itch for a ULS129 now. '77 was a great year man and I was there when it all happened!! 👍😎🎸🧷
Hi thats a great guitar project you r starting there, I just love TOKAIs!!! I know that you love SG's so can you please please please review the chinese Tokai SG 58 and maybe compare it with the epiphone and Gibson SG's you own?
I love this channel. You’re ace and cheer me up no end. I have Les Pauls. To my ear, the Tokai sounded creamy…What p’ups does the Gibson have as some of them are shocking! You’ll know when you know right? Loving the deconstruction though! Right, better get myself together. Off to see Van the man later! Peace
Thanks Amanda I appreciate the support! 😎👍 The Gibson has Burstbuckers 1 & 2 so not too dusty to start with but I got some PAF's going in the Tokai and oh my they do a thing!! Now I'd say I hope enjoy the gig but how could you not! 🙌🙌
Love the Channel. By chance Drive By. You bet I Subbed. Look at those SG's hanging in the background. One of my 1st Guitars was a '64 L.P. Jr. Sg. Great Shape , 200.00 USD in Portland ,OR., U.S in 1980.I love Tokai, Greco, Burny Golden Age Vintage Japanese Guitars. Like Samurai Katana Smiths, The Japanese Luthier was no joke in the 70's & 80's. I'm old as dirt and they've been my "Lick" for several years . Great Stuff.
@@theguitaristas Thank You so much. Truly my pleasure. Cannot wait to watch many more. I totally understand and got a kick out of the end when you said "time for a Nap" lol. I get it. All the Best-
Dude, I love it when you dropped the bridge screw, you show it in SLOW MOTION! Like "here's a FUCK! OH NO" but you don't skip a beat.... that's so funny. I can't wait to see what's next CHEERS
I call it 'reality guitar modifications'... a new type of content where I mess things up and leave all the mistakes in for others to learn from... part two drops tomorrow! 🤣👍
You know what Colin? I agree with another commenter- I'd quit right there with the new tailpiece, bridge and top-wrapped strings and leave the rest alone. This 'cheap' asian guitar now sounds FANTASTIC.
I’ve got a pair of pickups from your side of the pond A2 7k Alegree pickups had some quality issues with the nickel covers but that aside they are very good sounding you should give them a try with this mod Cheers
Hello Colin, just one thing about the new pickups that you will try out next time I suppose. I found that the Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers which I put in my Epiphone 50s Standard LP do not only sound better than the Probuckers but react much more dynamic to how hard you hit the strings. With that you can not only control the volume better but also the distortion. So this is really an important point when checking out the alternative PUs.
Cheers Lars, the hardest thing for me is trying to decide what to play that properly shows of pickup / picking dynamics... I'm aware of if but can't seem to nail it to order! 🤷♂️ I shall try harder next week and also add some gain to the mix 😎👍
@@theguitaristas I understand. Maybe you can adjust the settings so that when you hit the strings softly you get a rather clean tone and when you hit harder then the tone becomes dirty. Just like a "natural boost" so to speak.
Yet another awesome and thought provoking video. Agree with others that top wrapping the strings seems to have made the most noticeable difference so far. Looking forward to round 2!!!
Another excellent video of tone chasing! I can sit back and relax while watching you do all the work. Looking forward to watching the whole series!
Cheers man have a great weekend! 😎👍
Awesome series! Waiting for next episode ;) I'd love to see similar upgrades done on an affordable strat like the Mexican Player one or the Squire Classic Vibe.
I have an early 80's Tokai that I love! It was in rough shape when I got it but now its amazing. It has A Seymour Duncan 59 in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. It's amazing. Next step is to upgrade to CTS pots.
Nice one Chris! 😎👍
Lucky bugger, regardless how rough it was the 80s Tokai's are legendary, you're building a wonderful players LP.
@@shovington67 Cheers ,man!
Xx
You always do such a great job with these films. Your show is one of my favorite guitar oriented shows on UA-cam. I’m hoping to see your subs and views skyrocket, because you deserve it. You are always such a gentleman, you have a great sense of humor, and your playing ability is very unique, and out of this world!
Thanks that's very kind and much appreciated!! 🙏😊
Absolutely great episode. Can't wait for the next one!
I absolutely like all your videos! I've got a Japanese 1981 Tokai Reborn Old and I tried similar modifications. Faber make great replacement parts but I ended up leaving the original bridge on the guitar but got an old aluminium Tokai stoptail to replace the original heavy one. The original pickups were good, right now I've got Bareknuckles (The Mule in the neck position and a Blackdog in the bridge position). Looking forward to the next videos.
I’m really gonna enjoy this series. Awesome idea and I know the way you do things it’s gonna be the best comparison video of “bits” on the Tube. Thanks in advance. I’m pumped for this.
Cheers Mike! 😎👍
Superb reviews, looking forward to the series.
This is a brilliant idea! A Tokai is a strong instrument to start with. I do know that older Tokai guitars were exceptional for the price, but I don't really know much about the modern ones. Looking forward to it.
Nice one Colin, this should be an interesting series, big fan of Tokai guitars....
