How does the Fractal handle feedback or resonance?
I suppose that’s where I see the depth of an amp, or the lacking ina model. Not the howling screeching, but the musical sound of the harmonics as they teeter on the verge of resonance and feedback on the context of the rhythmic and melodic structures.
My Fender Japan tele and my G&L L2000 bass were both made by Fujigen and both are really high quality. I don’t have experience with their own branded stuff, but they are very well respected as a builder.
G&L L2000 made by Fujigen - that is one of those early Tribute series or the one called “Premium”?
One of the “Premium” ones with the CFS. It has the wiring from the US ones, so both pick ups can be split. I think maybe just for the Japanese domestic market.
My Fender Japan tele as well is an oddball. One of the VSP ones with nitro finish and US wiring. Big thick V-shaped neck.
Nice! How much of a difference does the CFS make? Is it more about intonation, purity of tone or just the feeling under fingers? I learned about it just recently when I was looking into FGN basses (“Mighty Jazz” line)…
I sold my US made G&L MJ-4 recently. Still feel bad about it, but after I switched to 5 stringer I barely played it. I would like to get 5string G&L, if I’ll have the chance and switch it with my current instrument - I just want one bass… But the MJ-5 is not produced anymore, so probably L2500 or M2500.
I’m more of a guitarist than a bass player so I’m probably not the best person to ask, but I haven’t noticed a huge difference, but it does play really well.
I know what you mean about just wanting one bass, this series is kind of made for that with the insane amount of tonal options. That’s why I got it. I was wanting something for dub reggae at the time and it was between this and a P-bass.
To be honest, if I were to get a bass now, I would probably go the polar opposite and get something super simple like a telecaster bass or something, lol. I always see them in 1970s live performances and they just embody that weirdo studio musician vibe from that era. Lol.
(I’m not a Billy Joel fan, but saw this live version of this song on Japanese TV years ago and it’s sick)
And speaking of bass players everyone owes it to themselves to listen to this comedy sketch. (sampled by the Beastie Boys back in the day).
Digitech Freqout does a nice job of emulating the feedback you would normally only get by turning up the volume/gain of an amp and letting the speaker interact with a pickup. Works great with my Line 6 HX Stomp XL and my regular pedalboard. Feedback at any volume level using the Freqout keeps me on good terms with my neighbors.
I preferred to activate it by footswitch, but it could be set to fade in automatically with some envelope control. Sustain amount depends on the individual guitar and where on the neck you are playing particular notes - some notes will ring next to forever.
I’m sorry to hear about that nitro mishap. For whatever it’s worth I find the first scratch, ding, chip, etc liberating as it can now be used as a normal instrument.
Also, if it really bugs you (and it’s actually nitrocellulose lacquer) it can be repaired. You’ll want to take it to someone who really knows what they’re doing with that stuff but lacquers can always be reconstituted and reworked with the appropriate solvents, even a century later. Just throwing that out there.
Cheers for the info! It’s good to hear that your experience with Fujigen guitars is positive and that you feel they’re well made. I’m probably gonna take the plunge and get a J-Standard Iliad, as I don’t have a Tele style guitar yet and sort of want one lol.
I’m quite interested in the CFS system, intonation is a much underappreciated topic in my book. An currently reading a wicked book on tuning and it makes me wanna play instruments that or practically (not just mathematically) in tune 
Let us know how you like it! This thread has inspired me to break out my G&L. It hasn’t gotten much action lately, and I want to see how close to the tele bass sound I can dial in.
I’ve probably posted these before but here are some old photos of my Fender Japan tele made by Fujigen. I think I have a guitar magazine somewhere with pictures of the Fujigen plant. I’ll see if I can find it.
I got this one used. Somebody had sold two of this exact same top-end Fender Japan model to Ishibashi music after replacing the bridges and the fret wire with thicker frets (jumbo?). They must have spent a bundle, and they were only a year old at the time (2012). I played both and chose this one. It was the heavier of the two, but sounded nicer to me. I added the series/parallel mod after I got it.
I used to see so much amazing stuff at reasonable prices back in the day. I think people selling globally on Reverb ruined that to a large extent. I wish I could go back in time to snag a few things I missed out on.
Wicked book on tuning? Interested! Which one?
Beauty!!! Thank you for sharing! 
The UA Dream sounds so good in the videos I’ve seen.
I have one in my cart, trying not to buy but yeah, the Dream sounds amazing!!
Guitar and tone experts I have a question. In the track below (which I love) how would you approach getting this guitar tone? Cheers
While I’m at it, I’ll ask for delay pedal recommendations that don’t break the bank. I get scared by pedals with too much depth too, so I’m not looking at timeline, timefactor etc., these are way too complex for me. I want lush sound that fades into the ether as time passes. Tap tempo would be preferred. Cheers.
Better guitarists than I may have a deeper answer, but I’m immediately hearing:
–Light tremolo, possibly with a wet/dry mix
–Light overdrive for that touch of saturation
–Mid/high volume (you can hear the fingers sliding on the fretboard)
–Probably fingerpicked, maybe the gentlest of picking
–Likely neck pickup for that mellower tone
Plus lots of reverb. Spring probably. I can get a very similar tone from the Fender Deluxe model on the Strymon Iridium, using a guitar with P90 pickups.
