LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
- Thread starter A Skater
- Start date
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
Burny
Greco
Tokai
Orville
Edwards
These are the top dogs in my book of MIJ LP Clones. The edwards stuff is amazing, I played an Edwards 335 that was a killer guitar, I expect the same from their LP's, the Orvilles are MIJ Gibsons, as are the Gibson headstock Epiphones. Burny and Greco are great guitars that can usally be had for a killer price (look in the trading post for a beautiful burst Custom!), and the Tokai's...killer guitars, they bring a good amount of money these days, but well worth every penny.
Burny
Greco
Tokai
Orville
Edwards
These are the top dogs in my book of MIJ LP Clones. The edwards stuff is amazing, I played an Edwards 335 that was a killer guitar, I expect the same from their LP's, the Orvilles are MIJ Gibsons, as are the Gibson headstock Epiphones. Burny and Greco are great guitars that can usally be had for a killer price (look in the trading post for a beautiful burst Custom!), and the Tokai's...killer guitars, they bring a good amount of money these days, but well worth every penny.
joelap
Red&Goldologist
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
if you're on even more of a budget, check Agile's out at www.rondomusic.net . I have one on the way. They're a step up from epiphones, but not quite a gibson. They're in that in-between stage, which is perfect for me, because I want a cheap axe that I can play the bejesus out of that doesn't suck.
if you're on even more of a budget, check Agile's out at www.rondomusic.net . I have one on the way. They're a step up from epiphones, but not quite a gibson. They're in that in-between stage, which is perfect for me, because I want a cheap axe that I can play the bejesus out of that doesn't suck.
hans-jürgen
New member
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
Tokais are a bit hard to find in the U.S., so you would probably have to import it from Canada or the U.K. or directly from Japan. This only concerns new models, because you can find used Tokais on ebay, too. The Korean versions have different wood vs. the Japanese copies which are very close to the original specs, especially the higher priced models.
Tokais are a bit hard to find in the U.S., so you would probably have to import it from Canada or the U.K. or directly from Japan. This only concerns new models, because you can find used Tokais on ebay, too. The Korean versions have different wood vs. the Japanese copies which are very close to the original specs, especially the higher priced models.
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kherman
New member
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
I'm really pleased with my Diodati guitars.
They are made in Japan (Tokai Hamamatsu plant I believe. At least by the neck pickup cavity markings).
Sold here in New Hampshire USA by Pete Diodati.
www.diodatiguitars.com
Pete only has a small amount built each year.
Fit and finish are excellent.
Play and feel are great.
I do suggest swapping the Gotoh pickups out to your prefered pickup brand.
The Gotohs were flat sounding to me. No dynamics.
Pete will put in what ever brand you wish for an upcharge.
Diodati 59Q
Diodati 58
Some key features.
Honduran mahogany body (2 piece)
Honduran mahogany neck (1 piece)
Carved plain maple tops. (59Q features a quilt veneer over the plain maple. To me no
different than spraying primer and gold paint on a maple top.)
Indian rosewood fret board.
MOP inalys. (tight fit. No glue or filler on edges.)
Acrylic lacquer finish. (Thin like a Nitro. Durable like a Poly. Not sticky feeling.
For me personally Nitro gets too sticky.)
Medium neck tenon . (extends all the way to the neck pickup cavity. Just doesn't have the little tongue extending into the cavity bottom like a Historic.)
Sealed Gotoh tuners.
Tusq nut. (synthetic bone. Self lubing like a graphite nut.)
Pete's cost new can be a little more expensive than other Japan LPs.
But, he also has upgrades the standard Tokai, Burny, Orville, Greco don't.
Honduran instead of African.
Tusq nut instead of plastic nut.
Sealed tuners instead of Kluson clones.
Acrylic lacquer instead of Poly.
Oh, the necks are a like '59 profile. Not a '60 profile.
Sometimes Pete gets a couple used ones back in.
Also keep an eye on Ebay.
Since they are lesser known, you can usually score them for less than the
Tokai or Orvilles.
Another LP influenced guitar I have is the
Fernandes Ravelle Deluxe.
Very well made guitars. Not as nice features as the Diodatis.
But, still very nice for the price. You can usually find them for around $799 including case new. Used they go in the $450 to $500 range.
African mahogany body (3 to 4 piece, you'll find this with some of the Burny/Fernandes as well)
African mahogany neck (1 piece)
Carved maple top (1/2" thick plain maple with figured veneer)
Duncan Jazz/JB (newer ones may have the Customs)
MOP inlays (not bad. Much better fit than some of the Japan LPs I've seen)
Grover Tuners.