I purchased a 20 year old Chinese made Tokai LP Gold Top with P90's from Cash converters for peanuts a few months ago just cleaned it up upgraded the the tuners with Klusons and installed thumb bleeders new strings and a Faber tailpiece and its now a keeper!
Nice score!! 😎👍
I traded a Japanese strat I didn't use for a tokai LP a few months ago. Didn't like the pickups in it so put a set of ToneRiders alnico 2's and replaced the wiring with a monotone solder less harness. Changed the bridge and tailpiece to tonepros locking ones and also got adapter for the bridge to change from the epiphone/import style bridge to smaller ABR1 posts, the result is a more lively and louder guitar in the primary (unplugged) tone. The amped sound seems fuller/thicker, not sure if that's the pickups ar the hardware or a combination of everything
Colin your videos are so entertaining and feature the best reviews/comparisons by a country mile. So much of what your doing resonates with me as I do a lot of modding and yeah, installing wiring looms can be a fiddly nightmare. I've fitted a Faber 59 brass saddle abr bridge (the nylon saddle version is cool if you want a Paul Kossof vibe), conversion posts and tailpiece + studs on my LP Tribute (along with an Emerson 50s wiring loom with prewired toggle switch, SD '59 pickups & Luxe bumblebee caps) and it plays and sounds absolutely killer. And Yeah, top wrapping is the way forward - once I tried it I was sold. Great hearing you're a fan of Hawkwind - (on your SG comparison) - Motorway City is one of my fave tracks; Huw Lloyd Langton & Dave Brock were a fantastic guitar duo. Cheers mate keep up the great work!
Cheers James thanks for supporting it’s appreciated! 😎👍
Love this, thank you! I’ll be taking on one of these projects with a Les Paul shortly. Truly helpful!!
Cheers Brent... should be fun and maybe I can save you a few $$$ 😎👍
Awesome video and looking forward to the rest of the series Colin, looks like I'll have to get my hands on a Tokai at some stage!
Cheers Dave, I'm hearing that Tokai have changed ownership so wondering if these (or at least the Japanese models) are hot tips for future investment guitars? I'm definitely on the hunt for a Japanese model anyway as they are reputed to be the real Gibson beaters. Take care man and have a great weekend! 😎🎸
Bravo mate, love your channel always fun to tinker about and we always learn something!
Cheers Jess that's appreciated! 😎👍
Great episode. Lots of agony doing these mods to allow us our viewing pleasure 😂. Looking forward to the next episode. Great stuff.
Cheers man! 😆👍
Great idea on the Tokai series, looking forward to the next one...subtle f*** was funnnayy. Top playing btw. Cheers
Cheers man! 😆👍
Hi Collin, a very craftmenship video - well done never saw somone pulling the bushings - great great!! Thomas
Cheers Thomas! 😎👍
I found your channel when searching for reviews of the new "Gibson Inspired" Epiphone Customs. Five minutes into the first video of yours that I watched, I was hooked. I'm watching through everything on your channel now. Thanks for all your time and effort. It's not going unappreciated. (Also, because of your review, I did end up with the new Epi Custom.)
Cheers Robert, thanks for the support mate it’s appreciated! 😁👍
Great stuff Colin. I wish I’d seen this 10 years ago when I had a gold top Tokai.
great video mate!
i was listening/watching as i took care of some sharp fret edges on a monoprice os20 i recently got....
felt like we were both in the same room working together lol! awesome!
Nice one! 😁👍
Hi Colin, great modding, oh and a lot of interesting pups to compare, hilarious when lifting the pickups, you said "It's attacking me", cheers mate.
😆👍 cheers man!
I'm really happy you made this film, Colin! I like upgrading and LPs very much, so I'm looking forward to the next Tokai adventures. It's also a good reference concerning the parts used, if I consider a similar kind of upgrade to help me decide if it makes sense. But for this purpose I'd prefer the before/after bits to be exactly side by side, same pickup, melody and everything as our hearing memory is quite limited. I'm aware it probably wouldn't be such fun to make and would include some tedious editing. Just saying... Cheers!
Cheers Alan, yes its hard to make comparisons both valid and interesting at the same time... I hope one day to find a solution! 😆👍
this is great, i love rock. thanks for the hard work mate, we appreciate you
Cheers man! 😎👍
This is so cool. People may knock on “cheap” guitars, but quite often they are great mod/upgrade platforms. Yes, sometimes you can fall down a rabbit hole and end up spending as much in upgrades as you did for the guitar itself, but it is fun to build up something like this and end up with a killer “signature” guitar that is unique to YOU. I’m excited to watch this series and see how this thing ends up. CHEERS!!
Cheers man, Yes agreed... its one of the fun parts of our hobby messing around improving (or ruining! 🤣) these guitars to make them uniquely ours! 😎👍
Aftermarket products are famous for exaggeration.
More tone than you can imagine.
More resonance than you can dream of.
Greater warm image than you can see.
The guitar is superior cause they thought about how to improve the Les Paul but YOU DIDN'T.
YOU'RE JUST A HORRIBLE copycat.
Copycat men are everywhere and they're famous for ruining perfectly fine instruments.
@theguitaristas
I have a destroyed Gibson Les Paul Custom black beauty.
