Fernandes JG-55

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue May 19, 2015 1:55 am

I picked up one of these on Ebay. It just arrived. I am very pleased with it. I just have some minor things to tweak to get it perfect.

The good: the neck is awesome shape wise and the body is comfy, the glitter finish is gold over charcoal and looks really cool, the black guard and hardwear is pretty cool, pickups sound good, tuners are great.

The meh: the humbucker mounting screws seem too long (they poke up above the bridge), the saddle height screws are different length for some reason, and the neck needs some relief ( a little fret buzzing going on.)

20150518_183552 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20150518_183612 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20150518_183616 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20150518_183625 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20150518_183653 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Tue May 19, 2015 12:18 pm

Nice!

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue May 19, 2015 7:28 pm

Gold over charcoal sounds awful but looks cool. I like it, but am not sure about the massive expanse of scratch guard.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue May 19, 2015 7:51 pm

Guar is a lot like a Jagmaster one.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue May 19, 2015 7:57 pm

Yeah, I'm not sure what's bothering me about it. I've always quite liked the look of Jagmasters. Maybe it's because I'm used to seeing a hum bucker in the neck leaving less of an expanse of plastic. Not sure.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue May 19, 2015 8:06 pm

Could be. The pickups are actually well balanced. Better than other guitars I have that are H/S. Wish I knew why the humbucker mounting screws are too long. They look stock. Kind of bugs me that I will need to take the bridge off to get that fixed. LOL

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue May 19, 2015 8:29 pm

At the same time, I quite like the "blackout" look of it.

I can't make my mind up about it at all! What's under the guard? Add some switches, even for the sake of it being jewellery!

Post by **Hurb** » Tue May 19, 2015 8:38 pm

I shouldn't like it...but I do!

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed May 20, 2015 10:24 pm

Guts should look like this or similar.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Wed May 20, 2015 10:26 pm

Is it a sustainer?

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Thu May 21, 2015 12:14 am

That model has one. My red JG also has one. The black one doesn't.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sat May 30, 2015 10:28 pm

Since I was working on my white Mustang's neck, I figured I would fix this ones as well. Nothing wrong with it. Just a bunch of dings. I have gorilla glue gel that I dropped in the dings after I used synthetic steel wool to satin the back of the neck. While the neck was off, I fixed the bridge pickup.

I clipped the screws a little shorter and also moved the pickup wire and it sits down flat now. Perfect.

20150530_151343 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

I also swapped height adjustment screws on the saddles. The longest ones were in the lowest saddles and I was concerned about cutting my hand on them. Much better now.

20150530_151351 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sun May 31, 2015 2:45 am

It doesn't look pretty, but it feels awesome now. Satin polished finish. The dark spots are the filled dents. It has a vintagy look to it now and feels amazing.

20150530_192138 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

Cleaned the fretboard once I got the neck back on. Pretty wood.

20150530_193356 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

Looking hot. Just need strings for this one.

I also loosened the truss rod a little. The neck had almost zero relief and was causing a little rattle.

20150530_193425 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 1:15 am

All strung up and working great. I put 11's on it and like the sound I am getting. Great stock pickups. Looks awesome also.

20150602_174533 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20150602_174600 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20150602_174605 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

GOLD GLITTER!

20150602_174621 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:53 am

I keep coming back to steal a look or two, such a good looking piece...and a squillion bonus points for that fixed bridge!

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:58 am

I keep going back to the guitar to play. The price on these are ridiculously low in my opinion. Under $400 for a Japanese guitar like this is a no brainier.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 7:37 am

I can't agree more, a good number of Fernandi float around here in the local market, and it's amazing how good most of them are for so much less than so-called name-brand guitars. The vintage P-Bass models are especially hot stuff. And when Cindi and I take her folks to Japan this Fall to celebrate her dad's 70th, I have a feeling I'll likely be dropping by the Fukuoka Parko Ishibashi be bring something back with me...one of the Ken signature models, no doubt