Is it worth it to mod a 1981 Tokai?

[Billie_J]

Does it have to be a humbucker? I'm not a big fan of the Strat bridge pickup & some of the Tokai pickups are too thin & bright for my tastes. The Duncan Twangbanger is supposed to sound like a Tele bridge pickup & I reckon it gets a good half way there. About 8k, fatter & warmer than most Strat bridge pickups but it doesn't overload position 2. No routing necessary. I love 'em.

It doesn’t have to be a humbucker, but I would prefer a high output bridge. I usually play with gain so that’s why I was gearing towards a Dimarzio super distortion S since its got a little more beef on the bass end

 

[Billie_J]

The pots cut out a little of the treble, they'll leave mids & bass alone. If you're used to humbuckers the single coils will seem trebly, it might be a good idea to set the amp specifically for this guitar, or turn down the tone knob.

Adding tone control to the bass pickup is just a matter of a short jumper wire on the switch, and is easily reversible.

I’ve also adjusted the amp settings and it still drowns everything out with treble. Even with cranked bass dialed mids

 

[Miotch]

I'm a big fan of the Zexcoil Juicy Buckers. Single coil footprint, but sound a lot like a PAF humbucker. They're different, but in a good way, to me.

 

[Strebs]

So I know it hasn’t been long since I’ve picked up this Tokai but the internal electronics are pretty low in quality compared to all my other strats. I’ve called my local luthier and got a general opinion, but I guess I’d just like to hear everyone else’s. He said that he has no problem routing out the pickup cavity to accommodate for humbuckers and such, but he made a good point that I should exhaust all other options to get the tone I’m looking for.

The thing about that is I haven’t found any single coil sized HB’s that can equate to my usual Bill Lawrence L500XL tone. He also mentioned that I would probably have to get a custom PG given the specs and measurements could be slightly off with aftermarket PG’s.

Any advice I will take. I would hate to route this guitar out and completely kill the value given it’s near mint condition

Have you tried any of the DiMarzio rail buckers? I don't have any way to compare against a Bill Lawrence, but my DiMarzio Pro Track is in the ballpark of classic PAFs. I've never gotten along with traditional Strat single coil bridge pickups, but the Pro Track fixes that without having to route... at least for me. I went through that consideration a while back with my Fernandes, although it's nowhere near as collectible as your Tokai.

 

[Billie_J]

Have you tried any of the DiMarzio rail buckers? I don't have any way to compare against a Bill Lawrence, but my DiMarzio Pro Track is in the ballpark of classic PAFs. I've never gotten along with traditional Strat single coil bridge pickups, but the Pro Track fixes that without having to route... at least for me. I went through that consideration a while back with my Fernandes, although it's nowhere near as collectible as your Tokai.

Ive been looking at those for a minute, especially since they seem to have a good bit of bass and mid balancing

 

[Strebs]

Ive been looking at those for a minute, especially since they seem to have a good bit of bass and mid balancing

I think Billy Joe puts Seymour Duncan JBs in the bridge of most of his guitars with humbuckers. Maybe a JB Jr. would be worth looking into.

 

[Forest Lemon]

I would personally look for a Tokai that has already had this mod done, or one is less than favorable cometic condition. There are plenty of those out there that have already been routed to do it to a near mint example.

 

[Scott Baxendale]

So I know it hasn’t been long since I’ve picked up this Tokai but the internal electronics are pretty low in quality compared to all my other strats. I’ve called my local luthier and got a general opinion, but I guess I’d just like to hear everyone else’s. He said that he has no problem routing out the pickup cavity to accommodate for humbuckers and such, but he made a good point that I should exhaust all other options to get the tone I’m looking for.

The thing about that is I haven’t found any single coil sized HB’s that can equate to my usual Bill Lawrence L500XL tone. He also mentioned that I would probably have to get a custom PG given the specs and measurements could be slightly off with aftermarket PG’s.

Any advice I will take. I would hate to route this guitar out and completely kill the value given it’s near mint condition

I’d keep the body original and put a hot rails in it. The tone in my Tele with the hot rails in the neck position is one of the best humbucker tones I’ve ever had.