Contact: Musamaailma
Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates – The Kitarablogi-video
Testi tulossa +++ Working on a review +++ Tokai LS-200F-5A
TOKAI LS-200F-5A
• Very limited edition
• Handcrafted in Japan
• AAAAA flame maple top
• Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker set
• Push/push switches in tone controls for coil-splitting
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Demo Track
• Rhythm guitar – both pickups in split mode
• Lead guitar – starts with split neck pickup; second pass with full neck pickup
• Amp used – Juketone True Blood (handwired 5F1 Champ-clone)
• Recorded with a Shure SM57
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Contact: Tokai Guitars Nordic
Testi tulossa –– Review coming soon –– Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates
Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates
• Handcrafted in Japan
• Les Paul Standard replica
• Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickup set
• Case included
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Demo Track
• All guitar tracks recorded with the Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates
• Amps used: Blackstar HT-1R & Juketone True Blood
• Effects used: Boss SD-1, Joyo Analog Chorus, Morley M2 Wah/Volume
Contact/Lisätiedot: Musamaailma
Review: Tokai TST-50-FS Modern
The guitar maker Tokai is known worldwide for its high-quality versions of classic vintage guitars, and the instruments are loved and played by many.
But now there’s an interesting new model, devised by Tokai Guitars Nordic, called the Tokai TST-50-FS Modern (current price in Finland: 1,650 €; hard case included). This is an S-type guitar for the player who wants classic looks combined with modern features.
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Tokai’s brand-new TST-50-FS Modern is available in three different versions, which share the same basic build and features, but which differ in terms of finish and pickup choice.
The Modern is available in a traditional Three-Tone Sunburst …
… a beautiful Sienna Sunburst …
… and in a cool, dark Ebony Transparent.
The TST-50-FS’ body is made from two pieces of beautiful swamp ash, with a – near invisible – centre glue line.
The new model makes it a jiffy to adjust the truss rod by moving the adjustment to the headstock side of the neck.
The TST-50-FS Modern sports a high-quality set of Gotoh Magnum Lock locking machine heads, resulting in lightning-fast string changes and rock steady tuning stability.
The neck comes with a thin satin finish.
We find a rosewood fretboard with a modern radius (9.5″), as well as 22 gleaming medium jumbo-sized frets (Dunlop 6105), making string bending much easier than on a vintage guitar.
The bridge on the Tokai TST-50-FS Modern represents Gotoh’s view of the perfect updated Strat-style vibrato.
Gotoh’s 510T-SF bridge is a two-post affair made of steel. The height-adjustable posts can be locked inside the threaded ferrules to increase vibrational transfer into the body.
In terms of its pickups, the Three-Tone Sunburst version is the most traditional of the new trio:
The neck and middle pickups are genuine single coils (Seymour Duncan SSL-1), while the bridge humbucker is Duncan’s vintage-voiced Model ’59 (SH-1B Zebra).
The Sienna Sunburst-variant is completely noise-free thanks to its stacked-coil neck and middle pickups (Seymour Duncan STK-S4; aka Classic Stack Plus). The bridge unit is a hotter-than vintage, covered JB (SH-4).
The hottest guitar in our trio is the TST-50-FS in Ebony Transparent, which comes with a pair of Hot Stack Plus pickups (STK-S7) and the sheer force of nature that is Seymour Duncan’s SH-14 Custom 5 humbucker.
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The Tokai TST-50-FS Modern is part of the brand’s Made-in-Japan Premium Series, and all three instruments are perfect examples of the excellent workmanship Tokai has to offer.
The new model comes with a rounded neck profile (Tokai call it ”Thin U”) that feels and plays like a dream. The modern fingerboard radius and excellent fretwork make string choking a thing of the past.
The vibrato feels very precise and stays in tune far better than any vintage-style vibrato bridge ever could.
The ash body, locking tuners and steel bridge give the TST-50-FS Modern a sparkling unplugged voice with a long and clear sustain.
Played with an amp the differences between the three versions become very clear:
The Three-Tone Sunburst version gives you the tones you’d expect from a factory-modded vintage S-type.
Thanks to the vintage-style single coils – as well as the PAF-inspired bridge humbucker – you get a lot of clarity, dynamics and spank.
I’d call the FS Modern’s Sienna Sunburst variant the ”LA Studio model”, which will deal with any musical situation by giving you a first-rate West Coast sound.
The stacked coil pickups are free from hum and buzz, and they give you a fine, slightly ”pre-compressed” sound that sits well in any mix. The JB-humbucker offers just the right amount of ”push” to complement the neck and middle pickups perfectly.
If you look for an S-style electric that will take to high gain settings like the proverbial duck to water, you need look no further. The TST-50-FS Modern in Ebony Transparent simply loves gain and distortion, while still making a great figure when it comes to clean tones.
