Seek help : Fernandes LP GoldTop P90, from 80s?

[kennyandy]

I am very new to Japanese brand Les Paul replicas, and recently I am looking at a listing, a Fernandes les paul goldtop with P90. I was not a big fan of this brand and never own Fernandes guitar for my whole life, rather I am more keen to get one Burny/Greco/Tokai; however I have never own a P90 guitar and always love to have a goldtop les paul style, so this guitar got my attention.

I had contacted the seller, he does not have much knowledge about this, he only knows it was from 80's and he claimed it was manufactured by Fujigen. It looks pretty new to me, if it was really from 80s. I have no expert and do not know how to date this guitar, and would like experts here to share their insights. Thank you very much in advance. Much appreciated.

P.S. Is this guitar PU any good ?

 

[Slashperryburst]

I'll preface by saying that despite living in Japan for a decade now, I know nothing about Fernandez or MiJ guitars. But...

It looks pretty new to me,

Have you looked at the frets?

 

[o0mobius0o]

They just need some polish. Get a photo of the control cavity and we can figure out who made it. Fujigen didn't make Burnys in the 80s, so that's wrong.

 

[JDZ]

I'll preface by saying that despite living in Japan for a decade now, I know nothing about Fernandez or MiJ guitars. But...

Have you looked at the frets?

Guitars with rusty strings and frets that need to be cleaned can make for fantastic buys. One of the best ways to get a great deal as others will just pass on it.

I'm more than happy to spend 30 minutes polishing the frets or 45 it takes to level, crown and polish them.

This was one of the filthiest guitars I've ever bought. It looked like it had sat out of its case for decades. All the dirt and grime hid what was beneath.

 

[Roxy13]

Yep, I do it all the time! And the ones that totally shot get replaced.

 

[mdubya]

Fernandez has always had a very good to excellent reputation, IMHO.

I just bought a Tokai P-90 Goldtop made in Korea, 2005. It is a stupendous guitar. It holds its own against my Gibson USA and even Custom Shop guitars. Some of the details are not as precious as the Custom Shop stuff I have, but the quality is amazing. I would expect that Fernandez to be the same or better.

Send me the link if you don't buy it.

 

[mdubya]

Also, I wish I lived closer to Roxy so she could be my guitar tech. I need a good one I can trust.

 

[Grenville]

Looks like a good guitar. In case you don't know, Fernandes and Burny are the same company; Les Paul style guitars usually have the Burny brand but sometimes do appear as Fernandes.

 

[m5570]

Roxy would have the guitar bar & cafe going if she lived close to everyone! Lol

 

[kennyandy]

Guitars with rusty strings and frets that need to be cleaned can make for fantastic buys. One of the best ways to get a great deal as others will just pass on it.

I'm more than happy to spend 30 minutes polishing the frets or 45 it takes to level, crown and polish them.

This was one of the filthiest guitars I've ever bought. It looked like it had sat out of its case for decades. All the dirt and grime hid what was beneath.

This is a true beauty !! you are very lucky to have this guitar !!!

 

[kennyandy]

Thank you so much for all replies, much appreciated

I did look into those frets and strings, I believe it will be a easy job to clean them up, just spend some time and a new pack of strings.

I was able to get one pic of the control cavity from the owner, the pot stamped with 2 sets of "numbers", it said "M590K0A" and underneath that it said "97 K", I have no idea what do that mean, any info regarding these? Another interesting thing is I can see a clear plastic tube in this pic, not understand what's the function of it.



I did research a bit on some websites, seems like Fernandes logo changed a few times through out different time period, as well as truss rod cover. In this case, i can see the TRC is a bell shape, but I have no idea about the logo style.

Logo (From old to new) :
Traditional Logo
Spaghetti Logo
Stone Logo
Gothic Logo
Revival Logo

 

[kennyandy]

 

[Roxy13]

That looks like a Dyna cavity.

I have refretted guitars that people shipped to me lol.

Otherwise y'all should join me and Zomby over here in Ohio.

 

[kennyandy]

That looks like a Dyna cavity.

I have refretted guitars that people shipped to me lol.

Otherwise y'all should join me and Zomby over here in Ohio.

Any idea of what year it was manufactured ? I asked the owner he seems not too sure

 

[Roxy13]

Any idea of what year it was manufactured ? I asked the owner he seems not too sure

I think Fernandez started using Dyna in 1987 after Matsumoku closed down. They continued using them until maybe 1998? It seems around that time they used Fujigen for a bit and supposedly the current MIJ Burnys are Tokai, but I can't tell you for certain since I haven't seen one in person.

 

[Roxy13]

My RLG 90 is an early Dyna one from about 1987 and it's a great guitar!

 

[kennyandy]

So supposed this one is also a RLG-90 ? Because it has P90

 

[Roxy13]

So supposed this one is also a RLG-90 ? Because it has P90

No, there were 50, 70 and 90 models. I'm not sure which yours is but we could look through the catalogs I guess.

 

[Roxy13]

It was an RLG 60 in the 1984 catalog. It's not pictured in the 85,86 or 87 catalogs, which were completely focused on the super strat take over of the guitar world.

 

[alainguitars]

Guitars with rusty strings and frets that need to be cleaned can make for fantastic buys. One of the best ways to get a great deal as others will just pass on it.

I'm more than happy to spend 30 minutes polishing the frets or 45 it takes to level, crown and polish them.

This was one of the filthiest guitars I've ever bought. It looked like it had sat out of its case for decades. All the dirt and grime hid what was beneath.

Love it. Is it a Gibson?