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hey guys, just givin a review of the Tokai Loverock Goldtop that i just got, i love it

Finish/craftsmanship - the Goldtop is very well done and looks great, the only negative thing is that some parts on the back are a little sloppy looking, the back is a very nice stained color and the wood grain looks super cool, but some parts of the finish are a little swishy looking, but i'm ok with that, its on the back of the guitar! and besides, the wood grain is so nice anyways, there is also a few pinpoint sized black dots that are within the actual piece of wood, 3 in all, that are noticable on the back, but like i said, im ok with that considering the price of the guitar.....but the finish on the front is flawless....and the neck is the same color stain, but the wood grain is not as noticable, but theres nothing wrong with the neck

the binding is all well done, it is a nice cream color and there is nothing wrong with it, no finish bleeding over, etc...nothing...... the Fret inlays are nice as well, they are all even and set correctly as well..... the frets are fine as well, from what i can tell, there is no pointy edges when running the hand along the neck, and they all appear to be uniform.....the only string that buzzes is the low E, but i can easily fix that but adjusting the action just a tad higher, still, it doesnt buzz too much as it is....the nut seems to be cut well, theres no pinging of the strings or any snagging of anything, and the slots are nice and clean

the tuners seem fine, the guitar has pretty much stayed in tune for the 2 hours ive been playing it...all the rest of the hardware is nice as well, its all perfect

the body is a 2 piece Mahogany body, and the neck is a solid piece of Canadian Hard Maple..it weighs 9.7lbs, which is a good solid weight IMO... the headstock has the Gibson shape and the logo is a slightly pearloid inlay which is nice looking......from far back, the whole guitar is exactly like a Gibson

Playability/sound

well, it plays really nice off the bat...the strings seem like a 9-46 set, and bending is nice and easy.... the intonation is not right yet, as the strings are off when playing chords higher up on the neck, but i've yet to adjust anything yet...... the action is nice and low and only the low E slightly buzzes.....the fretboard feels nice, and the neck is bigger than a Strat, but not like some of those Les Paul baseball bat necks, somewhere in between.....its supposed to be modeled after a 59' LP neck style

as for the sound, it sounds better than my buddies Epi Les Paul, the neck pickup and middle position sound pretty nice actually, but the bridge pickup is weak and lacks punch and clarity....overall, the sound is the distinct Les Paul tone no doubt, but a set of Duncans are definately needed....the pickups do not have clarity or touch sensitiveness of Duncans.....i have the 59 bridge already ready to be put in, and Seth neck is on the way, so it should sound pretty sweet after that!

Final judgement:... well, for $500, i am definately satisfied! I love the feel, the craftsmanship is great, and the guitar is just so classy looking, and i think it compares very well to a Gibson LP.... soundwise, its not there yet, but once i have the Duncans in, i think it will be great, and sounds every bit as good as Gibson..a Gibson probably has a little better playability, but i've yet to set this one up yet, so maybe, maybe not....but, this guitar still feels great and plays nicely, which was what i was looking for

let me know if you have any questions, ill try to get some pics up if i can! here some from one dealer's website, mine is exact;y like this, only lefty

from : localhost/www.jsdguitarshack.com/images/love_rock_gt1.jpg
from : localhost/www.jsdguitarshack.com/images/love_rock_gt2.jpg
from : localhost/www.jsdguitarshack.com/images/love_rock_gt6.jpg
from : localhost/www.jsdguitarshack.com/images/love_rock_gt7.jpg

Why is it that cheaper, Korean guitars and the like always seem to manage to look better than expensive guitars? On my MIA Gibson and MIJ Jaguar there are multiple little detail flaws, rough things, finish flaws etc. but it seems like whenever I pick up just about any lower end Korean guitar it's completely slick, with barely any flaws whatsoever. The inlays are all even, the finish is even all around, the fretboard is clean and gouge free... Seems like they'd be better guitars than MIA/MIJ counterparts, that is if better wood and materials are used.

Sounds like you got a good one! have fun!

slade

i got the 59 bridge in, it is sweet! much clearer and quot;easyquot; to play.....it seems to be more sensitive and sweet in sound......this thing is sounding great

Seems like they'd be better guitars than MIA/MIJ counterparts, that is if better wood and materials are used.

Actually the Japanese Tokai Love Rocks have better wood and hardware, e.g. one-piece mahogany necks and backs as well as solid flamed maple tops or ABR-1 bridges and lightweight tailpieces (but only the higher to highest models). They also use different pickups than the Korean models which most Tokai users keep, because they sound good, too (the LS320 comes with Seth Lovers, by the way). But of course that's also the reason why they are more expensive than the Korean versions.

@flank: Glad you've found a nice left-handed Tokai at last! You got it for the same price as the right-handed one, right? Maybe you want to send your review to Ned, the site admin of the Tokai Registry, because there isn't a review of a Korean Love Rock yet.

Thanks Hans...... i was contemplating going with an MIJ Loverock, but i didnt want to deal with the hassle of dealing with Japan and whatever, plus i was looking for a GT.....and im not sure i would even notice/appreciate the differences between MIJ/MIK..... either way, i really like this MIK!

Ishibashi has set up a page for international customers on their site how to order etc., and usually they are very helpful, as far as I know.

By the way, which model number does your new Love Rock have?

My firend got a MIK Loverock Custom...and he wont shut up about it...hes starting to piss me off. I'm not denying its a good guitar, I'm just saying he's over-doing it.

Just Venting...nice man!