This is noise-free high gain heaven with a healthy dose of bottom end punch and a chunky mid-range.
The demo track features the trio in the following order: Sienna Sunburst –> Ebony Transparent –> Three-Tone Sunburst. Each guitar plays both the rhythm as well as the lead parts of its section:
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The new Tokai TST-50-FS Modern really made a big impression on me.
This is a fantastic alternative to the traditional, vintage-flavoured Tokai models. Both the playability and sounds this trio has to offer are top-notch, and I’m sure you will find your favourite modern S-type guitar from one of the three alternatives.
Tokai’s TST-50-FS Modern offers you custom shop quality at a very fair price.
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Tokai TST-50-FS Modern
1,650 € (hard case included)
Distributor: Musamaailma
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Pros:
+ value-for-money
+ workmanship
+ three different pickup configurations
+ playability
+ sound
Testipenkissä: Tokai TST-50-FS Modern
Kitaravalmistaja Tokai tunnetaan laadukkaista klassikkokitaroiden uusintapainoksista, ja soittimet ovat löytäneet tiensä monen vintage-fanin käsiin.
Tokai Guitars Nordicin kehittämä uutuusmalli Tokai TST-50-FS Modern (1.650 €, sis. kova laukku) on sen sijaan suunnattu kitaristeille, jotka haluavat tuttua Tokai-laatua nykyaikaisilla ominaisuuksilla.
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Tokai TST-50-FS Modern on saatavilla kolmessa eri versiossa, joiden rakenteelliset ominaisuudet ovat samat, mutta jotka eroavat toisistaan värityksen ja mikrofonien suhteen.
Kitaran värivaihtoehtoina on Three-Tone Sunburst …
… vaalea Sienna Sunburst …
… ja tumma Ebony Transparent.
Kaikissa versioissa runko on veistetty kuvankauniista suosaarnista. Rungot on koottu kahdesta saarnipalasta, joiden (käytännössä näkymätön) liimasauma kulkee siististi keskeltä runkoa.
Kaularaudan säätäminen on TST-50-FS-mallissa todella helppoa, koska säätöruuvi on sijoitettu viritinlavan puolelle.
Tässä mallissa on erittäin laadukkaat Gotoh Magnum Lock -lukkovirittimet – kieltenvaihto sujuu nopeasti ja vire pysyy.
Kaulassa on ohut mattapintainen viimeistely.
Otelaudan radius on selvästi vintagea loivempi, ja ruusupuuhun on siististi asennettu 22 medium jumbo -kokoista nauhaa (Dunlop 6105), minkä ansiosta venytykset vaativat vähemmän voimaa.
Tokai TST-50-FS Modernin talla on huippulaadukas, Gotohin valmistama modernisoitu versio Strato-vibratallasta.
Gotoh 510T-SF -talla on valmistettu teräksestä ja se on veitsenterälaakeroitu. Vibraton tapit lukitaan kierreholkkeihinsa, mikä parantaa tallan sustainia.
Three-Tone Sunburst -version mikrofonitarjonta on tästä kolmikosta se perinteisin:
Kaula- ja keskimikki ovat aitoja yksikelaisia (Seymour Duncan SSL-1) ja talla-asemasta löytyy Duncanin ’59-humbucker (SH-1B Zebra).
Sienna Sunburstin mikrofonivarustus on täysin hurinaton, sillä kaula- ja keskimikrofonit ovat kahdella päällekkäisellä kelalla varustettuja Seymour Duncan STK-S4 -mikrofoneja (Classic Stack Plus), kun taas tallahumbuckerina toimii vintagea kuumempi JB-malli (SH-4 JB).
Malleista lähtöteholtaan kuumin on Ebony Transparent -versio, joka yhdistää tehokkaat Hot Stack Plus -mikrofonit (STK-S7) Seymour Duncan SH-14 Custom 5 -humbuckerin tarjoamaan täyslaidalliseen.
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Tokai TST-50-FS Modern kuuluu valmistajan japanilaiseen Premium-sarjaan, ja testissä käynyt kolmikko on – jälleen kerran – täydellinen esimerkki japanilaisesta, erinomaisesta soitinrakennusosaamisesta.
Uutuusmallin pyöreä, mutta suhteellisen ohut kaulaprofiili tuntuu erittäin nopealta, ja nykyaikainen nauhoitus ja otelautaradius luovat kevyen soittotuntuman.
Vibratalla toimii sulavasti ja erittäin tarkasti.
Saarnirungon, lukkovirittimien ja teräsvibran ansiosta TST-50-FS Modernin akustinen ääni on hyvin raikas ja pitkällä sustainilla höystetty.
