Cool Z ZSG-2/M SG Custom Limited Edition Model in 2012 - Snow White - All Original - Made By Fujigen in Japan MIJ

Used 2012 Cool Z ZSG-2/M SG Custom in beautiful Snow White finish - Limited Edition model - All Original - Made in the famous Fujigen factory in Japan - MIJ.

• Serial Number: J121650 (October 2012)
• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: 1 piece mahogany
• Fretboard: Rosewood
• Fretboard Radius: About 10"
• Fret Edge Binding: No
• Inlays: Acrylic pearloid block inlays
• Frets: 22 x Medium Jumbo (1.2mm tall x 2.45mm wide) - with C.F.S. technology
• Nut Width: 43.0mm
• Width at 1st Fret: 43.8mm
• Width at 12th Fret: 52.2mm
• Thickness at 1st Fret: 20.7mm
• Thickness at 12th Fret: 24.1mm
• Nut: Bone
• Tuners: Original gold Gotoh SG301
• Bridge & Tailpiece: Original gold Gotoh GE103B bridge, and Gotoh GE101A aluminum tailpiece
• Pickups: Original gold covered Alnico 5 Louis FH-1M and FH-2M humbuckers
• Neck Pickup Resistance: 8.42K ohm
• Bridge Pickup Resistance: 8.57K ohm
• Pots: Original Alpha 500K pots
• Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky 10-46 strings - E Standard tuning
• Weight: 7.74lbs
• Non Original Parts: None
• Case: New padded gig bag
• Truss Rod: Works as expected with room in both directions

If you're not familiar with the Cool Z brand of guitars, this is the house brand for Shimamura Music in Japan - one of Japan's largest musical instrument retailers. This brand has been around since at least the mid 1990's and is still around today. The Cool Z brand is used for their more affordable models, while the History brand is used for their more high end models. All of the Cool Z instruments are made by the world renowned Fujigen factory in Japan - the same factory that built vintage Greco's and Ibanez guitars, and still builds the Prestige and J Custom line for Ibanez today, as well as their own FGN brand.

This ZSG-2/M model was a limited edition model that was released at the end of 2012. They released 2 models during this limited edition, a Modern and Vintage inspired models, known as the the ZSG-2/M (like this one) and the ZSG-2/V respectively.

The normal Cool Z SG model is called the ZSG-1, which had a large bat swing pickguard. The ZSG-2/M model differs from the ZSG-1 model in a few ways - it has block inlays, a slightly narrower neck by 1mm at the nut, all gold hardware, a larger high mass Gotoh GE103B bridge and aluminum tailpiece, sealed Gotoh SG301 tuners with kidney shaped buttons, pickups that use an Alnico 5 magnet instead of ceramic, and it came in their most popular colour for an SG - Snow White.

All of this creates a great looking SG Custom that not only looks great, but plays and sounds fantastic, and offers a little more stability as well as fine tuning options compared to the standard ZSG-1 model.

Although the Cool Z brand was used for their more affordable models compared to the History Brand, I have owned both, and I can say that the Cool Z models seem to be built just as well as their History siblings.

All of the components on this guitar are top shelf - including the gold Gotoh bridge & aluminum tailpiece, gold Gotoh SG310 tuners, Alpha pots, and bone nut. I particularly like this bridge since it has more room for intonation than a standard ABR style bridge - so if you like lower tunings, or non standard gauged strings, this bridge will likely work a lot better,

Although it's hard to tell for sure under the Snow White paint, this guitar appears to be made with a 3 piece mahogany body, with a 1 piece mahogany set neck, and a beautiful rosewood fretboard that has a lovely grain up and down the entire neck.

All Cool Z brand guitars use the Fujigen proprietary C.F.S. (Circle Fretting System) - which means that the frets are slightly rounded to match the radius of the fretboard, nut and bridge, instead of perfectly perpendicular to the fretboard. This technology is supposed to help with intonation across the entire fretboard. To me, playing it doesn't look or feel any different than a typical SG, so the difference is subtle and you don't have to worry about it feeling off, but it does play extremely well and the C.F.S. technology may be part of that reason.

The frets ends on this guitar are finished incredibly well, what Cool Z and History call their "Elite Finish" like what you'd expect on an Ibanez Prestige.