So your whole concept of the standard is WRONG.
Lots of standard Les Paul's were destroyed for no good reasons.
Your collection shows consumption.
That's what 1 of each is.
Have you even begun to buy the 1st level of set buying?
Which would be, buying a PAIR OF GUITARS.
Have you started to buy a matching SET of 3 guitars???
Buying into mass produced products is about buying a big set of guitars 🎸 🎸 🎸 🎸 .
Otherwise you'd be buying the professional built guitar which is the handmade guitar.
Factory 🏭 is just factory built.
You're not some genius by buying factory made.
Interesting video Colin. For me when you first played the Tokia, to my ears it actually sounded quite dead. However for me the biggest improvement was new strings (appreciate the strings on it were quite new anyway) and then top wrapping. That significantly improved the sound to my ears. The new bridge and tail piece enhanced it further but the biggest and best so far was that string change/top wrap. Clearly all subjective but just my ears. Looking forward to listening to various pick up changes next week. Thanks as always mate.
Cheers Mark, yes I agree that bag fresh strings are always seem to be the biggest improvement which I suppose is why several sets will be sacrificed in this series! I did expect to hear more of a difference with the tailpiece change but not so much this time to my ears... 🤔
I have to agree, the top wrap and new strings was the biggest difference for me as well.
Great video. Enjoyed watching.
Can't wait for the rest of the videos.
I really enjoy your videos! You can get that 90% or more to a Gibson. The wood ( more quality mahogany) makes that bit of difference in a loud setting. In bedroom levels you would never hear it. As always great job, God Bless.
This is a great video. Outstanding work. Thank you.
Cheers Andrew that’s appreciated! 😎👍
Great vid mate, looks like a good combo of fun and stress! lol all the best mate, have a great weekend! :)
Cheers Jeff, and you mate have a good one! 😎👍
This is so great, love the concept and look forward to the pickup comparison. The end bit was so funny, I’ve been rewiring an Epi today with 50’s braided wire, it’s such a pain in the arse poking that stuff through those small routes and of course I’ve an untracable short circuit/dodgy pot/my incompetence problem. Effing and blinding all day. Loved the slo-mo accidents too. Why do we do this ?
Ah nice one Keith I laughed when I read you were sharing my pain!! 🤣 It really never is as simple and straightforward as we think it's going to be is it?? 🤣🤣👍
All f***in' killer, no f***in' filler. You're the man, Colin.
Great project... many thanks for sharing it with us.
Cheers David! 😆👍
Excellent presentation...
I've always wondered in chasing the holy grail of tone, ( wood tone, construction,and finish, not addressed... a different level of questions) what would be the best options. The course your pursuing would be the same as my mindset.. the only difference, in my mind would be the electronics...I had thought that a Fishmann classic humbuckers would be my choice... Since their claim is a modeled accurate representation of the originals... Looking forward to future episodes on this... Keep up the great content!
Cheers Michael, I have an inkling this project could be ongoing as there are so many pickups we could try.... 🤔
Great video Colin. I could tell a huge difference in tone when I put the aluminum tailpiece on a 92 Classic I had. That guitar had the ABR-1 bridge post going directly into the wood. I usually like the lightweight tailpiece but can’t say they make a difference. Pickups and pickup height will make the most difference. Shame you don’t have a set of burstbucker pros to try
Cheers John, I think the pickup swaps could carry on for a while as I add more options the Alnico 5 pros' could be a possibility!
What a good idea love the concept
OMG, now I own a Tokai myself, this looks like a vid for me on order.
BTW, there was a garage sale, I got myself a second Tokai Love Rock. One may be modded like yours.
Anyways, many thx mate, I love your vids, keep them going.
Love your channel. Keep on, keepin on
Thanks Robert that's appreciated! 😎👍
perfect series. much love from Turkey!
Thanks man that's appreciated! 😎👍
I think it was during the epi 59 Les Paul upgrade videos that you used some waveform visualization tool to display the waveforms for each sound test for visual comparison. For me, that does a lot to show if the sound changed (and how it changed) even if the change was slight and not really something easily noticeable. That would be very interesting in this series. Thanks for all these comparisons. They're always eye opening!
Cheers George, yes I considered that for this series but it only really works if you play identical riffs and I decided to try and make it more interesting this time... not convinced I have succeed though! Good point though so maybe I can try to roll it out when filming tomorrow... 🤔
I've just begun experimental testing with my Epi 59'... popped the covers off the pups, and ordered a round of Faber goodness. Great video !
Nice one! were they wax potted?... that can be messy! 😆
@@theguitaristas yes they were but it wasn't very messy. Just a little wipe down, nothing crazy. I feel like it opened up the tone a bit? A touch more high end.
Hi Colin. Great video. I thought I could hear a difference. I think the next time I string one of my Les Pauls I'm going to wrap the tail piece. Never tried it. Looking forward to the next video. Cheers.
Cheers man, yes give it a try and let us know what you reckon!
Glad to see you using what you already have instead of buying new guitars. Good work as usual : )
Yes I am trying really hard not to buy any new guitars at all this month.... I am getting a bit twitchy now though and still 10 days to go! 🤣
Another fascinating video, thanks
I have a 2004 LS150... Stunning guitar with solid AAA top, lightweight Tailpiece, one piece back and nitro. I put a pair of Duncan antiquity buckers and changed the caps to PIO. It sounds wonderful.