Versioiden väliset erot tulevat esiin vahvistimen kautta soitettaessa:
Three-Tone Sunburst -versio antaa soittajalle aimon annoksen kustomoidun vintage-kitaran hehkua.
Aitojen yksikelaisten mikkien, sekä PAF-tyylisen tallahumbuckerin ansiosta vahvistettu ääni on tuore ja erittäin dynaaminen. Pletraniskujen naksahteleva luonne tuo väkisinkin mieleen vintage-Straton.
Kutsuisin 50-FS Modernin Sienna Sunburst -kitaraa LA Studio -malliksi, jolla hoituu sessio kuin sessio aidolla länsirannikon soundilla.
Stacked coil -mikrofonit eivät hurise, ja niillä on oikein mainio, hieman ”esikompressoitu” soundi, jonka saa mukavasti istutettua miksaukseen. JB-humbucker on sekä teholtaan että soundiltaan oiva valinta näiden ”yksikelaisten” rinnalle.
Jos etsit S-tyylistä kitaraa, joka tarjoaa loistavia high gain -särösoundeja, mutta joka samalla kuulostaa myös mehevältä puhtaasti soitettuna, Ebony Transparent on sinulle oikea valinta.
Tämä kitara tarjoaa hurinatonta high gain -meinikiä tuhdilla alakerralla ja herkullisella keskialueella.
Demobiisissä testikitarat kuullaan järjestyksessä Sienna Sunburst –> Ebony Transparent –> Three-Tone Sunburst. Samalla kitaralla soitetaan aina sekä komppiosuudet että soolo:
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Minun mielestäni Tokai TST-50-FS Modern lunastaa lupauksensa täydellisesti ja avokätisesti.
Uutuusmalli on huippulaadukas, nykyaikainen vaihtoehto vintage-tyylisille Tokai-kitaroille. Soittotuntuma ja soundi ovat enemmän kuin kohdillaan, ja jokainen meistä löytää varmasti kolmesta vaihtoehdoista sen itselleen sopivan.
TST-50-FS Modern tarjoaa custom shop -tasoista laatua reiluun hintaan.
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Tokai TST-50-FS Modern
1.650 € (kova laukku kuuluu hintaan)
Maahantuoja: Musamaailma
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Plussat:
+ hinta-laatu-suhde
+ työnjälki
+ kolme mikrofonivaihtoehtoa
+ soitettavuus
+ soundi
Now on Soundcloud: Tokai TST-50-FS Modern
Tokai TST-50-FS Modern
• Premium Series model
• Made in Japan
• Premium swamp ash body (two-piece, centre-joined)
• Rosewood fingerboard with 9.5″ radius
• 22 Dunlop 6105 frets
• Locking Gotoh tuners
• Two-post Gotoh vibrato
• Sienna Sunburst version: 2 x Seymour Duncan STK-S4 + TB-4
• Ebony Transparent version: 2 x STK-S7 + TB-14
• Three-Tone Sunburst version: 2 x SSL-1 + ’59
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The demo track has the three guitars in the order Sienna Sunburst –> Ebony Transparent –> Three-Tone Sunburst.
Tokai TST-50-FS – the Kitarablogi-video
Uusi Tokai TST-50-FS on tällä hetkellä saatavilla kolmella eri mikrofonivarustuksilla:
• Three-Tone Sunburst -versiossa on kaksi yksikelaista SSL-1-mikrofonia, sekä Seymour Duncan ’59 -humbucker.
• Sienna Sunburst -mallissa on kaksi SD Classic Stack Plus -mikrofonia (hurinattomia, stacked-coil mikrofonia), sekä JB-humbucker metallikuorella.
• Ebony Transparent -kitarassa taas on kaksi Duncanin Vintage Hot Stack -mikrofonia (hurinattomia) ja tallamikrofonina toimii saman firman Custom 5 -humbucker.
Kitarablogin testi on tulossa lähiaikoina!
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The new Tokai TST-50-FS is currently available with three different pickup configurations:
• The Three-Tone Sunburst version has a pair of SSL-1 single-coils and a Seymour Duncan ’59 humbucker.
• The Sienna Sunburst model comes with two noiseless SD Classic Stack Plus pickups, as well as a covered JB model.
• The Ebony Transparent guitar sports two noiseless Duncan Vintage Hot Stacks and a Custom 5 in the bridge position.
Watch this space for a full review in the very near future!
Review: Farida M-2 & B-10E
Kitarablogi.com had the pleasure to review two acoustic steel-string guitars from Chinese brand Farida Guitars:
The Farida M-2 is a parlour-sized guitar, while the Farida B-10E gives you this company’s take on a miked-up, slope-shouldered Gibson steel-string.
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These days a guitar is called a parlour (or parlor, if you’re so inclined), if its soundbox is smaller than a Martin OM- or 000-body. While parlour guitars have gained a growing followership over the last few years, it is still surprisingly difficult to find reasonably priced exponents of this species.
