MichaelW
Well-known member
I can't believe it's taken my 48 years to finally get one.
I've been coveting one since I was 12 or 13. The second band I was in, I think we formed in the 8th grade, the other guitar player's dad bought him an SG and an Ampeg half stack. I've been wanting an SG ever since.
With the literally hundreds of guitars that have come an gone since then, I can't believe I never got an SG. Man, I am in LOVE. Fits me so well and so much fun to play!
I haven't made any big secret of my disdain for Gibson (the company, not the guitars) and how I just can't bring myself to buy a Gibson (although I am inching closer and closer heh)
I've been mulling over how much SG to buy, for a hot minute I considered another Chibson project then bagged the idea.
Also mulling over whether I wanted a standard or an SG Special. (I've also not made a secret of my fondness for P90's heh)
I finally decided to go with another Tokai SG Standard and very glad I did! I love my other two Tokai guitars and man, this one does not disappoint.
Build quality is through the roof. Perfectly dressed frets, perfectly cut nut, action actually came TOO LOW (but played buzz free). That generally doesn't happen.
I am super pleased with it and have been jamming on it for hours.
The neck is not super whippy and more comfortable to play than I expected. I generally like some chunk on my necks but slim taper is well done on this Tokai.
The wiring came super neat, like my Tokai Les Paul. At this range, they used Korean pots but they were full size. You need to get up into the premium range to get the nitro finish and CTS pots.
They used Log for the volume and linear for tone. Which I still don't get but wtf do I know, heh.
As nice and neat as everything was, of course the first thing I did was tear into it. I replaced the stock pickups, which are wound too hot for my tastes.
I had a set of Durbano Magnetics 59 PAF's that I popped in. Also replaced the pots with CTS TAOT 525k pots. I used my go-to .015 Russian PIO tone caps in both positions but I may swap out the bridge pickup for a .033. 50's SG Wiring. (Which ironic since the SG wasn't introduced til 61 hahah)
The pickups sound really good but I may wind up getting another set of Wolfetone Legends custom wound for me. I'll live with it for a bit before deciding.
I'm not even gonna say it, (that this is my last new guitar for a while) because who the hell am I kidding? heh.
The stock wiring was nice and neat. The jack was a Switchcraft so I left that in. I had ordered a Switchcraft toggle but it was too short for this guitar. So I re-used the toggle that was in there. It feels pretty solid, so we'll see how long it lasts.
Not sure what to make of this neck joint. Long tenon? Medium tenon?
She's a real looker....
Very nice dark rosewood fingerboard. Just needed a coat of F1 oil and a light fret polish.
The nut was perfectly cut, perfect slot depth. Didn't have to touch it.
They use African Mahogany (Khaya) which is not as "stripey" as Sapele but still is more "banded" than Central American mahogany. I picked the one with the most uniform grain and color.
Loving it!
I've been coveting one since I was 12 or 13. The second band I was in, I think we formed in the 8th grade, the other guitar player's dad bought him an SG and an Ampeg half stack. I've been wanting an SG ever since.
With the literally hundreds of guitars that have come an gone since then, I can't believe I never got an SG. Man, I am in LOVE. Fits me so well and so much fun to play!
I haven't made any big secret of my disdain for Gibson (the company, not the guitars) and how I just can't bring myself to buy a Gibson (although I am inching closer and closer heh)
I've been mulling over how much SG to buy, for a hot minute I considered another Chibson project then bagged the idea.
Also mulling over whether I wanted a standard or an SG Special. (I've also not made a secret of my fondness for P90's heh)
I finally decided to go with another Tokai SG Standard and very glad I did! I love my other two Tokai guitars and man, this one does not disappoint.
Build quality is through the roof. Perfectly dressed frets, perfectly cut nut, action actually came TOO LOW (but played buzz free). That generally doesn't happen.
I am super pleased with it and have been jamming on it for hours.
The neck is not super whippy and more comfortable to play than I expected. I generally like some chunk on my necks but slim taper is well done on this Tokai.
The wiring came super neat, like my Tokai Les Paul. At this range, they used Korean pots but they were full size. You need to get up into the premium range to get the nitro finish and CTS pots.
They used Log for the volume and linear for tone. Which I still don't get but wtf do I know, heh.
As nice and neat as everything was, of course the first thing I did was tear into it. I replaced the stock pickups, which are wound too hot for my tastes.
I had a set of Durbano Magnetics 59 PAF's that I popped in. Also replaced the pots with CTS TAOT 525k pots. I used my go-to .015 Russian PIO tone caps in both positions but I may swap out the bridge pickup for a .033. 50's SG Wiring. (Which ironic since the SG wasn't introduced til 61 hahah)
The pickups sound really good but I may wind up getting another set of Wolfetone Legends custom wound for me. I'll live with it for a bit before deciding.
I'm not even gonna say it, (that this is my last new guitar for a while) because who the hell am I kidding? heh.
The stock wiring was nice and neat. The jack was a Switchcraft so I left that in. I had ordered a Switchcraft toggle but it was too short for this guitar. So I re-used the toggle that was in there. It feels pretty solid, so we'll see how long it lasts.
Not sure what to make of this neck joint. Long tenon? Medium tenon?
She's a real looker....
Very nice dark rosewood fingerboard. Just needed a coat of F1 oil and a light fret polish.
The nut was perfectly cut, perfect slot depth. Didn't have to touch it.
They use African Mahogany (Khaya) which is not as "stripey" as Sapele but still is more "banded" than Central American mahogany. I picked the one with the most uniform grain and color.
Loving it!
