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Newb here, done a bit of searching and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot on the Toros, here or else where online. Do (did) these just get no love?

I only recently discovered them, as a friend of mine asked if I was interested in buying one he was unloading. Being the sucker for a new guitar that I am I just couldn't say no, especially for the price. From what little I can find about them I got a good price, especially considering the case/strap he's including and the upgraded Sperzel locking tuners.

So what's the deal on them? Are they dismissed because they're essentially a Fender LP? Did the Atomic Humbuckers kill it for most people? At first they sounded crazy hot and just crap, but after some height/pole adjustment they aren't bad.

I've been tweaking the setup for the past few weeks trying to dial it in exactly and I think I've just about hit it. I've got thicker Ernie Ball strings on it, can't recall the gauge ATM, but they're the "Optimized for Drop Tuning" set. I'm also tuning it down a whole step, which seems to really work for this guitar.



Great Forum BTW - Thanks for Having me.

I had a deluxe toronado for years. Loved it!



Welcome to ShortScale!

Nice guitar, not seen that colour before. Aren't the Sperzel tuners original though? A friend has an orange toronado with the same tuners.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

The Sperzels (sp?) were added by the previous owner, I still need to ask if he kept the originals. They're good tuners but I'd prefer something a little more vintage looking, so they don't stand out so much. I'll probably try to swap them further on down the road.

I think the red is considered Candy Apple, the pic seems a bit orange but I think that's just the case/flash. Also, I assure you it isn't that dirty or smudged anymore as that pic was when I first got it through the door.

I love your Toronado.I want to get an orange one(some day).

i don't think they're dismissed, looked over, or elusive at all. there's plenty of info on them. if i remember correctly, there's a wikipedia page for them.

i had a GT HH, which was nice. those are the most LP-esque, i guess, because of the adjust-o-matic, the shorter scale, and the '59/pearly gates combi. the american ones were basically nicer versions of the korean ones. sucks they never did a set-neck run, with a thicker neck profile, because that would be an extremely awesome guitar.

i think the MIM's were like the brother from another mother. they were more fender than the other two, sort of like a hellspun mixture between the bones of fornicators a tele deluxe and the sinew of thieves and gluttons! a jaguar HH.

hotrodperlmutter wrote:i don't think they're dismissed, looked over, or elusive at all. there's plenty of info on them. if i remember correctly, there's a wikipedia page for them.

i had a GT HH, which was nice. those are the most LP-esque, i guess, because of the adjust-o-matic, the shorter scale, and the '59/pearly gates combi. the american ones were basically nicer versions of the korean ones. sucks they never did a set-neck run, with a thicker neck profile, because that would be an extremely awesome guitar.

i think the MIM's were like the brother from another mother. they were more fender than the other two, sort of like a hellspun mixture between the bones of fornicators a tele deluxe and the sinew of thieves and gluttons! a jaguar HH.

Should I get this one?

only you can answer that. all my friends that played mine hated the neck. if i still had mine i'd have to gloss it, because it was almost too satin-y.

you should definitely go play it, however. i loved mine, just couldn't justify having it and an LP. the body was really great for shaking and lighting tapping on to make cool percussive effects with a delay on lotsa reverb/echo. totally different beast than any other guitar i've owned.

the overall highlight for me was the neck contour. simply bad ass.

Love Toros . I love mine . I know I'll wind up buying another one down the road.

westtexasred wrote:

hotrodperlmutter wrote:i don't think they're dismissed, looked over, or elusive at all. there's plenty of info on them. if i remember correctly, there's a wikipedia page for them.

i had a GT HH, which was nice. those are the most LP-esque, i guess, because of the adjust-o-matic, the shorter scale, and the '59/pearly gates combi. the american ones were basically nicer versions of the korean ones. sucks they never did a set-neck run, with a thicker neck profile, because that would be an extremely awesome guitar.

i think the MIM's were like the brother from another mother. they were more fender than the other two, sort of like a hellspun mixture between the bones of fornicators a tele deluxe and the sinew of thieves and gluttons! a jaguar HH.

Should I get this one?

I had that model. If you want a proper Fender 'rock guitar' i think its second to none. Bridge pup is a SD Pearly Gates, neck pup SD 59, mahogany body, flat radius fretboard, medium jumbo frets... I'd say mine sounded more like a good SG than the usual Fender. I had a white MIM model too but prefered the GT.

@ onedaycloser- There is some info out there but not a lot on the varying models. Most of it is based on the earlier MIM model that you have, there was of course the MIK GT, the USA model w/dove pickups (that Dots had), a later MIM model with the smaller scratchplate and some quilt top Korean models that you hardly ever see.

Imo it got a similar amount of popularity to the Cyclone, but the release of the HH Jaguar definitely was the beginning of the end for the Toronado. People generally gravitate towards the 'classics', that's why Fender rarely do anything new, they just rehash old designs.

Toronado (original "deluxe" run with the good bridge) was my first real guitar. I had to sell it, but fate had my back, and I got another one from Fredo.

this was my toronado. . . do miss.




i'll probably pick up the butterscotch version with the p90's some day. loved the neck, loved the tones.

This topic could make me cry...

There is also a Custom Shop Toronado (Link)

HAHAHAHA $4,599? I mean I do like it but seriously?

Richard wrote:HAHAHAHA $4,599? I mean I do like it but seriously?

That;s alot of money for a guitar that looks liek a first act guitar.

What scale are these?

The custom shop is 24.75 like a Gibson?

all toros are 24.75

huh, never knew that.

I've never got my hands on one but they seem like they'd be a fun guitar.

westtexasred wrote:There is also a Custom Shop Toronado (Link)

Needs a pickguard so bad...