Les Paul Copy

[Sifu Ben]

whilst a great guitar Gwem, it's going to be well over his budget. As is it's £420, once you've added case (Rondo won't ship internationally without a case now), overseas shipping and taxes, you're getting into Japanese Tokai or Atlas Custom territory, and while I love Agiles I'm not sure I'd take one over those options. The awful exchange rate has really hampered bargain guitar buying. When the rate had just started to dip, but before it nosedived, I got an AL3100 with case, shipping and taxes for about £380. Sadly you're looking at more like £500 at the moment :(
Oh, and he's a leftie http://www.rondomusic.com/al3000prestleft.html

[varkunus]

Just checked out the vintage lemon drop les paul and it seems pretty awsome. Sounds pretty darn nice and few people on youtube  comments saying its comparable to gibson standards - havent seen any bad comments about it so far. Will it feel like a proper guitar and not an expensive starter guitar, and will it sustain as well as other les pauls (e.g is mahogany of good quality)? ALso where is it assembled? And how would this and the MIJ tokais differ in quality/playability and sound quality?

Also when I say gary moore, I mean his quite gainy sound e.g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyTHJ40pasM&feature=related Where it is really saturated in gain, but also extremely clear and quite clean sounding. To do this I am hoping to sell my fizzy marshall DSl401 and trade it in for a peavey bandit - yes I know its a tranny. But I dont think I am going to get the versatility or sound I want from a tube unless I spend well over £1k (money I dont have). And from the clips of the peavey on youtube it sounds really for a wide range of stuff - although I welcome any oppinions of course.

[gwEm]

whilst a great guitar Gwem, it's going to be well over his budget. As is it's £420, once you've added case (Rondo won't ship internationally without a case now), overseas shipping and taxes, you're getting into Japanese Tokai or Atlas Custom territory, and while I love Agiles I'm not sure I'd take one over those options. The awful exchange rate has really hampered bargain guitar buying. When the rate had just started to dip, but before it nosedived, I got an AL3100 with case, shipping and taxes for about £380. Sadly you're looking at more like £500 at the moment :(
Oh, and he's a leftie http://www.rondomusic.com/al3000prestleft.html

happy to take that one on the nose ben :)

[maverickf1jockey]

I dont think I am going to get the versatility or sound I want from a tube unless I spend well over £1k (money I dont have).

Or you could get an Orange Tiny Terror, Gary's recording amp of choice nowadays, a 4X12" cab and a good booster pedal for fairly cheap.
If you shop around you can find some serious bargains, even with valve amps.

I have something negative to say about the lemon drop; the finish is really unconvincing and looks like a transfer as opposed to natural wear.
You might just do well to try other les pauls in their range, too, as I've heard good things.

[varkunus]

Well as I said the solo tone I am going for is a really screaming blues/rock type tone e.g gary moores. I am not that bothered about looks but more the sound. So how does the lemon drop compare to the more expensive MIJ tokais?

[dave_mc]

LS85F - Les Paul Standard copy with a flame top

LS75 - as above, but a plain top

LC85 - Les Paul Custom copy (more cosmetic fancyness, upping the price to the same as a flame top.  Also has a mahogany top, not maple)

word. doesn't the custom have a rosewood fretboard, though?

[Twinfan]

I believe it does Dave, yep.

varkunus - get whichever Les Paul copy you can afford/like the look of/feel most drawn to.  To get the tone you're after, it's mostly a singing valve amp not the guitar anyway anyway.....

[varkunus]

I'm aware that the amp is the main player in tone, but I do think guitars make quite a big difference - albeit subtley. At the moment I am drawn to the vintage les paul lemon drop, but how does it this compare to the MIJ tokais. I mean what is the difference in playbility, tone/wood quality and overall build quality. Has anyone played both a v100 and tokais and so could offer good comparissions?

[choucas09]

 You spoke of a £500 budget you could get a lemon drop and a Bugera V22 for close to that. Just hunt one down and try it. My experience with Vintage has impressed me mightily.
 Check out this demo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBz5bNqJ5Bc

Another one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1ztoCKixoo&feature=related

[varkunus]

Yeah I have already seen these vids and it seems it sounds pretty awsome. So playability wise/general quality how will it compare with the more expensive MIJ tokai les pauls?

[maverickf1jockey]

Only way to find out is to track down a dealer and see if you can get a score, or at least a sample.

[Twinfan]

I do think guitars make quite a big difference - albeit subtley.

Eh?  :?  How can you have a subtle big difference????

You can hunt around for opinions here on the internet all day long for months on end, but what you really need to do is get out into the real world to a few music shops and try some guitars out.  Try everything, and find what works for you.

You've got a few pointers from us as to what to look for, now it's over to you  :)

[tomjackson]

I'd go for the vintage, for £250ish it's worth taking a punt.  Then you've got cash to spare for an amp.  If the pickups need upgrading (many say they don't) you could get some Bare Knuckles.

As it's a copy of the Gary Moore LP, it should sound in the right ball park. 

I bought a £130 Vintage Tele for a relative recently.  Did it look like a 1952 Telecaster and make me sound like Roy Buchanan?  Not really, but for £130 it was a great guitar and had lots of Tele Vibe which is all you can ask at that price.

[Philly Q]

I've never tried the Vintage, but it's half the price of a Tokai and to a certain extent you are bound to get what you pay for - it's not as if Tokais are particularly expensive to begin with.

You can be sure that the Vintage will be great value for money, but that doesn't mean it'll be perfect, it's still a budget instrument.   As Twinfan said, it reaches a point where you really have to go out and try them, other people's opinions can only get you so far!  :)

[varkunus]

So in summary: vintage are really good value for money are still made pretty well.

Just one last question, which is what I have been trying to get the answer too. Is the price difference of over £400 between MIJ tokais and lemon drop worth it? Are they both built of similar quality materials, have similar construction quality etc?