That's an expensive guitar now though Oli... more than a Gibson Les Paul standard! 😲
I'm excited for the future episodes. One prediction, the Duncan set will sound very similar to the 490/498 set.
Cheers Kenny 😎👍
I've taken several different models of pickups apart, just to see the construction of them. They were damaged and not working. But what I found is the Epiphone classic pro Humbucker is constructed with the same materials, except the flatwork, as the original PAF's. Checking there impedance on a working guitar, I've found that the readings are virtually identical to the original PAF's. I know some folks are going to whine and cry and say they are shit because of the manufacturer. But I've been repairing guitars and winding pickups for a very long time. And I personally own a court sets of Gibson '58 PAF's and had to rewind one of the bridge pickups. The Epiphone classic pro is the closest to the original PAF's on the market today. They are amazing pickups. You should use them in the tokai gold top
Cheers Donny, I have heard others say similar things about Epi pickups which is why I wanted to put them against a couple of PAF clones and Burstbuckers... maybe we can dispel some urban myths!
@@theguitaristas definitely, I think the only difference you will find is the Epiphone pickups don't have the long legs. But everything else is virtually identical.
Interesting. Were the Epiphones unpotted, scatterwound, and mismatched windings on the two coils of each pickup? Because those are the things that make the tone of original PAFs what it is, from what I’ve heard.
@@darwinsaye anything new will always be wax potted. Unless it's a custom pickup to your spec. With the machines they have now, unless the wire is guided by hand it's not going to be scatter wound. But I have done scatter winds that I try to clean up and smooth out towards the end. Just so it's a bit cleaner. Now the coils are wound different on each pickup. One coil is hotter than the other. That's really what gives the PAF tone, the scatter gives it that raw tele on steroids tone. Almost like a '50-'51 Esquire. Not quite the raw you hear in a p-90. The dog ear, the soap bar has a different tone because of the way it's mounted through the pickup instead of out on the ears of the base plate. But most people you hear talking about that "PAF" tone, they never heard or seen a PAF. Let alone played a guitar with any. If I had a way to show you, I have pictures of a PAF and the epi pickup dismantled. And you can see that everything is the same. I can show the readings and gauss measurements. They are virtually identical. Epiphone really did their homework and did one hell of a job.
@@donnyhall2535 Nice comeback dude! 😆👍👍
Another cool video Sir thank you. I tried soldering new 50s pots in with pickups and totally ballsed it up and just got bad feed back from pickups, confused the hell out of me as I followed the instructions gave up lol, so bought and obsidian set up for my iron gear blues engines but having issues with that now works fine between the two pickups on distortion but I select clean on my amp and the sound of clean goes right down to hardly hearing any sound out of pick-ups very annoying so stopped modding for a while and chilling
Now this type of video I really like....keep going! New tail piece and new bridge with brass for me
Cheers man, your vote has been counted! 😆👍
@@theguitaristas Missed the crocs but I am not done watching yet
@@grg-mpgmusic7247 No pedals this week so you will have to guess the footwear!
Cool idea Colin😎👍
This series is going to help expose the positive and negative and neutral results of upgrades😉😎👍
Personally like top wrap IF the neck angle allows enough downward pressure on the bridge. If the angle is off by just one degree, it could negate the top wrap.😉
To the ears, the Tokai right from the start sounded woodier, more sustain and warmer with a softer attack whether plugged in or unplugged.
The original bridge does sound more...robust...? However the Faber bridge may be more suited for jazzy blues...? Regular wrap may produce a more rock friendly response...?
Not at all convinced on the stop tailpiece's affect.
Hat is off for this undertaking you have decided in for our benefit.
Thank you so much....you have the patience of a saint 😉😎👍
Looking forward to the whole series 😁
😎👍❤🖖
Love Brother
Hey Richard, yes it did inspire some jazzy riffs that bridge! 😆👍 You say I have patience... wait until next week brother! 🤣🤣
@@theguitaristas
Ah...yes, there will be pain eh...?
The lengths you will go for your fellow Guitaristas has never been in question...We Salute You😉😎👍
😎👍❤🖖
Love Brother
Your videos are excellent! 🥂💯
Some folks like the slinkier feel of top wrapping because of course the angle from tailpiece to bridge is reduced, but you could string the normal way and just raise the height of the tailpiece to get the same slinkier feel. IMO
Of course some guitarists insist screwing the tailpiece down to the body is the way to go.
However, all Tokai Japan models come setup from the factory with the tailpiece about 3.5mm from the body!...I like it that way.
TOP wrapping my '59 Epi NOW! Colin! This is a great one. Not much cursing, but I can't wait to see what's next... CHEERS Have a great week
Cheer Bob, there is some colourful language to follow! 🤣👍 have a great weekend mate.
@@theguitaristas enjoying better sustain! Top wrap rules Colin
I have one of these. I didn't mod anything at all, since I'm still just beginning to learn guitar. More than enough for me without the mods. Guitar feels great 👍
As soon as I heard the gibson unplugged I knew you had a great guitar !
