found another oddball G&L L2K this one sez PREMIUM predominantly on the headstock face and also includes C.F.S. which means Fujigen's Circle Fret System. anybody got a lead on the Premium / C.F.S. versions? the best I could come up with is a Japan connection / MIJ and there may be differences in the electronics with a coil tap addition and slimmer neck. sounds like these should command a higher than usual price to USA models but this blonde on black beauty is only $400 in v good cond. what's up with all this?
Until about 2 years ago (during the time of the previous Japanese distributor Kurosawa), Fujigen built the non-export “Premium” line. Pricing wise, Tribute < Premium < USA Jazz necks, Fujigen’s “circle frets” (some fancy thing related to th curvature of the frets and perpendicular to the tangent...). I think same electronics as the USAs, but wood sourced according to there usual business. Japan’s guitar market has been traditionally been big compared to other non-US countries, so similar arrangements were very common. Fender (long history), Gibson, Schecter, Lakland, ... Furthermore, a lot of brands first did their “underbrand” / cheap line in Japan before moving to Korea and eventually China or Indonesia
thanx! whatever the CFS is it didn't impress as anything special, but the near-Jazz neck felt good, and overall it was pretty light. $500 is the tag so I doubt I'll jump but they do give 3mos trial... it was ok in feel, my Tribute is ok, I think I'm good.
it's local, but here's 2 examples G & L Premium L-2000 C.F.S (Black) used bass (222 | eBay G&L Premium L-2000 CFS Black Maple Fingerboard