NGD - FGN LC20 Les Paul Custom

[napalmdeath]

I had one of these, but i sent it back to the Store. I could not get the Intonation right with my 14-68 Strings in A-Standard. But these are very nice Guitars for sure.

Those bridges, even being Gotoh, aren't the best, and have limited travel on the saddles, (like any ABR). I had a couple Edwards and changed them to Tonepros and good to go. I had trouble with just standard 10-46. But, again, that's the poor design of the ABR style bridge I hate. Most have to flip the saddles, and that doesn't even work.

14-68 is nuts though. I could see having a lot of fits with that.

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

14-68 is nuts though. I could see having a lot of fits with that.

 

[Simon Dorn]

Those bridges, even being Gotoh, aren't the best, and have limited travel on the saddles, (like any ABR). I had a couple Edwards and changed them to Tonepros and good to go. I had trouble with just standard 10-46. But, again, that's the poor design of the ABR style bridge I hate. Most have to flip the saddles, and that doesn't even work.

14-68 is nuts though. I could see having a lot of fits with that.

I like the Gotoh stuff. But you pointed out a great Solution.

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

Some drop c fun

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

I've been missing a Les Paul since I sold my Gibson LPC 1985 so I thought I'd pull the trigger on this Japanese beauty. I'd never played a FGN guitar before but this lady ticked all the necessary boxes (mahogany/ ebony fretboard /long tenon / non chambered / 4 kilos / Japanese )
Brand new these go for about 1600 -1800 euros and I got super lucky to find a used one in excellent condition for 1K.
It comes with SD JB / SH1 and to my surprise the JB sounds really good on this one.
Oh I forgot to mention - real mother of pearl!
I'm gonna post some clips soon!
Specifications :

• Body : Mahogany
• Top : Mahogany
• Neck : Mahogany
• Neck Joint : Set
• Fingerboard : Ebony
• Number of frets : 22
• Frets : 22 Medium Size with FGN Circle Fretting System
• Scale : 24.75"
• Neck Pickup : Seymour Duncan® '59™ Neck SH-1n
• Bridge Pickup : Seymour Duncan® JB™ SH-4
• Bridge : Hardtail
• Controls : 2x Volume, 2x Tone
• Tuners : GOTOH® SG301-04
  Tailpiece : GOTOH® GE101Z
  Bridge : GOTOH® GE104B

View attachment 392304

Somebody pinch me.....

I have two Edwards E-LPC-130 series and they are awesome, but the FGNs are apparently a notch higher, if price is any indication.

 

[bubucci]

Amazing guitars. So close in sound and feel with modern (Custom shop) era Customs, perfect neck shape, excatly like 2016 Custom I had. Long tenon and direct mounted ABR-1 makes a difference and ebony board make in sing. None of those older japan copies is closer to real Custom.

The tuning stability and intonation is flawless.
0.68 and shorter scale isn't ideal but those thick strings sounds like shit anyways

 

[BlueParfait]

... now I want one

 

[Devin]

I still don't understand what they mean by circle fretting system

Visually looks like any other guitar?


I'm sure they fuck though

 

[BlueParfait]

I still don't understand what they mean by circle fretting system

Visually looks like any other guitar?


I'm sure they fuck though

They're slightly curved towards the headstock IIRC
very slightly

 

[JerEvil]

Looks awesome! I’d fuck with it.

 

[bubucci]

it is very slightly but the intonation is better than my other les pauls.
On the other side, I had LC10 and it was good guitar but nothing as good as this LC20. LC10 has some usual thicker finish, LC20 has thinner, maybe urethane. Somewhere between ESP Eclipse and LTD version. LC20 was much better than E-II Eclipse than I compared to last time. Heavier but fuller sounding.

 

[glpg80]

it is very slightly but the intonation is better than my other les pauls.
On the other side, I had LC10 and it was good guitar but nothing as good as this LC20. LC10 has some usual thicker finish, LC20 has thinner, maybe urethane. Somewhere between ESP Eclipse and LTD version. LC20 was much better than E-II Eclipse than I compared to last time. Heavier but fuller sounding.

View attachment 425184

Damn that’s pretty cool. Can you combine compound fret radii too?

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

I wonder if you can't get that right without a longer scale length?

I've used 15-70 gauge on three different LP's and an Explorer in A standard with no problem. I use 14-68 in B standard, but it's a feel thing not an intonation thing.

 

[Akira]

I've been missing a Les Paul since I sold my Gibson LPC 1985 so I thought I'd pull the trigger on this Japanese beauty. I'd never played a FGN guitar before but this lady ticked all the necessary boxes (mahogany/ ebony fretboard /long tenon / non chambered / 4 kilos / Japanese )
Brand new these go for about 1600 -1800 euros and I got super lucky to find a used one in excellent condition for 1K.
It comes with SD JB / SH1 and to my surprise the JB sounds really good on this one.
Oh I forgot to mention - real mother of pearl!
I'm gonna post some clips soon!
Specifications :

• Body : Mahogany
• Top : Mahogany
• Neck : Mahogany
• Neck Joint : Set
• Fingerboard : Ebony
• Number of frets : 22
• Frets : 22 Medium Size with FGN Circle Fretting System
• Scale : 24.75"
• Neck Pickup : Seymour Duncan® '59™ Neck SH-1n
• Bridge Pickup : Seymour Duncan® JB™ SH-4
• Bridge : Hardtail
• Controls : 2x Volume, 2x Tone
• Tuners : GOTOH® SG301-04
  Tailpiece : GOTOH® GE101Z
  Bridge : GOTOH® GE104B

Oh man, I've been curious about this FGN model for awhile. Love the black and gold. Have always wanted an older ESP Eclipse in that colorway. May I ask, do you find the frets big enough? I think my only hesitation is I prefer jumbo/xj frets and I noticed the frets are listed as medium jumbo.

