"There's something more full about this one." I also own both. Tokai make them more like they were made in the '50s. The sound people expect. A modern Gibson Standard is quite different from an old fashioned LP. He could only tell from the modern features of the Gibson. I love both of mine, but the Tokai is more like the guitars that made me want to play Les Pauls in the first place.

i have an upgraded tokai love rock and i did the same thing with a guitar luthier blind folded and he picked tokai as the les paul, those tokai are so well made, mine was not cheap at all.

Having the reverb so high would have made it harder to tell them apart, don't you think?

If it goes out of tune, you know it's a Gibson. lol

I read in an article that Billy Gibbons owns and loves a Tokai Les Paul. So if one of the all time greats and one of the most respected guitarists in rock history is impressed, then i call bull shit on the Gibson snobs who look down their noses at anything that doesn't say Gibson on the headstock. Gibbons is used to playing a '59 Les paul which would easily fetch $ 250,000 if it ever went to auction , so if a Tokai had the tone and playability to impress Gibbons then there must be some very special models floating around out there. Just my opinion.

If the neck feel is the only give away, that shows how good the Tokai is.

I'm a french guitarist and bought a Tokai in the 2000's, where Gibson's where judged to be rather over-expensive in regard of the given quality. I had several Gibson's myself before, and had the pleasure to play on numerous Gibson's on my "quest of the good old Les Paul" sound. And it's the upper range Tokai that putted a stop to this quest. They look like nothing special from far, but they are incredibly well crafted and a pleasure to play. The sound is all what you expect from an old Les Paul. I don't say that it smokes Gibson guitars. But my 2'000 bucks LS195S is an absolute equal guitar to a Gibson 1960 VOS that would have been carefully select from a bunch of a dozen other VOS. Its that good.

I’ve been a Gibson player for 40 years. I’ve played a few of the Les Paul copies Edwards- Burny- Orville and Tokai. The Orville and the Tokai are the closest that I’ve found to a genuine Les Paul. These are Customs that I’m talking about. The Tokai especially have the proper neck profile, most of the other ones have been very thin necks. I like the Tokai so much I’m looking to buy one you really can’t go wrong with the Japanese quality and what you get for the price is incredible. That was a cool video would have loved to see it done with a 3rd guitar of a different brand. I’m currently looking to get a Tokai LPC 156. Beautiful guitars!

needs more reverb

Japan is producing some real top notch guitars. Anybody who doubts should go try out anything made by Ibanez.

Love this distinctive Northern twang on the ligo, lads. Nice review BTW!

A little more reverb please.....Ridiculous testing

I have the same desert burst. mine is a 2012 and I love it, its getting a worn in feel now after 10 years.

I've had both now. Still have the tokai. Re: the comments below, everyone wants to play with the hottest pickups they can find, and you put a PAF in guitars and 15% of the players (usually the better players who want to record or play in a serious band) will prefer the old setup with the lower output pickups, but the other 85% of the market where the maker needs to make the money - they just want hotter and hotter pickups and the promise of lower actions and thinner necks. Those super-hot pickups don't sound that great on a record, though. The difference that I can see between tokai and gibson is gibson's standards are about 2k used now (mine is now gone, but when I bought it in 2004, it was $1600 used, and I bit it a little and sold it for $1400 a couple of years later). I got a tokai HLS -160 that is as good of a guitar, and it cost less than half as much. The person who would change the stock pickups on either would probably change them on both (instead of learning what they like and playing them just as they are), so there's not much difference between the two except you're gambling sometimes trying to get consistent quality out of Gibson. They got me on a '61 reissue SG that never should've left the factory and could never be made right for less than the cost of just buying another one.

Funny he feels a "real Les Paul" with the Tokai. I've been reading about these Tokais and how they are more like the original Les Paul's than the modern Gibson Les Paul's

he preferred the tokai tone but only noticed the gibson by the neck so for me he preferred the tokai which i do

And this is supposed to be a test? Play a note, with the reverb turned up?

Just blindfold yourself and feel what guitar has the most fuckedup frets.. thats the gib !

That Gibson is absolutely stunning though..

Tokai Vintage and Premium are more like the Gibson Custom shop LPs in the way they are built and are probably closer to vintage specification than any Gibson USA Les Paul. Another matter if comparing a top end Tokai to a Gibson Custom Shop LP!

Reason why I own one, and before its over.... will own another Love Rock. This one currently is a complete P90 beast. Have 4 super die hard Gibson guys ready to buy it if I ever sell it.

Of course you can tell the difference - the tokai plays better every time (assuming equal pro set ups)

Yes the tokai does sound and play better than the Gibson I have an ls 95 gold top, also hardly any difference between the higher tokai models ( if you can get a lighter ls 95) 8lbs or so ,but even some of the higher models on the tokai range are heavy as well. They are better made than Gibsons finish and uniformity.

Turn the reverb off!

It would have been better if both guitars would have same pickups. :) And if player has any experience about many different pickups, it's more easier to notice which is which.

Surely he can't hear properly with that blanket round his head.

Cool video. Japanese Tokais are very good quality, maybe minus the stock pickups.

On a scale from 1 to 10, how close does the tokai gets to a real gibson?