I love the Faber hardware. I use it on all of my Gibson guitars. Tailpiece, studs & bushings, posts with inserts, and ABR-1 style bridge. Well worth the money in my opinion. Next time try Fabers 2-piece tailpiece studs that sandwich the tailpiece and transfer more vibration to the guitar.
Cheers John I will check those out! 😎👍
Due to this project... I Subscribed !
Nice backdrop of SGs
Cheers Gary thanks for the sub and support! 😎👍
"Top-Wrapping" your next new strings backwards then over the stop tailpiece (as is normal on a one-piece "Special-1" style bridge) is a super hotrodding tip that costs nothing but totally changes the feel and sound of your guitar. Easier bending due to lower overall tension, a little more Fender-ish 'twang' maybe if you like that, and as you noted, less breakover at the bridge saddles meaning your strings will stay brighter sounding and last and/or stay in tune longer. You might even find the stock nut on your guitar is not so bad after all. Great tip there, Colin!
Cheers Ed, I don't think I mentioned it but this guitar has a cow bone nut already which for many is the holy grail anyway? I will be leaving that alone I think.... 😎👍
Actual top wrapping has been scientifically proven that it adds more tension when bending making it harder, not easier.
@@bvanfossen01 😲
I cut the brass ball of the old string inside of the bridge tailpiece and run the string thru it.
@@bvanfossen01 I'd be interested in seeing a scientific study on this, can you say where we can find it? I'm willing to have my mind changed because this may well be one of those counterintuitive things in mechanics. But subjectively, my Les Paul seems more stable and easier to play when I top-wrap my stop tailpiece, just as you would on a Special with a one-piece bridge because there is no choice. Please enlighten me.
Thank you Colin, another great video. I feel your reaming pain'. I preferred the brass saddle tone.
😆👍
I was really hoping you were going to throw a set of Gibson 57 classics ( with a plus in the bridge ) in there too. But hey, you can't do 'em all or you'd never get done.
This is why I love this channel so much. It'll drive me nuts waiting to see the rest.
I think this series can run and run though and I think I have at least one 57 classic in an SG somewhere.... 😆👍
@@theguitaristas Aha! The games afoot then.
I understand that buying a new guitar every week to review (unless you can borrow some) is not feasible so I am glad and interested over these kind of videos: upgrading, modding, etc. existing guitars and see how well they stack up against other similar instruments but more with an approach towards: is this good enough? is it worth upgrading? is it worth the hassle? should the money be better spent just buying a guitar already 'done up'? kinda thing. Thanks for the videos and PLEASE keep 'em comin'!
Cheers man... mind you these parts aren't cheap either! 😆👍
Fascinating stuff and you're just on the hardware! Looking forward to the rest of the ride - the pick-ups bit will be really interesting! I tried some 70's Seymour Duncans in my LP Custom back in 1975 but found them too 'hot' so kept the originals in. So - wondering if now might be the time to find a cheap Gibson copy and give them a shot - I'm inspired. P.S. Lollars going into my Casino as we speak!
Hey Morton, hot humbuckers were the fashion back then I suppose... mind you this JB SH-4 for the bridge is no slouch! Now, you don't seem to be very stressed out so am I right to guessing someone is installing those lollars for you? 😆👍
You got it!
Didn't see the tonal difference in the brass saddles coming like that. But it makes sense. Brass being softer than steel. Makes me wonder how Tele's fair with regards to the various saddles they are outfitted with. Maybe another video series down the road, Colin?? 🤔 It's much appreciated to see you working through the madness on our behalf! The ultimate question... will spending money make something good, even better? Or is there a bias in our perceived outcome because we spent all of our hard-earned money like this in the first place?? I certainly hear the differences. But are they enough that a good amp or pedal wouldn't overcome? We guitarists can certainly be a finicky lot. 🥴 Looking forward to the pickup differences. Thank you, kindly!! 🙏
Cheers Sammywhat, I do think confirmation bias is a big problem for us guitar nerds and I’m going to do something on this in the future. A series on Telecaster’s and various upgrades is definitely gonna happen! 😎👍👍
ok sir you win me with the bushing removel trick....thats realy smart...greetings
😆👍
Can't wait to DRILL down into this upgrade series!
😆👍👍
Hi Colin - nice project! Looking forward to the result!
BTW - finally a SG made its way to my home. I found a 2010 Epiphone 1961 les paul sg 400 custom in vintage ivory with 3 PUs and for a SG the lady has a really chunky neck. Love it!
At the end you see: the SG has landed.😂
Greetings from Germany
P.S.: I own a Japanes Tokai Love Rock in 1982 - today I wish I never sold it to afford a Hamer Standard (Explorer) with a wonderful flamed maple top in sunburst! That neck was way to small!
Welcome to the SG owners club!! 😆👍
@@theguitaristas Thank you! 😃
Good morning from Chicago. Nice to see you again. I'd like to give a Tokai a try, but US availability is sketchy at best
Must be because of that headstock design...lol
I think grey import is the way to go for you!.. mind you they are few and far between here in UK 🤷♂️
I see them often on ebay and reverb.....been looking at them for a while now......they are available..not exactly cheap...