Thought about getting one of these for a while, love the headstock inlay looks awesome happy NGD

Same!

Amazing guitars. So close in sound and feel with modern (Custom shop) era Customs, perfect neck shape, excatly like 2016 Custom I had. Long tenon and direct mounted ABR-1 makes a difference and ebony board make in sing. None of those older japan copies is closer to real Custom.

Can I ask, where did you get yours? When I looked at the FGN site it doesn't actually list any dealers for North America. Under United States it just lists Fujigen's Japan address. Thanks!

 

[napalmdeath]

I've been missing a Les Paul since I sold my Gibson LPC 1985 so I thought I'd pull the trigger on this Japanese beauty. I'd never played a FGN guitar before but this lady ticked all the necessary boxes (mahogany/ ebony fretboard /long tenon / non chambered / 4 kilos / Japanese )
Brand new these go for about 1600 -1800 euros and I got super lucky to find a used one in excellent condition for 1K.
It comes with SD JB / SH1 and to my surprise the JB sounds really good on this one.
Oh I forgot to mention - real mother of pearl!
I'm gonna post some clips soon!
Specifications :

• Body : Mahogany
• Top : Mahogany
• Neck : Mahogany
• Neck Joint : Set
• Fingerboard : Ebony
• Number of frets : 22
• Frets : 22 Medium Size with FGN Circle Fretting System
• Scale : 24.75"
• Neck Pickup : Seymour Duncan® '59™ Neck SH-1n
• Bridge Pickup : Seymour Duncan® JB™ SH-4
• Bridge : Hardtail
• Controls : 2x Volume, 2x Tone
• Tuners : GOTOH® SG301-04
  Tailpiece : GOTOH® GE101Z
  Bridge : GOTOH® GE104B

View attachment 392304

Nice!

 

[bubucci]

Oh man, I've been curious about this FGN model for awhile. Love the black and gold. Have always wanted an older ESP Eclipse in that colorway. May I ask, do you find the frets big enough? I think my only hesitation is I prefer jumbo/xj frets and I noticed the frets are listed as medium jumbo.



Same!


Can I ask, where did you get yours? When I looked at the FGN site it doesn't actually list any dealers for North America. Under United States it just lists Fujigen's Japan address. Thanks!

The frets and neck are the same as Gibson LP Custom, maybe hair thinner neck. I favor bigger frets as well but I have no issue with those on FGN's. The fit and action together with fret size always feel different on LP's than trem bolt on for example. Eclipses I owned had thicker neck (LTD EC1000 had thinner and different shape and closer to LC20 ) and bigger frets, lower weight but any of those hadn't 'it' like good LP.

I traded my for LP Special with one guy so it cost me around half of the new one. We have dealer in Czech Republic so there are usually some on marketplace.

 

[DrewJD82]

Oh man, I've been curious about this FGN model for awhile. Love the black and gold. Have always wanted an older ESP Eclipse in that colorway. May I ask, do you find the frets big enough? I think my only hesitation is I prefer jumbo/xj frets and I noticed the frets are listed as medium jumbo.



Same!


Can I ask, where did you get yours? When I looked at the FGN site it doesn't actually list any dealers for North America. Under United States it just lists Fujigen's Japan address. Thanks!

Hit up Reverb and Ebay, stores in Japan will ship them here to the US. I got my Edwards from Gakkido and will be checking in about a month if they have any FGN’s in stock because I need a white one.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’ve been spending some time in the MIJ LP rabbit hole, mostly trying to figure out which models actually came/come with ebony fingerboards on the LPC’s. There’s some gems in there that can be missed if not paying attention to the year they were made or at which factory. Seems many of the LP makers shifted factories here and there; Orville’s were made in 3 different factories, Edwards has it’s own tale of where they were made where everyone has their “Trust me, bro” info, Aria Pro’s are another that jumped around a bit.

My goal is snag a nitro-finished white LPC, but they’re about as common as Hen’s teeth. There’s a good amount of black ones out there, some tobacco sunburst and even some wine red, but the white ones are fucking rare.

This is a ‘77 Aria Pro, nitro finish/ebony board, Matsumoku factory. $1080.

There’s a bunch of Tokai’s out there that fit the bill as well. I want 4 in total, black, white and two to refinish in silverburst and a gold top (because gold top LPC’s are fucking SICK). At some point I’ll likely organize all the info I’ve been gathering to make it available for anyone interested in them…..probably after I have all 4 I want.