What Year Model is this FRESHER Leo Nine ?? ..........

Anyone have an idea of the model number & year of manufacture for this Fresher Leo Nine?

Here are a few pics of a Fresher Leo Nine with some very interesting attributes.

I thought it looked like a decent deal so, I decided to buy her.

Never owned a Fresher before; we'll see how she drives after she gets here ..............



Tenon is a bit Tokai like BUT the off-set to the bass side goes further than a Tokai tenon.
This one looks like it lines up equal to the bass side fingerboard edge.
Tenon looks like a really tight fit too.
The frets on the Leo Nines always looked really HUGE to me so, I hope they are


Notice the flame type feature in the back; it runs from roughly the top of the control route cover all the way to the top bouts.
From roughly the top of the control route cover down, it is fairly easy to see that there is a second piece of the body back.
Looks like a two piece back to my eyes BUT who knows ?????


In this photo of the body end, there is clearly a join near a line that would run from the top of the control route.
This corresponds to the area where there is also clearly a join located, looking at the above photo.
Also, no pancake body back; solid single piece thickness front to back/back to front.


Looks like quarter sawn lumber in this neck


Fresher & Leo Nine logos ...................
The fret size looks BIG, like on my Greco Vs; wide & tall


Plain top ..............
The cutaway on this one looks a bit more 'correct' than some I have seen.
pups have double white bobbins .......................


Here?s a shot of the neck pickup base; has that typical ?circuit board? look I have seen on pics of the Fresher pups

Are they Gibson pickups to Rich ? I have seen some very nice freshers over the years but the timing was never right to buy. They look like 6100 frets, nice and chunky.... :wink:

Mick

Hey MIJvintage,

CONGRATS!! Your 1. Fresher. I never played a Leo Nine but heard only good replys.

Here?s another one to compare:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22552280@N02/sets/72157623109199199/

Every Fresher-player I was in contact with was absolutely amazed by the incredible warm, dry, woody and honky TONE of their Fresher LP or LN (like I am!). Most of them replaced the electronics, PUs and machine heads.

Here?s the notice of a german FRESHER-owner who wanted to sell the guitar on ebay to save some money for a P-90 equipped LP, but stopped the ebay-auction to keep the guitar:
''ENGLISH: Extreme rare Fresher with 1 piece mahogany neck & body and 2 piece massive mapletop & Long tenon neck, 59 profile! This model is rare and a little secret in tone and mojo and honk (only built 3-4 years in a little japanese factory & this special version w/ these close to the original LP Standard specs is superduparare to get! It is better than my 1959 Historic, that i did sell after playing this one a while! If you win the auction you will not be disappointed ;o)''
This is the auction he stopped:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Fresher-Leo-Nine-Gibson-Les-Paul-Standard-Copy-BURST_W0QQitemZ280468685460QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGitarren?hash=item414d3c8294

He told me about the extremely great Tone of his Leo Nine. He sold his R-9!

leadguitar_323 said:

Are they Gibson pickups to Rich ?

Click to expand...

Could be Bill Lawrence pickups?

Leo 9 looks good btw! Got it yet, or is it en route?

Hi leadguitar_323,

The upper-grade FRESHER Les Paul or Leo Nine-models have DiMarzio PAF-style pickups installed. Lower models are equipped with a (to me) unknown brand. My ?78 FRESHER FL-800 has original 'some kind of 6105'-frets.

They look a bit bigger ?cause of the light-reflections.

The frets in MIJvintage?s pic look really monstrous!

mojoburst said:

Hey MIJvintage,

CONGRATS!! Your 1. Fresher. I never played a Leo Nine but heard only good replys.

Here?s another one to compare:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22552280@N02/sets/72157623109199199/

Every Fresher-player I was in contact with was absolutely amazed by the incredible warm, dry, woody and honky TONE of their Fresher LP or LN (like I am!).

Click to expand...

I was actually watching the eBay listing for the one in the link you have.
I asked the seller a couple of questions about it but he was a bit flakey with his replies & I didn't like what I saw after I received the info.

Here it is; SOLD on March 3, for $550, plus $130 shipping from Japan .................
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fresher-Leo-Line-1980s-MIJ-Clone-Cherry-Sunburst-Good_W0QQitemZ300399858541QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item45f13a136d

JVsearch said:

Leo 9 looks good btw! Got it yet, or is it en route?

Click to expand...

just sent the PayPal payment .......... should be here in about one week ........ maybe next Wednesday ...........

from Chicago to Saint Paul isn't very far 8) .....................

