Tokai USG50 Custom Electric Guitar

Body - Nato
Neck - Maple, set neck
Fingerboard - Rosewood, block inlays, 22 frets
Hardware - Gold
Pickups - 3 * PAF-Vintage MK4
Controls - 2*volume, 2*tone, 3-way selector

The USG50 is Tokai's take on the famous Gibson SG Custom, I say take, it's a blatant rip-off really, and Tokai do it so well for a fraction of the price, you'd wonder why the need to spend any more.
The USG50 features 3 gold Vintage pickups, large block Abolone position markers and retro styleing all round, giving classic vintage tones and appearance, all for less than £250.
The large, curvy tapered headstock is gloss black to the front, with Tokai's signature logo and an attractive crest both in green and white Abolone. The front here is bound in 5 ply cream and black plastic, giving the classic 'Custom' look.
The back of the headstock also has a gloss finish, as does the whole guitar of course, with the guitars serial number stamped on, and 2 rows of Vintage, Kluson style machine heads, finished in gold with lime green, plastic tuning pegs.
The set Maple neck is quite slim, a D profile, tapering towards the body where it gets pretty fat. The bright white nut width is just 41mm, with the 12th fret at 52mm. Action height at the 12th is just about 2mm across the board, from the factory.
The dark grained Rosewood fingerboard is of a decent quality, a nice and tight grain, plenty smooth enough for fast playing and bends especially, always a give away on a budget guitar, are easy.
The board is bound in white plastic, and all fretwork is very neat and tidy and expected.
The neck joins the body at the 22nd fret on both side, so clearly no upper fret access problems here, both cutaways are also chamfered a little as well, making things more comfortable.
The body itself is a farily slim slab of wood, but quite weighty, giving good natural sustain. The front has a small, bright white scratchplate, 3 ply, white, black, white.
Underneath this, the 3 way selector switch, 2 volumes and 2 tone controls, all covering the 3 pickups, a bit Spinal Tap, but the extra tonal variation is useful. The are protected by black pickup surrounds.
The hardware is all gold, the 3 humbuckers, tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece, output jack socket and 2 straphooks.
The back of the body is fairly flat, but there is extra chamfering around the top bout, giving a nice and comfortable playing position.
It's a great guitar to play too, well balanced and easy to get along with. The 3 pickups rock out, Tokai's own Mk4 Vintage PAF's, high output, great on your overdrive setting, but also with enough clarity to satisfy your clean channel.
A great rake on the SG Custom, Tokai are a quality brand, so if this is your style, then the USG50 gives great retro looks and style at an unbeleivably low price.

£299