Farida Guitars’ M-2 (current price in Finland: 465 €) ticks all the right boxes to whet a parlour lover’s appetite – a slightly shorter scale length (62.8 cm/24.7″), a 12th fret neck joint, and a classical-type open headstock.
The M-2’s soundbox is made from a beautiful solid red cedar top, and laminated mahogany for the rims and the back.
The mahogany neck is glued into the body in traditional fashion.
The three-on-a-strip tuners are of a decent quality.
The Farida M2’s top nut and compensated bridge saddle are both made from a man-made bone substitute.
The fretwire used on this parlour has a narrow and medium-height profile.
There’s a very nice red hue to the M-2’s rosewood fretboard.
This very cleanly built acoustic instrument comes in a thin natural satin finish.
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Farida’s B-10E (425 €) is the brand’s affordable version of Gibson’s famous slope shoulder (or round shoulder) dreadnought design (first released in the mid-1930s as the Advanced Jumbo). Like the name says, this guitar type differs from the more common Martin dreadnought by virtue of its rounded ”shoulders”.
The B-10E sports a solid spruce top finished in a gorgeously deep gloss sunburst.
The mahogany soundbox has also received a gloss finish, while the mahogany neck goes for a modern satin finish.
Farida have come up with a good-looking headstock shape, at least in my opinion. The B-10E’s headstock face sports a beautiful rosewood veneer.
The machine heads are very decent Schaller-style models.
As with the parlour model, Farida’s slope shoulder dread also comes equipped with a self-lubricating Tusq-type nut and compensated bridge saddle.
The B-10E features a Fishman Sonicore under-saddle transducer connected to an Isys T preamp.
In addition to the large volume control, the preamp also comes with a phase inverse switch (to combat feedback), a pre-EQ curve (called Contour), and a digital tuner.
The output jack is found in the end pin, with the easy access battery compartment nearby.
Despite this model’s rather affordable status, the fret job on the B-10 is actually surprisingly clean.
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To some parlour snobs – yes, there are such people – the only ”correct” neck profile for a guitar of this type is a wide and massive V-neck (also called a boat neck). True, a boat neck is the authentic option, but many modern players do feel quite alienated by such a profile.
Luckily (and sensibly) the Farida Guitars M-2 comes with a very player-friendly, modern D-style neck profile.
Talking about comfortable: The M-2 is a very lightweight and compact little instrument, which fits effortlessly in your lap. This means that this parlour is a great choice for young players and many women, too. You don’t need to be a Folk music fan.
Farida’s M-2 delivers the sound you’d expect from a small-bodied steel-string guitar. There’s not a lot of deep bass, the mid-range has a certain boxy quality, and the whole is rounded off by a healthy dose of chiming top end.
The M-2 is a fabulous choice for fingerstyle players, because the tight bass response of a parlour leaves ample room for the full character of the mid-range to shine through:
But a small body doesn’t necessarily mean a puny sound – this Farida is a nice little barker when played with a plectrum. Thanks to its sinewy bass register this guitar is also easy to record:
The rhythm guitar parts on this demo song feature both test guitars. The Farida M-2 is in the left channel and the B-10E can be heard coming from the right:
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Farida’s B-10E offers a lot of value and enjoyment for a very moderate price.
Here the neck profile is a slightly more rounded, oval C.
This Farida gives you the punch you’d associate with a well-made dreadnought guitar, suitably seasoned with the warmth this model’s Gibson-type scale length brings into the mix.
In contrast to the parlour, the much larger body of the B-10E equates a hefty boost in the bass and treble registers.
Played fingerstyle you’ll get a stronger bass content and more top end sparkle:
This larger-than-life persona, so typical of dreadnoughts, is also present when you switch over to a plectrum:
Fishman’s Isys T system is a very workable addition for live use. A piezo-only pickup system is always a bit of a compromise, in terms of sound fidelity, but the Isys T does a good job. In these clips the first phrase has been recorded with Contour off and the second phrase with Contour on:
The rhythm guitar parts on this demo song feature both test guitars. The Farida M-2 is in the left channel and the B-10E can be heard coming from the right:
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Based on this review, Farida seem to offer a lot of guitar at very fair prices. Both the Farida M-2 and the B10E are beautiful steel-string guitars that offer easy playability and inspiring sounds.
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Farida Guitars M-2 + B-10E
M-2 – 465 €
B-10E – 425 €
Finnish distribution: Vantaan Musiikki
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Pros (both models):
+ value-for-money
+ finish
+ fretwork
+ acoustic sound
+ easy to use pickup system (B-10E only)
Kitarablogi.com – Finland's premier Guitar and Bass blog 