Pls do one of the SG TOKAI VS SG GIBSON

Wich tokai model is it?

Not really a fair test because they're not comparable variants.

so frustrating.., PLAY THE THING MAN!

Beautiful Tokai guitar :) noticed the Dragon Ball Xenoverse poster too ;)

Interesting to see how close these are... as an owner of both, they are a lot closer than many people will give credit for and the small differences are subjective.... just go to a Gibson dealer and play 3 LPs back to back.. they're all different anyway... some you'll like the feel of and others you won't.... fun video though - nice one!

Turn reverb off ffs

la verdad que si te costo tomarte 7 minutos para comparar a la famosa gibson q sale fortuna vs una Tokai significa que gibson es puro mito de marca... ya que si te guias por sonido se acerca muchisimo y la diferencia de precio es abismal..... insisto.... gibson no vale lo que cuesta mucho menos en esta epoca

That is a lot harder to do than most people think. :) Right up to 7:20 he seemed sure the Tokai was a Gibson. Even at the end he wasn't sure, he was "hoping" he was right.

nice..why not clean sound..this has much compression and distortion? I liked brighter gibson..but look are on tokai side...

The narrower nut is usually a dead giveaway

how weird he hardly plays to tell.i need to hear to know my axes feeling is one way but hearing is believing

what is the model about the tokai?

Daf lost the bet on everything that actually mattered 😅. A bit like... which one smells of vanilla? 😁.

Well... Japanese have made some pretty impressive copies and alternates.

is this an early 80s tokai loverock or is it just stock newer love rock?

Did you put it on the bridge pickup when he asked for the neck pickup on purpose?

i know i'm a bit "late" her...(...6 years on...!!!)..but this must be the blind fold challenge with the least played gutars....haha......why not just "hold" them??? overall pretty chaotic test guys...hope you've "improved a bit since then ....:-)

the reverb is too much to really tell but the Gibson pickups sound a little better in my opinion, however I only play Tokai and Yamaha now a days, bang for the buck, pickups can be changed... sold my gibsons quite some time ago, just not stage friendly...what i mean can't afford to hack them up on stage, so i play a 500 dollar tokai.

Is it a chinese Tokai?

The Gibson has noticeably better Neck pickup tone at 7:43.

the wall in the background looks a bit like the background on the very very old chappers videos....

I noticed a slight but distinct Gibson roar as the Tokai was swapped over to the Gibson. Good test, both guitars sound great. Maybe Epiphone vs Tokai next time?

I mean do you know how to play the freaking thing, geez man....come on.

why the fuck the camera is chewing a gum with his mouth open in a video about music?? Like are we suppose to not hear it? lmao

Gibson makes great guitar ... Tokai make it better

Tokai 1400€ Gibson 1930€ It s a few BEST Gibson but if You won't be música profesional better tokai and tokay reborn 2100€ same Gibson 2900€ the tokai reborn the BEST 800€ diffferents

Why not go out in the street and ask a passer by...

Lo siento creí que me ivan a gustar las dos pero no me ha gustado ninguna, no entiendo porque.

Could be price Placebo if you think the Gibson sounds better. Tokai know what to be at when it comes to making vintage-esque Les Paul's. Superior guitars.

A tokai doesn't have fret nibs and a Gibson does so all he has to do is feel the frets

I'm sea-sick already and that was only in the first 5 seconds.............hughie.................

Nice shirt, Aled.

Does not really prove much, it is just one individuals opinion, so he does not know his les Paul from his elbow!...........so it seemed until the end!

7:54 " put it on the neck pickup" .... puts it on the bridge pickup

Lol ' the way he tries to play ' probably the 1'st he's ever held a guitar, Even a beginner would have told you to turn down the dam reverb.

ahhh shoulda just kept watching

So in the end he was only able to tell by the physical feel of the neck profile, and not the sound or anything else.

Maybe you knobs could have tuned the guitars.

50% is in the fingers........ at least. This bloke can't even tell middle position from bridge !!!!!!!!! He's not even playing them

I could tell the difference in cost just by placing the cash for each in my mitts

Take the hell off that pickguard.

wtf are you doing whien you stop playing and clicking the pedal...that's how you determined which one was the gibson...lol

06:49 shit that was creepy

Do the same test with electronics swapped from one guitar to another. That would be challenging.

Gibson great tone!

er 6 minutes in and the guy hasnt played anything?

Id steal either/both guitars I do not discriminate wen it comes to guitars...wonder if the judge will see it the same way..or the musician I liberated any saud instrument from...bandit guitar...or thinking you musical types would throw in to buy the guitar thief a decent guitar...or the thefts continue. .your lps will never be safe...

There is a distinct but subtle difference between the two, this guy is just deaf.

These videos comparing copy Les Paul's to the real thing says it all!!! Their copies!!! My 2003 honey burst standard and 2017 goldtop classic play awesome and stay in tune!!! In the end they are still copies or fake...and still longing for the real thing!!!

Gibson have a unique sound...so clarity. Tokay really good but dont have the same sound

Fuckin reverb. And play something pleeasee?

Next time, ask your camera man not to chew gum...

U don't tell where the tokai is made. Useless review.

:/

👎

boring af