Just love it brother!!!
Thanks man that's appreciated! 😎👍
@@theguitaristas Always a joy to watch and listen!
Aloha and Mahalo Colin! This should be an interesting series. I just happened to see a Cherry Sunburst Tokai Love Rock today's Craigslist. As usual, I find these guitar when money is tight. As I said before, Tokai guitars are rare here.
Hey Victor, that's the danger of looking at Craigslist and the like... always something you want but can't afford! I currently have enough ongoing projects for filming so am trying to not buy any new guitars this month... the trick so far seems to be not to look at them online!! 😆👍
@@theguitaristas Colin your right but I been in bed since my accident so eventually out of boredom... And I got several projects to do also. Guitar related and other stuff.
@@victorbeebe8372 Sorry man I didn't realise it was that bad... you on the mend though?
great episode.. can you see the edwards e-lps. is a very interesting les paul copy made in japan by ESP.. people said that is the rabit hole of the les paul copies, a perfect construction about 900 euros
Nice! Thanks.
Excellent video again. Agreed with you about bridge. Original sounded better. 👌 Looking forward to more.
Here for the playing.
Not disappointed.
Thanks mate! 🙏😎👍
Before you even start. SO STOKED to watch this and hear results.
😆👍👍
I own a couple of Japanese Tokai's, one having the stock PAF MK2 and the other with Monty's PAF's. I have to say the stock pickups sound so good I wouldn't even consider replacing them. I bought the other Tokai already loaded with the Monty's. Dare I say I think I prefer the stock Tokai pups, but they're close.
I thought the Tokai sounded pretty sweet too!!!
@@joehahn8817 Those stock pickups are probably pretty decent. I'd guess not as good as the Tokai (Gotoh?) PAF MK2 that are typically found in the Japanese models, but not complete shit either.
We might even find out next week that they are as good as many of the others... I mean there already wasn't a massive difference between the Gibson was there?
I’ve been hooked on Japanese made guitars for a long time, I own a 98 Orville LPS, almost bought a Greco.
I have 2 awesome Japanese Tokai LP's, both made by kunishi Furuhashi, a master luthier who builds high end guitars for various Japanese makers. Ones a prototype from 2001, It has all the LS320 specs of the era except it has a one piece curly maple top, Honduran mahogany and ebony board with fret edge binding, it has the tightest long tenon neck joint I've ever seen, It sports an aluminium tailpiece standard, it is one of six made {far right in my avatar}. The other is a 2003 Tokai custom order gold top, again Honduran mahogany, long neck tenon, rosewood board aluminium tailpiece and I have fitted some custom wound pickups, It has a thinner neck and is my main guitar {second from right in my avatar}. Both are excellent to play but the prototype stays in its case most of the time. My other go to Les Paul is a 1982 Greco RR65 custom with dry 1982 pickups, it has a fatter neck but has a smooth tone that I just love {far left, the 2nd from left is a Bacchus}. The Japanese sure knew how to make some awesome guitars...
Nice one Mick! 👍👍
Great video 😊😊😊
Cheers Ruben! 😎👍
I have been upgrading my 90's Encore S style over the week and when it came to the thin lightweight trem block I couldn't afford a Wilkinson beefed up one so I bought some tire weights off ebay and stuck them on. Worked a treat, more mass in the bridge, more sustain and better tone :-)
Nice work! 😆👍
Pics or it didn’t happen! Lol.
Hi Scott!
I don't think there's any way of uploading photos here :-)
Don't forget to try it with an amber switch tip! I've got into this stuff in the past and my conclusion is that, with the knobs on full, 99.8% of the tone comes down to the pickups. Want to upgrade to a vintage '59 sounding LP? Save your money for some decent PAF clones (there are lots now. It's '50s tech, not a quantum computer). Put them in, set the heights right and you'll get that Beano/Greeny/Pearly sound without any trouble - even on a Cort.
The rest of this stuff is mostly about feel and satisfaction. My 2010 Tokai LS150 is one of their Premium range within the MIJ LPs. So it had the lightweight tailpiece, CTS pots, brass saddles, good capacitors, switchcraft switch and jack, and all that malarkey. Changing the wiring to '50s made a big difference when rolling back the volumes. Putting a pare of Bareknuckles in it made a huge difference. Not because the Tokai pickups were poor - they were just halfway between a '70s/'80s humbucker and a '50s one.
I top wrap because Jimmy Page did so it feels cool. But really it makes no real difference. If the break angle is _really_ shallow you'll lose sustain and may buzz. If it's way too much you'll probably break strings and have tuning problems. But otherwise it won't do much.
It's nice to have a tricked out Les Paul. But many of the biggest feel factors are in the wood and finish. And for that you have to pay a bit extra for the basic guitar (though you don't have to pay Gibson prices). It's really all about the pickups with a well set up Les Paul. And decent pots and caps wired '50s will make the controls actually useful. The other stuff is more just nice-to-have.
Agreed, it's all about the pickups.
Cheers man, looking forward to changing the pups to see what we can coax out of this... I tend to agree that no big gains so far but I did forget that switch tip! 😂👍
@@theguitaristas that amber tip is where all that 'burst tone comes from!