The first ones (like mine) were China made.
Newer models are Korean made.
Differences noticed so far.
Electronics cavity are routed much larger on the Korean than on the Chinese.
Gotoh tuners instead of Grovers.
Custom/Custom instead of Jazz/JB.
My Ravelle does play and sound great. Little brighter and compressed sounding than the Diodati 59Q. But, this is when doing a side by side comparison.
On it's own I do not notice it. Great tones. Excellent sustain.
Has a medium tenon as well.
Coil tap works nice. At low gain amp settings, it gets some really nice single coil jangly tones. Where as with some humbuckers, when split, just sound like a weak humbucker.
Neck profile is like a '60 profile.
The Diodati are around the 8 3/4 to 9 lb range.
The Ravelle is around 11lbs.
Kent
I'm really pleased with my Diodati guitars.
They are made in Japan (Tokai Hamamatsu plant I believe. At least by the neck pickup cavity markings).
Sold here in New Hampshire USA by Pete Diodati.
www.diodatiguitars.com
Pete only has a small amount built each year.
Fit and finish are excellent.
Play and feel are great.
I do suggest swapping the Gotoh pickups out to your prefered pickup brand.
The Gotohs were flat sounding to me. No dynamics.
Pete will put in what ever brand you wish for an upcharge.
Diodati 59Q
Diodati 58
Some key features.
Honduran mahogany body (2 piece)
Honduran mahogany neck (1 piece)
Carved plain maple tops. (59Q features a quilt veneer over the plain maple. To me no
different than spraying primer and gold paint on a maple top.)
Indian rosewood fret board.
MOP inalys. (tight fit. No glue or filler on edges.)
Acrylic lacquer finish. (Thin like a Nitro. Durable like a Poly. Not sticky feeling.
For me personally Nitro gets too sticky.)
Medium neck tenon . (extends all the way to the neck pickup cavity. Just doesn't have the little tongue extending into the cavity bottom like a Historic.)
Sealed Gotoh tuners.
Tusq nut. (synthetic bone. Self lubing like a graphite nut.)
Pete's cost new can be a little more expensive than other Japan LPs.
But, he also has upgrades the standard Tokai, Burny, Orville, Greco don't.
Honduran instead of African.
Tusq nut instead of plastic nut.
Sealed tuners instead of Kluson clones.
Acrylic lacquer instead of Poly.
Oh, the necks are a like '59 profile. Not a '60 profile.
Sometimes Pete gets a couple used ones back in.
Also keep an eye on Ebay.
Since they are lesser known, you can usually score them for less than the
Tokai or Orvilles.
Another LP influenced guitar I have is the
Fernandes Ravelle Deluxe.
Very well made guitars. Not as nice features as the Diodatis.
But, still very nice for the price. You can usually find them for around $799 including case new. Used they go in the $450 to $500 range.
African mahogany body (3 to 4 piece, you'll find this with some of the Burny/Fernandes as well)
African mahogany neck (1 piece)
Carved maple top (1/2" thick plain maple with figured veneer)
Duncan Jazz/JB (newer ones may have the Customs)
MOP inlays (not bad. Much better fit than some of the Japan LPs I've seen)
Grover Tuners.
The first ones (like mine) were China made.
Newer models are Korean made.
Differences noticed so far.
Electronics cavity are routed much larger on the Korean than on the Chinese.
Gotoh tuners instead of Grovers.
Custom/Custom instead of Jazz/JB.
My Ravelle does play and sound great. Little brighter and compressed sounding than the Diodati 59Q. But, this is when doing a side by side comparison.
On it's own I do not notice it. Great tones. Excellent sustain.
Has a medium tenon as well.
Coil tap works nice. At low gain amp settings, it gets some really nice single coil jangly tones. Where as with some humbuckers, when split, just sound like a weak humbucker.
Neck profile is like a '60 profile.
The Diodati are around the 8 3/4 to 9 lb range.
The Ravelle is around 11lbs.
Kent
Last edited:
kherman
New member
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
Well, the Japan replicas are getting harder to get and keep under the
$700 price after shipping and import costs.
The Diodati 58 I snagged off Ebay for $400.
Turned out to be Petes brother in law Bruces 58.
The Ravelle I scored for $699.
As mentioned maybe check out the Agile AL3500 .
