Greco Information Page.

(Under Construction)

I am starting this page in an effort to provide as much information as possible on Greco Guitars.

I am more than happy to include any relevant information that you can supply or add links to appropriate sites. Please contact me via one of my listings. Use the "Ask Seller a Question" option.

I'm particularly interested in including good quality catalogue scans.

It is difficult to find reliable information on Grecos as inevitably most documentation is in Japanese. As such this information may not be 100% accurate but I will qualify where I can. I'm only human after all. As such this is mostly based on my experiences of Greco (and Gibson) ownership.

Where it All Began:

Greco Guitars were manufactured in the Matsumoku factory in japan. They began producing guitars in the 60's but it was not until the mid 70's that they began manufacturing the top quality direct copies of American guitars such as Gibson, Fender and Rickenbacker. It is with these, often referred to as "Lawsuit" guitars that are the focus of my page.

Late 60's, early 70's Greco guitars were often relatively cheap copies, often with bolt on necks. By the mid 70's however Greco were producing very accurate copies, easily on a par with the Americans and build quality was more consistent too.

Unlike Yamaha or Ibanez, Greco were not produced for export and were made entirely for the home Japanese market. Many people believe that it was for that reason that they have avoided the "Lawsuit" argument and managed to produce such exacting copies well into the late 80's and long after the other manufacturers were forced to desist.

It is often thought that Greco produced only copies of American guitars but this is not true. The Greco "Go" and "M" series of instruments bear a more than passing resemblance to Ibanez guitars. These are not cheap imitations either but at least as good quality as anything Ibanez were producing at the time and prices in Japan are higher than Ibanez!

Later Greco guitars were made in Korea and in the 90's the headstock and logos were changed to avoid any copyright issues. Korean Grecos do not have a serial number. A word of warning though, not having a serial number doesn't mean a Greco is Korean... Read on.

 

Dating Greco Guitars:

Guitars can usually be dated by a serial number which can be found on the back of the headstock.

Early (70's) Greco guitars used a serial number and prefix letter. This was either stamped and painted or just painted on and was usually in gold.

The letter relates to the month of manufacture. Therefore "A" = January, "L" = December etc.

The next two digits are the year. Therefore a guitar with the serial number F774698 would have been made in June 1977

Later 80's models often didn't have the letter and the serial number was printed onto the guitar in black. Often the first digit was separated and corresponds (I think) to the year in the 80's

It is a popular misconception that Greco guitars without a serial number were made in Korea. This is NOT necessarily so. Some Greco guitars had the serial number on a sticker which may have become detached. In my opinion the only way to tell a Korean Greco is by experience, there is no defining factor that I am aware of, just a list of clues.

Examples of serial number types can be seen HERE

 

Greco Model Numbers:

Greco model numbers related to their price in Japanese Yen. This was common with Japanese guitars and Yamaha used the same system. Therefore a Greco EG500 would have cost approx 50,000 yen, or by today's exchange rates £250. Bear in mind however that these are often 70's prices when £250 was a lot of money! The model number was usually on an oval sticker attached to the neck volute. Inevitably this is often missing nowadays so identifying your Greco may not be that easy!

It is worth noting here that as the model number related to the price it is often the case that two guitars of the same model number may have different specifications. As an example the EG500s' are usually hollow top whereas the EG600s are solid. However an EG600 Black beauty with three pickups is still hollow top. The extra Yen having been spent on the pickups and not the body! Also, to confuse matters further the Value of the Yen would have changed through the years so specifications also change with year of manufacture. (Well, I never said it was going to be easy).

Greco Headstock Logos:

Greco headstocks are very good imitations of Gibsons and it was certainly no coincidence that Greco looks remarkably like Gibson from a distance. Throughout the seventies Greco got away with direct copies of the "open Book" design, long after the now infamous "Lawsuit" put an end to Ibanez doing the same. During the 80's however pressure resulted in a change of inlay design, away from the traditional Gibson Diamond though the general shape remained accurate. Strangely enough later Korean Grecos seem to have managed to return to a more accurate logo but information on these is beyond my scope really and should be treated with caution. Truss rod covers also copied the original design but their use seems to be too erratic to draw any conclusions from. Click HERE for some examples:

 

Les Paul Copies. (The "EG" range).

A Catalogue scan of the EG range of guitars taken from a 1981 issue can be seen HERE

 

Neck Joint:

Early 70's Grecos such as the EG360 had bolt on necks. These are relatively well made but not really in the scope of this page.

Mid 70's onward Greco guitars with "set" or glued in necks used a variety of neck joints. You can view pictures HERE

"Tenon and Dowel"

This is a very sturdy joint and the dowels which run longitudinally along the tenon add plenty of strength. This joint can be identified by two dowel ends, either side of the tenon, protruding into the pickup cavity. This tenon is often off centre to give maximum width but to allow for the cutaway in the bottom bout. It is my preferred method and second only to a genuine through neck design. (Not found on a Les Paul)*. VIEW

"Long Tenon"

The tenon extends into the pickup cavity, usually about halfway. It is necessary to machine the top of the tenon to allow space for the pickup and so this type of joint can be recognized by a "tongue" which is usually rounded off in the bottom of cavity. VIEW

"Standard Tenon"

This is the weakest and least desirable joint and is usually only found on Korean manufactured guitars. The tenon tends to be shallow and has no other structural support. VIEW

*Note: Les Paul originally designed his guitar to have a through neck but Gibson didn't follow the design to cut costs. Oh well, what might have been?

 

Fret Binding:

One of the nicest touches on Greco guitars is that they chose to accurately copy the Gibson style fret edge binding. From a manufacturing point of view it is an expensive option and not found on any other copy guitar to my knowledge. From a players point of view this makes the guitar nicer to play as the metal fret ends are covered by the binding material. From a luthier/guitar repairer point of view however this also makes a re fret a more expensive option. Not all Grecos have the fret edge binding some cheaper models do not and later 80's guitars only seem to have the binding on the top end guitars. It would appear that Korean guitars at any price lack the binding. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any real method of telling which models do or don't have the binding and of course after 20 or 30 years it is entirely possible the guitar has had a re fret and lost the binding in the process. Examples can be seen HERE

Wiring:

Greco guitars made in Japan used metal braided/shielded cable from the pickups and full size 24mm dia potentiometers. Whereas Korean made guitars used plastic coated wiring and inferior ,16mm dia pots. Also, Japanese made Grecos have pot codes printed on the base of the pot. Sometimes solder can cover this but codes of 504072 (Volume) and 504042 (Tone) seem common. Finally the routing of the control bay is completely different between Korean and Japanese guitars. This can clearly be seen in the accompanying pictures. These features are the best way I know of telling a Korean from a Japanese made guitar. Of course it is not infallible as pickups, pots and wiring may have been changed. It ssem highly unlikely to me though that a Korean made guitar would have the same potentiometers as a Japanese one. Examples of both types of wiring can be seen HERE