Bleat Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 New Bass errr… Month. 🤪 While this isn't exactly meant to be an in depth review , I thought I would share some opinions, observations and some pics. Having recovered from recent bills and the sadness of selling on the weighty beast of a Gibson Les Paul a while ago, I recently picked up a 32" scale Korean made Tokai Love Rock LP Bass in the classic and rather nice Cherry Burst finish. The headstock is very Gibson in shape and style and has Tokai written across the top, with "Love Rock Model" written in gold across the middle. It has a carved top with cream binding with what I would guess is a veneer rather than a thick maple cap. Either way it looks lovely. After a good clean of all parts, lowering of string action to just above frets, intonation set, light gauge medium scale strings added, I am more than impressed with the playability of this for what I paid out, and in some ways I actually prefer it to the Gibson. It is still a fairly heavy animal, something like the equivalent of a baby elephant as opposed to the baby elephant's slightly older fat brother .It's not quite shoulder destroying, and the recent addition of a not-really-very pretty- but functional-slightly over priced-Comfort Strapp helps spread the weight. Seeing as I would make Mr. Bean look like Arnie, I don't exactly have copious amounts of meat on the bone, so really my choice is either fall in love with much lighter instruments, or accept that I just have to put up with a little bit of discomfort to continue playing this style of bass. The Tokai seems to fall just short of causing too much issue. Though I only currently play at home I like to swap between standing while playing and sitting down when I really can't be arsed to stand! The nut width is 40mm which feels just right, and though I loved the chunky baseball bat feel of the Gibson, the slightly less deep neck on the Tokai is still nice and comfortable in the hand. The Love Rock has a set neck, with rosewood fretboard, dot inlays as opposed to the usual trapezoid blocks, and has a "standard" style Hi mass bridge which is sat in a shallow rout in the body. Perfect front to back, though a little of the rout can be seen either side of the bridge, which I suspect is done like this to allow correct positioning of the bridge when fitted. As the neck is not angled back it allows the use of a more standard style bridge as opposed to a tune-o-matic 2 piece or 3 point Gibson style. I am not sure what woods have been used, very possibly mahogany, and you can certainly feel the resonance of the wood against the body. Sustain is not quite on par with the Gibson but I guess could just be to do with the shorter scale length. Sound wise it is very similar, with 2 chrome covered humbuckers providing a good solid low end and decent clarity with a nice bite to the top end. All very typical LP bass. As mentioned this is a medium scale bass at 32", though due to the general design and shunting the bridge up the body somewhat, there is a barely noticeable difference between this and a 34", though enough to feel "just right". The only issue I have found is that when it comes to strings, there is very little in the way of choice with dedicated medium scale sets. Picato at the moment, though there is an equivalent gauge of D'adarrio that I will probably go for next. The components currently in it are *ok* with decent tidy wiring, though it has small sized pots. The 3 way switch feels fairly solid, though I'm not so keen on the switch and 2 vol 2 tone setup, so I have all the gubbins for a rewire on order. The plan is to do away with the 3 way switch and install 4 CTS 500K pots vol-vol-tone-tone for a more traditional look. No doubt I will have to widen the holes to fit these. I will be using 0.022 Orange caps and wiring in a 50' style. I will add a Switchcraft socket, amber bell knobs and some knob pointers to complete the look. Knowing me I will just turn everything up to 10 anyway as I usually do , but it's nice to know that robust and reliable components are fitted inside. So far I have replaced the cheap black plastic nut with a nice off-white bone nut. When finances allow I will be adding a Hipshot bass xtender as I did with my Gibson. Overall, I'm really happy with Tokai, and for the price you can get them used, I would happily recommend to anyone who might be considering trying out the Les Paul style. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 I've had a few Love Rock guitars in the past (all MIJ though), and they were excellent, so it's great to see an LR bass. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Nice looking bass, you’ll get a fair bit of attention playing that....,, As people will think you’re s guitarist 🤣 I say that having played a Les Paul bass in the past and the exact same happened to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleat Posted September 10, 2019 Author Share Posted September 10, 2019 All part of the cunning "hide it all in plain sight" plan... look like a guitarist, get all the chicks, AND conveniently absolve myself of any responsibility for being the crap bass player... 👌 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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