That has the closest specs to a LP of the Agiles and stays under the $700 price range.
Other Korean LPs are
Nelsonic
Malden
Raven West
Here's a couple more thoughts that you may be able to score in your price range.
Dean EVO Premium or Deluxe.
Czech made. Very nice features. Much better than the Korean EVOs.
Very LP like.
Epiphone Elitist standard.
The Elitist line is actually quite nice.
Made in the Fuji Gen Gakki plant like the Orville, Epi Japan, Greco, Japan Burny were.
There's also the Terada plant. I thought that was for the semis and acoustics though.
But, someone here mentioned they were making some of the solids as well.
You could score a Elitist standard in your price ranged used.
They are heads and tails above the Korean Epi as far as I'm concerned.
People tend to over look them because of the Epi name. Not realizing
they are just basically a renaming of the original Orville line.
They do have some nicer features than the basic Orville line as well.
Real Gibson Pickups.
Real carved maple top (no veneer or photo flame)
Bone nut. (not plastic).
Nickle hardware. (not chrome hardware)
Basically the Elitist line falls in between the "Orville" and "Orville by Gibson" lines.
Really the only advantage of the OBG is a lacquer finish instead of Poly.
Majority of the ones I've tried have been quality LPs.
Kent
Well, the Japan replicas are getting harder to get and keep under the
$700 price after shipping and import costs.
The Diodati 58 I snagged off Ebay for $400.
Turned out to be Petes brother in law Bruces 58.
The Ravelle I scored for $699.
As mentioned maybe check out the Agile AL3500 .
That has the closest specs to a LP of the Agiles and stays under the $700 price range.
Other Korean LPs are
Nelsonic
Malden
Raven West
Here's a couple more thoughts that you may be able to score in your price range.
Dean EVO Premium or Deluxe.
Czech made. Very nice features. Much better than the Korean EVOs.
Very LP like.
Epiphone Elitist standard.
The Elitist line is actually quite nice.
Made in the Fuji Gen Gakki plant like the Orville, Epi Japan, Greco, Japan Burny were.
There's also the Terada plant. I thought that was for the semis and acoustics though.
But, someone here mentioned they were making some of the solids as well.
You could score a Elitist standard in your price ranged used.
They are heads and tails above the Korean Epi as far as I'm concerned.
People tend to over look them because of the Epi name. Not realizing
they are just basically a renaming of the original Orville line.
They do have some nicer features than the basic Orville line as well.
Real Gibson Pickups.
Real carved maple top (no veneer or photo flame)
Bone nut. (not plastic).
Nickle hardware. (not chrome hardware)
Basically the Elitist line falls in between the "Orville" and "Orville by Gibson" lines.
Really the only advantage of the OBG is a lacquer finish instead of Poly.
Majority of the ones I've tried have been quality LPs.
Kent
Marinblues
New member
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
Tokai:
Tokai:
A Skater
New member
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
Alright after much browsing through ebay, I found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2384&item=7335031965&rd=1
Can you guys help me find out which guitar can get that signature LP tone? I know pickups matter, but I'll most likely stick a JB in it. Which guitar brand can get close to/THE LP tone?
I was also looking at the Epiphone ones, and I noticed how picky I am and decided I wanted a flame top.
Alright after much browsing through ebay, I found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2384&item=7335031965&rd=1
Can you guys help me find out which guitar can get that signature LP tone? I know pickups matter, but I'll most likely stick a JB in it. Which guitar brand can get close to/THE LP tone?
I was also looking at the Epiphone ones, and I noticed how picky I am and decided I wanted a flame top.
G
Guest
Guest
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
Damn I'm really gassing for a Tokai Love Rock...but I know that I can't spend my money on one at the time. It's just teasing with GAS isn't it?
Damn I'm really gassing for a Tokai Love Rock...but I know that I can't spend my money on one at the time. It's just teasing with GAS isn't it?
hans-jürgen
New member
Re: LP copies. Orville or Tokai?
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3818
Maybe you should specify which guitar player or album has the signature LP tone for you, because there are many different opinons on that. A Love Rock is definitely the right direction though...A Skater said:
There are also Epiphones with flamed maple tops, even solid ones that are called "Elite", as far as I know. The Korean Tokai you looked at has a veneer of course (maybe Sycamore), because a solid maple top is always in a higher price range. By the way, there has been some hassle over at the Tokai forum about this Canadian dealer, but I can't remember who said what and what was the conclusion in the end. Maybe you want to read it up yourself:
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3818
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