Commitment to carefully selected wood and durability

To build a guitar that sounds great even after 100 years, at F.C.G.R. we select our woods very carefully. The selected wood is stabilized in our special humidity-controlled warehouse for up to one year to eliminate the possibility of warpage later.

Original stainless steel frets

Our stainless-steel fret wire has been specially developed by F.C.G.R. to be completely rust-proof and reduce the necessity for maintenance for the lifetime of the instrument. Additionally, our stainless steel produces a warmer sound, eliminating the excessive brightness often associated with typical stainless steel frets.

Stability and solid performance

Often guitars and basses are strung up for the first time after the fretwork and set-up have been completed. At F.C.G.R. after the necks are painted, we assemble the full instrument and tension up their strings for a few weeks - this allows the neck to settle into its final stable shape. Using a specially designed rig, we then adjust the frets with the neck in its final playing position, with the same curvature as when strings are present. Through this process we can achieve the highest standard for our fretwork, which cannot be achieved in mass-produced instruments.

Glow in the dark side-position markers

We use Luminlay SG-30 (3mm) side-position markers which gather light and glow in the dark. It is a small touch, but invaluable on a dark stage - where it will allow you to play with greater confidence and less worry about losing your way around the fingerboard.

Color

There is a story behind each of our original colours - and we continue to develop new ones all the time! Since the thickness, and type, of paint and lacquer used influences the resonance of the instrument, we can use our years of experience to produce a finish that brings out the character of your individual instrument. We welcome you to inspect our colour chart, and visit our showroom if possible to see our finishes in person. And if there are colours that you would like on your instrument and cannot see on our page - please let us know, we'll do our best meet your request.

Resilience to humidity and weather variation

All Pepper series guitars have semi hollow bodies, but all of their inner surfaces that are exposed to air are hand coated with lacquer. Similarly, all other holes and countersunk surfaces are also coated with a weather-resistant lacquer. The whole instrument is thus maximally protected to weather variation, and can withstand even a very high humidity environment - like, for example, Japan in the summer.