Cool Z ZSG-10 SG Standard 2014 - Heritage Cherry - All Original - Made By Fujigen in Japan MIJ

Used 2014 Cool Z ZSG-10 SG Standard in classic Heritage Cherry thin urethane finish- All Original - Made in the famous Fujigen factory in Japan - MIJ.

• Serial Number: K141214 (November 2014)
• Body: 2 piece centre seam mahogany
• Neck: 1 piece mahogany (with headstock wings, no heel cap)
• Fretboard: Rosewood
• Fretboard Radius: About 12"
• Fret Edge Binding: No
• Inlays: Acrylic celluloid looking trapezoid inlays
• Frets: 22 x Medium Jumbo (1.0mm tall x 2.7mm wide) - with C.F.S. technology
• Nut Width: 43.5mm
• Width at 1st Fret: 44.2mm
• Width at 12th Fret: 53.0mm
• Thickness at 1st Fret: 21.1mm
• Thickness at 12th Fret: 23.7mm
• Nut: Bone
• Tuners: Original nickel Gotoh Kluson style tuners
• Bridge & Tailpiece: Original nickel Gotoh GE104B bridge, and Gotoh GE101Z tailpiece
• Pickups: Original nickel covered History FH-6D humbuckers with Alnico 8 magnets
• Neck Pickup Resistance: 7.45K ohm
• Bridge Pickup Resistance: 7.46K ohm
• Pots: Original Alpha 500K pots
• Strings: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 10-46 strings - E Standard tuning
• Weight: 6.48lbs
• Non Original Parts: None
• Case: New quality made Profile G05TX 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.

From what I can tell based on the available Cool Z catalogs, the ZSG-10 model was the last SG model model that Cool Z released.

The previous, and original, SG model from Cool Z was the ZSG-1, and the ZSG-10 model differs by using a small '61 style "angle wing" pickguard, a heritage cherry thin urethan finish with no grain filler (so you can see/feel more of the grain through the finish), it has the "Makes You Creative" slogan silkscreened onto the headstock face, and the ZSG-10 model uses their in-house History FH-6D humbuckers, which are low wind pickups that use a strong Alnico 8 magnet.

All of these changes combine to make a classic looking SG Standard that not only looks great, but plays and sounds fantastic.

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 nickel Gotoh bridge & tailpiece, nickel Gotoh tuners, Alpha pots, and bone nut. I particularly like the Gotoh bridge - it's a solid fit, the saddle screws are not floating in place like a typical ABR-1 style bridge, so it creates a more solid feel (in my experience).

Thanks to the beautiful heritage cherry finish, it's easy to see that this guitar is made with a striking 2 piece centre seam stripy 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. The mahogany used on this guitar is some of the best I've seen from Japan.

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 area couple larger dings/scratches on the bottom side of the body, and a few fine scratches, and swirling, and a little buckle rash on the back of the body - but nothing major that affects the tone or playability, and no signs of a heel or headstock crack or repair. It has been played, but not abused.

All of the nickel hardware including the bridge, tailpiece, tuners, pickup covers & pole pieces, and screws are in greats shape, and have only minor tarnish and corrosion, but everything works as expected, and there is still lots of shine left in most spots.

The 1 piece U-shaped 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, starting out at 21.1mm at the 1st fret and making it's way up to 23.7mm by the 12th fret. It has a beautiful rosewood fretboard, like you'd expect from Fujigen, with acrylic celluloid looking trapezoid inlays.

The 22 medium jumbo frets show almost no play wear, and overall there is almost the full life left in these frets, and the guitar plays extremely well up and down the entire neck.

The original History FH-6D pickups sound fantastic. These were part of the History line of guitars, which was the high end range from Shimamura Music. With a mid 7K range DC resistance, they are in the classic lower output PAF range but they use an Alnico 8 magnet which is a strong Alnico type magnet (like a Ceramic magnet). They sound bright and articulate, and a little angry, 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 quality made Profile G05TX 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 Standard 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 minor dings, dents, scratches, and swirling.

The bottom side of the body has some larger dents/dings/scratches in the finish.

There's some slight buckle rash on the back of the body.

There is what appears to be a handprint under the finish on the back of neck by the heel - it's smooth to the touch, and you can only see it if you really look for it. It doesn't affect playability.

All of the nickel hardware, including the bridge, tailpiece, pickup covers and pole pieces, tuners, and screws are in great shape and have only minor 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.

All of the Gotoh nickel tuners are straight and working properly.

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

The 22 medium jumbo frets have almost no play wear, and have nearly the full life left in them, and the guitar plays well up and down the entire neck.

The truss rod works as expected.

There are no signs of a headstock, heel or any other repairs.

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!