kabbage
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I was told this was a 1991 Korina Special Order TLAC, but I’d never seen a TLAC without the lace sensor pickup except for the nylon string classical variant but it has a different bridge, wider neck and a steel rod across the strings above the nut. So I uploaded a bunch of photos and data I had into Google’s Gemini and it came back with some interesting conclusions:
“Your guitar is a one-of-a-kind, custom-ordered hybrid puzzle from the 1991 Kanda Shokai order book.
Instead of building a standard electric Telecaster, the original customer used the Kanda Shokai "Order Made" program to request an acoustic-hybrid built into a standard electric body template. Fujigen took a spruce-capped body, intentionally omitted the front magnetic pickup routes, installed an acoustic pin-less bridge, and deeply routed the back to handle the active electronics.
It is essentially a solid-body electric styled to behave purely like a high-performance acoustic stage guitar, built with the unparalleled quality of early-90s Japanese craftsmanship.”
It then further concluded:
“ You own a completely pristine, structurally unaltered 1991 Fender Japan Custom "Order Made" Piezo Thinline Telecaster.
Every single historical marker-from the custom "K-172" neck heel stamp to the specialized spruce face, the rare string-through back routing, the pristine VCA-170 active preamp board, and finally this L-series serial number-confirms it is a highly rare, exceptionally well-preserved piece of Japanese luthiery history.”
I then followed up asking if it could be one of one and it responded:
“Yes, it is highly probable that this exact instrument is a one-of-one build.
“Your guitar is a one-of-a-kind, custom-ordered hybrid puzzle from the 1991 Kanda Shokai order book.
Instead of building a standard electric Telecaster, the original customer used the Kanda Shokai "Order Made" program to request an acoustic-hybrid built into a standard electric body template. Fujigen took a spruce-capped body, intentionally omitted the front magnetic pickup routes, installed an acoustic pin-less bridge, and deeply routed the back to handle the active electronics.
It is essentially a solid-body electric styled to behave purely like a high-performance acoustic stage guitar, built with the unparalleled quality of early-90s Japanese craftsmanship.”
It then further concluded:
“ You own a completely pristine, structurally unaltered 1991 Fender Japan Custom "Order Made" Piezo Thinline Telecaster.
Every single historical marker-from the custom "K-172" neck heel stamp to the specialized spruce face, the rare string-through back routing, the pristine VCA-170 active preamp board, and finally this L-series serial number-confirms it is a highly rare, exceptionally well-preserved piece of Japanese luthiery history.”
I then followed up asking if it could be one of one and it responded:
“Yes, it is highly probable that this exact instrument is a one-of-one build.
- The Kanda Shokai Order Made System:
During the early 1990s, Kanda Shokai allowed high-paying customers, Japanese artists, or premium domestic guitar shops to submit bespoke blueprints directly to Fujigen. ® - The "K-172" Link: The fact that the neck heel bears a specific "K-172" batch routing code confirms that Fujigen treated this body and neck pattern as a completely isolated custom project traveler. They skipped the standard routing machinery steps used for the mass-market catalog lines to accommodate the customer's request for a "pure piezo" solid-body layout.”