Andrew has a Leo Nine (near the bottom of) his Gibson Style page for $1025 ; might be a bit much :lol: ................
http://www.guitarsjapan.com/Gibson_Style_Guitar_Archive.html

The majority of Andrew's stuff is a bit too much. :roll:

There's one on eBay..... same circuit board p'ups but it looks like a pancake body though:



http://cgi.ebay.com/1980-Fresher-LP-MIJ-Guitar-Similar-Tokai-Burny-Tenon_W0QQitemZ250593603446QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item3a588aef76

interesting; yes, very pancake ......... syrup anyone :lol: ...........

mojoburst said:

Hi leadguitar_323,

The upper-grade FRESHER Les Paul or Leo Nine-models have DiMarzio PAF-style pickups installed. Lower models are equipped with a (to me) unknown brand.

Click to expand...

Did Dimarzio make a humbucker with a printed circuit board on the base like the ones on MIJ's Leo?

Only ones I know of are the Gibson Super Humbucker and the Bill Lawrence Humbucker, both designed by Bill Lawrence.

Maybe the pickups have been changed? Have to see when it arrives.

JVsearch said:

mojoburst said:

Hi leadguitar_323,

The upper-grade FRESHER Les Paul or Leo Nine-models have DiMarzio PAF-style pickups installed. Lower models are equipped with a (to me) unknown brand.

Click to expand...

Did Dimarzio make a humbucker with a printed circuit board on the base like the ones on MIJ's Leo?

Only ones I know of are the Gibson Super Humbucker and the Bill Lawrence Humbucker, both designed by Bill Lawrence.

Maybe the pickups have been changed? Have to see when it arrives.

Click to expand...

from what I have seen & read about the Fresher LP types I suspect the pickups to be original, or at least original types for the model.

Here's the listing link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150421993677&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

the seller claims the guitar to be original; we'll see if everything points to that once I can give it a good inspection

for $534 shipped, I aint expecting a lot .......................... but who knows ..............

Nice rich! I saw that on the bay the other day,thought it was UDONITRONS so i had a look,Not Udos ,surprized that it was for sale in the states when i saw the listing ,Good price as well MIJ.

I brought a yamaki performer that looks very similar,Same double white pickups ,di marzio hex pole pieces,Never had a photo of the underside of the pups so cannot comment if they are the same with the circuit pcb.

It is in customs at the moment,should get it next week as well


MOJO HOBO

marcusnieman said:

There's one on eBay..... same circuit board p'ups but it looks like a pancake body though:



http://cgi.ebay.com/1980-Fresher-LP-MIJ-Guitar-Similar-Tokai-Burny-Tenon_W0QQitemZ250593603446QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item3a588aef76

Click to expand...

It is indeed...I know because it is mine LOL & those pups are original and sound great...VERY hot pickups!! Much like the Gibson Bill Lawrence ones :wink: Mine has a a closer to Tokai neck cavity I think...your router plunges on that one extend all the way down to the bottom of the cavity.

Udo, can you tell us a little bit about the body (back) construction? I can't make out the details from the pics. Thanks.

Great looking guitar.

Udonitron said:

marcusnieman said:

There's one on eBay..... same circuit board p'ups but it looks like a pancake body though:



http://cgi.ebay.com/1980-Fresher-LP-MIJ-Guitar-Similar-Tokai-Burny-Tenon_W0QQitemZ250593603446QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item3a588aef76

Click to expand...

It is indeed...I know because it is mine LOL & those pups are original and sound great...VERY hot pickups!! Much like the Gibson Bill Lawrence ones :wink: Mine has a a closer to Tokai neck cavity I think...your router plunges on that one extend all the way down to the bottom of the cavity.

Click to expand...

that YouTube link in your listing with Phil X playing the white LP Standard is funny as Hell :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .....................

mojo hobo said:

Nice rich! I saw that on the bay the other day,thought it was UDONITRONS so i had a look,Not Udos ,surprized that it was for sale in the states when i saw the listing ,Good price as well MIJ.

MOJO HOBO

Click to expand...

that is probably the best price I have ever seen on a non pancake body Fresher Leo Nine, in what looks to be more or less original condition.

even with the little bit of extra weight, kinda hard to pass that up, considering my interest in them .........................

You will be impressed man. They really tried hard to be contenders with the big boys and I think they succeeded but just fizzled out. I was watching this one too...of course "bab" bid on it...either bab**** or eta***** are the bidders...I would like to punch them both :lol:

http://page12.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/p178910687

tracking info shows the Fresher arrived this morning at the Post Office that delivers my mail @ 7:17 AM
now that's FAAAAAAAAAAAAST 8) .......................

just sitting here waiting for the postman to ring the door bell & then listen to the dogs go nuts :lol: ..........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Ioy-5GarY