Patience of a saint!
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In my experience with my Gibson SG swapping the lightweight tailpiece and bridge for heavier ones to alleviate some of the neckdive i noticed it has lost some harmonics acoustically but it did get a bit more sustain. Playing clean it is noticable comparing the two, but there isn't much difference in overdriven sound.
Same on my Gibson LP when i swapped the kluson tuners for a set of Grovers, the difference was just a bit less pronounced.
Having said that, if you have a dark sounding guitar you can brighten it a bit by using lightweight hardware or dull down a very bright guitar replacing the hardware with heavier equipement.
But ofcourse we all know that most of the tone comes from the massively expensive catalin switchtip and Cellulose Acetate Butyrate plastics which cost an arm and both legs (and maybe your house) :P
anyway nice video, looking forward for the next video
Cheers man, that is an interesting conundrum... sustain vs harmonics... I think there's something in that for sure. But of course you're right they don't make plastic like they used to so maybe we need to get some of that in! 😆👍
Lovely!!!
I just put one of those Gibson/Epiphone fine tuner tailpieces and a Kahler behind the nut string lock on a beautiful old Samick Artist Series Les Paul with a bubinga top and you couldn't knock that thing out of tune with a hammer. With a Seymour Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid in the bridge and a 59 in the neck - the thing is absolutely incredible - all for about $200.
😎👍
Hi Colin, as for my taste I would not use the Faber bridge, but the tailpiece. A big step you can make with the CTS pots , I suggest you to measure out the pots before and use one with 520K or even more resistance for the neck vol. 500K for the bridge. Cheers Nobby
Cheers Nobby, so far that's my feeling on the hardware too, but easy enough to try the different bridges again with some different pickups and see what gives. I got the loom pre-wired from Monty's so didn't measure them but hopefully he will have used the optimum components... one would hope so for the cost! 😆👍
I just finished a similar upgrade plan on a Vintage brand Gold Top w/P90s.. swapped the stacked Wilkinson pups for Tonerider Hot 90's, then a set of Gibson P90's, w/ sperzel lockers, Babicz full contact bridge, cleaned up a quite nasty rough, barely 'finished' control cavity routing, shielded everything, installed a pure tone jack, switch craft toggle, push back wire, Bourns pots individually shimmed for perfect knob height..PIO caps.
It is freekin awesome....only one thing I would consider next is swapping in some really nice ( xpensivvvvveee!!) Lollar or ..? P90's...but it plays so well & sounds so great now I really don't see a need to fk with it for a while..... 💗 Plus at about $950 invested to this point not sure what more a set of $400 pups would bring to the party....then again, never played a set of baller P90's so maybe I don't know what I'm missing....
Nice one!.... I guarantee now you will be searching for some juicy new boutique P90's before long! 😂👍
@@theguitaristas you bastige setting me off on a quest I have been pretending I didn't need to go on yet lol.. thanks for the great videos I subscribed a mo. or three ago ..enjoy your work and wish I had the patience to document all the upgrading in have done in just the last 2.5 years of my newly rekindled guitar obsession. ( Thanks COVID! )
Stay well!! Look fwd to episode 2 !
@@RaptorV1USA 😆👍👍
As far as the hardware, I really like Wilkinson/Gotoh. Wilkinson isn't very expensive and the build quality is on par with anything else on the market. I think the bridge and tailpiece on my Gibson SG cost me $35 for both. Their tuners are very good and are $25-$40 depending on which model you buy. I like the fact that they are inexpensive parts, but I won't buy inexpensive if the quality is shit. And I would never recommend anything that I don't use myself.
Wilkinson tuners are stunners. I've used them on a few builds. No idea how they will last, but they are certainly well made and I love the way the work at the moment.
Certain Gotoh bridges are wider across than Gibson stock tune o matics, gives more room for intonation.
I put one on a 70s Lawsuit SG.. helped.
I second that. No reason to buy overpriced parts just because of the brand when you can get good quality much cheaper.
@@alanst.4417 Well in this case I think if you buy the Epiphone classic pro humbucker set, it's still $200-$250. If I remember correctly. But the quality of them is just as good as any set you will find in any high end guitar. And definitely drags any PRS paf clone or any of their pickups through the mud.
@@donnyhall2535 great to hear that they're really good, because based on various shootouts I've already got one epi classic pro set waiting for me at home 😄 I think we share a similar viewpoint. Cheers!