Everything on this guitar appears to be original, and this guitar is in very good player grade condition. There are multiple dings, dents, chips and scratches over the entire guitar - but nothing major that affects the tone or playability, and no signs of a heel or headstock crack or repair.

All of the gold hardware including the bridge, tailpiece, pickup covers & pole pieces, screws and tuners have varying degrees of tarnish and corrosion, but everything works as expected, and there is still lots of shine left in most spots.

The 1 piece mahogany neck is a joy to play on, and has a down the middle neck carve - not super thin, and not super thick for an SG. It has a beautiful dark rosewood fretboard, like you'd expect from Fujigen, with acrylic pearloid block inlays.

The 22 medium jumbo frets have been played, and there is some minor play wear on the 1st to 12th frets mainly on the plain strings, but overall there is lots of life left in these frets, and the guitar plays extremely well up and down the entire neck.

The original Cool Z Louis FH-1M and FH-2M pickups sound fantastic, with a mid 8K range DC resistance, they are in the hot PAF output range and use an Alnico 5 magnet. They sound bright and articulate when the volume is all the way up, and when you roll down the volume and tone, and you're able to recreate many tones you're looking for. They are great sounding pickups that can handle most genres really well.

All the guitars I sell, I test, thoroughly clean, and setup completely before I list them. Anything that is missing, damaged, or non original is mentioned in the listing.

I setup all my Gibson style guitars to Gibson factory specs - including neck relief, action, pickup height, intonation, and tailpiece height. So this guitar will be ready to play out of the box (after you tune it up - I ship my guitars with the strings loosened).

Comes with a new padded gig bag.

Overall, this is an extremely high quality professional grade guitar made by one of the best guitar factories in the world.

If you're looking for a Japanese made SG Custom that can compete with the best, grab this one today!

CONDITION ------------

Overall it's in very good player grade shape.

I've tried to capture all of the flaws in the photos and in the description.

Across the entire body, top, back side, neck, and headstock, there are numerous dings, dents, scratches, and swirling, but since it is a white finish, it hides it well.

There are especially a few dents/chips on the side of the body, one of which that has been filled with white paint (not done by me). There's a chip in the paint on the top of the headstock.

There is a crack in the white paint on the back of the headstock underneath the Low E string tuner. It is only in the paint - when I removed the tuner, I can see that it stops at the paint, and dose not run down into the headstock.

All of the gold hardware, including the bridge, tailpiece, pickup covers and pole pieces, tuners, and screws are have varying degrees of tarnish, pitting and corrosion, although everything works as expected, including the tuners and bridge saddles, and there's still lots of shine in most areas.

The black plastics are in tact with typical scratches and pick marks.

The knobs are all original and intact, but the bridge pickup volume has a chip on top of the knob.

There is a chip in the nut at the B string, although it does not affect the tone, playability, or intonation of the guitar, and it plays as it should.

All of the Gotoh SG301 gold tuners are working properly, and tune smoothly.

Around the strap buttons there's strap marks/swirling.

The 22 medium jumbo frets have been played, and have some minor play wear on the 1st to 12th frets mainly on the plain strings, but overall there's lots of life left in these frets, and the guitar plays very well up and down the entire neck.

SHIPPING ------------  

Every shipment is expertly packed with great care and includes tracking, signature required on delivery, and full insurance coverage for both the purchase price and shipping.

Every guitar is fully wrapped in bubble wrap, in a cardboard box meant for guitars, with proper support inside. To reduce environmental impact, the packing material (paper, newsprint, gift wrap, bubble wrap, air packets, foam, carboard boxes and/or tube supports, etc...) used may be recycled.

Package dimensions are 118cm x 47cm x 17cm

Note: if you want an exact shipping quote, just send me a note with your postal/zip code, and I'll get a proper quote for your address. 

Note: If you're buying from outside of Canada, you as the Buyer may be required to pay import duties, tariffs, taxes and/or VAT upon delivery, depending on your location and the purchase price.

QUESTIONS ------------

Any questions? Want more photos or detailed shots? Measurements? Shoot me a message, and I'll be happy to answer them, or send more pics, or take any measurements you want/need.

Thanks for looking!