This is going to be a Dr Frankenstein. It's gonna be the ying n yang. I think after you change either the Gibson's 59 pickups or Epiphone pickups and put the bigger pods its going to sound cool. But by the time you put the upgrades i bet overall cost is close to the studio LP Gibson. Try after this listen to your studio and the Japanese LP and it's very close. I put your studio LP video and listened to both and it's close. I can't take a guitar apart from my stroke but I'll watch you and your channel is a good learning channel. I bought the ZZ Top peddle and love it. I think you'll dig it to. Hand down its awesome. No dead spots on the volume,tone,gain. It's really good. Thank you
Cheers Lawrence, good point I just added it up and already it's £200 in hardware and strings!... by time we add pickups and wiring it will run to about £900 so we are in tribute territory but still a decent pedal away from the studio 😆 ZZ Top one sounds good... I'm very happy for you to you lay down a shuffle and jam along with me while I do the work! 😎👍
Brass seems to sustain longer, I had an old curtain pole which I cut to a few inches drilled the bolt hole I was going to use all the was through then on the bottom drilled a little bit bigger hole for the stud a little taller than what the stud would be then glued some soft cloth to the bottom I was then able to put a bolt in and screw out the piece with no damage or marks to my guitar,. Kept it for future jobs 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Fascinating video - great stuff! I have 4 MIJ Love Rocks...the 2 vintage series ones have the standard tail piece and bridge. The 2 premium series have brass saddles and aluminium tail pieces....you notice the difference playing quietly at home but on stage, playing a loud, sweaty punk gig the differences just don't matter. The Faber dealer in Germany, Gottfried, is also the Tokai German dealer I bought a white custom Tokai off him. In terms of hardware - are you going to change the tuners at all? Really looking forward to the pick-up comparison - all my Tokais are stock with the Japanese Mark IIs in 3 of them - Goldie has P90s. The Mark IIs are vintage output so not too hot and suit my 77-style punk rock....but will be very interested to see what difference the pick-ups make on the Chinese Love Rock. Have a great weekend and looking forward to the next instalment.
Cheers man, I have been looking at prices for the Japanese ones and quite shocked at how much they are! 😲... I may stick with this upgraded one although I have a bit of an itch for a ULS129 now. '77 was a great year man and I was there when it all happened!! 👍😎🎸🧷
I have a tobacco sunburs MIJ Love Rock and it's a hell of a workhorse, definitely a Gibson killer once upgraded!
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Hi thats a great guitar project you r starting there, I just love TOKAIs!!! I know that you love SG's so can you please please please review the chinese Tokai SG 58 and maybe compare it with the epiphone and Gibson SG's you own?
Cheers, will definitely look out for a Tokai SG! 😎👍
I love this channel. You’re ace and cheer me up no end. I have Les Pauls. To my ear, the Tokai sounded creamy…What p’ups does the Gibson have as some of them are shocking! You’ll know when you know right? Loving the deconstruction though! Right, better get myself together. Off to see Van the man later! Peace
Thanks Amanda I appreciate the support! 😎👍 The Gibson has Burstbuckers 1 & 2 so not too dusty to start with but I got some PAF's going in the Tokai and oh my they do a thing!! Now I'd say I hope enjoy the gig but how could you not! 🙌🙌
Love the Channel. By chance Drive By. You bet I Subbed. Look at those SG's hanging in the background. One of my 1st Guitars was a '64 L.P. Jr. Sg. Great Shape , 200.00 USD in Portland ,OR., U.S in 1980.I love Tokai, Greco, Burny Golden Age Vintage Japanese Guitars. Like Samurai Katana Smiths, The Japanese Luthier was no joke in the 70's & 80's. I'm old as dirt and they've been my "Lick" for several years . Great Stuff.
Nice one man glad you found us thanks for the sub and support! 😎👍👍
@@theguitaristas Thank You so much. Truly my pleasure. Cannot wait to watch many more. I totally understand and got a kick out of the end when you said "time for a Nap" lol. I get it. All the Best-
@@teriakamoto 😆👍
Dude, I love it when you dropped the bridge screw, you show it in SLOW MOTION! Like "here's a FUCK! OH NO" but you don't skip a beat.... that's so funny. I can't wait to see what's next CHEERS
I call it 'reality guitar modifications'... a new type of content where I mess things up and leave all the mistakes in for others to learn from... part two drops tomorrow! 🤣👍
I have a 1986 Love Rock model stored at my mothers, an LS80 model if memory serves.
Nice one!... suggest its time to that out Jay!! 😎👍
I decided to have a glass of wine every time he said 'get a drink'.
I'm totally ****ed now...
You know what Colin? I agree with another commenter- I'd quit right there with the new tailpiece, bridge and top-wrapped strings and leave the rest alone. This 'cheap' asian guitar now sounds FANTASTIC.
It would be interesting if at the end of all this and after this testing numerous other pickups you lot voted to replace the originals! 😆👍
I’ve got a pair of pickups from your side of the pond A2 7k Alegree pickups had some quality issues with the nickel covers but that aside they are very good sounding you should give them a try with this mod
Cheers
Cheers man I shall check them out 👍
Hello Colin, just one thing about the new pickups that you will try out next time I suppose. I found that the Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers which I put in my Epiphone 50s Standard LP do not only sound better than the Probuckers but react much more dynamic to how hard you hit the strings. With that you can not only control the volume better but also the distortion. So this is really an important point when checking out the alternative PUs.
Cheers Lars, the hardest thing for me is trying to decide what to play that properly shows of pickup / picking dynamics... I'm aware of if but can't seem to nail it to order! 🤷♂️ I shall try harder next week and also add some gain to the mix 😎👍
@@theguitaristas I understand. Maybe you can adjust the settings so that when you hit the strings softly you get a rather clean tone and when you hit harder then the tone becomes dirty. Just like a "natural boost" so to speak.