1970s Greco telecaster-esque black beauty

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at a lot of Greco guitars here on Guitarz but I've never seen this particular Greco before. The telecaster similarities are quite obvious but it retains a style all its own with a funky tremolo, awesome pickups ( deArmond?), and more pronounced cutaway on the upper horn.

Listed for $495 US.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Guitarz 5000th Post!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Though I'm not one to typically celebrate milestones I'm in the unique position of having been a fan of Guitarz for a lot longer than I've been a contributor.

So, I thought since I was going to abuse my power I'd celebrate 5000 posts by revisiting some of my favourite guitars featured on this site from when I was just a fan. Feel free to let us know if you have a favourite as well.

When this Hayman 3030 was posted it was the first time I'd ever seen a Hayman guitar. I don't think I'd even heard of Hayman before, which is made extra odd by that fact that I've been a Burns fan/owner for a long time. Some histories are missed. I am still on the lookout for a 3030 like this one to add to my arsenal, should anyone have an extra one they would want to part with.

This Forrest Custom Telecaster with B-Bender makes the list because it has 3 elements that I love ( aside from the fact it's a tele ). It's green , it's paisley, and it has a b-bender. A trifecta of telecaster love.

The Burns Jet Sonic designed by Pagelli came in two different colours. A Blue and Red combination and the less understated Black and Yellow/white shown here. I admit that I like the black version much more. If you have a crazy and unique design why bother dressing it in crazy colours. Probably the second or third guitar I'll buy if I ever win the lotto.

Another Burns! This Magpie from 1980 is a great example of the design and has the added bonus of a 6 in-line tuner configuration which in my opinion makes more sense with this design. The bird on the headstock is a nice touch too.

I've never disliked a Daion, and the Savage is probably my favourite design. The only fault I see in this Savage is that the original pickups have been replaced with dimarzios. Not that that isn't possibly an upgrade, I just think I'd prefer it to be stock.

This Greco Brawler BR600 is a great example of 1970s made in Japan quality, only this time it's not a copy of an existing guitar. The curves on this guitar are great and I see a nod to a Tiesco Tulip.

My first guitar was a 1984 Ibanez Roadstar and looked almost exactly like this one. But mine was a very reserved black. I loved this one on first sight as it simultaneously made me feel nostalgic and go "wow". I'm not sure I would have had the courage to play a bright beauty like this in 1984, to stand out so obviously. But I'd play it with pride now.

There is a lot to like about this John Birch guitar. The modular pickups, the simple design, the symmetry, the arm-carve on the bouts, and not least, the colour. This is one of those designs that I'm surprised didn't catch on. I guess it was ahead of its time.

This Quest Manhattan  is another fine example of Japan getting it right in the 1970s and 1980s. When I first saw this guitar I coveted it so much that I came to within inches of buying a seafoam green version at a very inflated price. I made the right decision and passed on the purchase, yet why do I feel remorse?



This Northern SG holds a couple of unique distinctions for me. Firstly, it's the only SG style guitar that I have loved the look of, even if it rails against all of my usual tastes. I cannot dislike this guitar.
Secondly, I'm pretty sure this is the first time Gavin posted a guitar that I sent him. It's really quite a beauty and is likely as playable as any 1970s Japanese guitar.


That's just the tip of the iceberg for my love of the guitars on this blog. Feel free to share your favourites as well.

R.W. Haller



© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Rickenbacker 4001 Clone Bass Made in Japan. Matsumoku? Ibanez? Greco? Snowman?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here is a really nice example of a Rickenbacker clone just hanging out in the snow. I'm not sure if it's a testament to the Japanese build quality that it can endure the Canadian winter, or if the seller believes that it's an advantage to the sale. Perhaps they can throw in a set of snowshoes and a vinyl copy of Rush-Fly By Night ( By-tor be damned! ).

All in all this is a nice neck-through design that does justice to the original Rickenbacker it was made to copy

Currently listed at $700 Canadian

R.W. Haller






© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Barcley-branded Japanese copy of Fender Maverick/Custom

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The Fender Custom - also known as the Maverick (see here) - was a short-lived model "designed" by the CBS-owned incarnation of the Fender Corporation and was really an exercise in using up stock body and neck components for the Fender Electric XII (first produced in 1965) which had not proved to be a big seller. The resulting guitars do appear to our eyes now to be Frankenstein jobs, but perhaps we should applaud Fender who were essentially simply re-cycling (or is that up-cycling) parts. According to Fender, just "several hundred" were made and the model was never popular; it was only produced for one year and managed to hang on in the Fender catalogue until 1972.

...which makes it all the more bizarre that someone in Japan thought it would be a good guitar to make a copy of. Witness the photos above of this Japanese-made Barcley guitar currently listed on eBay UK. The hardware is pretty standard fodder for cheap Japanese guitars of the time, and the neck makes no attempt to copy the 12-string derived hockeystick headstock of the Fender "original". In fact, here the headstock is a design that some of us might recognise from other Japanese brands such as Greco and Sekova.

The body design, however, is pure Custom/Maverick. It seems strange to think that this body was cut out and shaped deliberately to look like the body of a guitar that took a Fender Electric XII body and cut chunks off of it!

This guitar is currently listed on eBay UK and has a Buy It Now price of £129. Thanks to occasional Guitarz contributor David from Barcelona for bringing this guitar to my attention via the Vintage Japanese Guitar Fanclub group page on Facebook. Incidentally, the discussion on the thread concerning this guitar mentions that the Barcley brandname (spelt with a "E") was for guitars intended for the Canadian market, whereas Barclay (with an "A") was for the USA.

You can read more about the original Fender Custom/Maverick and also the similar "up-cycled" Swinger/Musiclander/Arrow model here.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Greco BR600 Brawler 1970s vintage Japanese-made electric guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's a Greco BR600 Brawler, a late 1970s Japanese-made guitar that I am totally unfamiliar with. Made by FujuGen Gakki, it's quite possible this model was intended for the Japanese home market only. Unlike many other Japanese guitars of this era - certainly those that they exported to the West - it isn't a copy of any pre-existing guitar model, although to my eyes it does seem to have a Rickenbacker-like quality to the design. The body is made of ash with a top of white sycamore (great maple), the neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard, and the guitar features a 24-fret neck, two single coil pickups and a top mounted vibrato.

Currently being auctioned on eBay with a starting price of US $799.99.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1960s Greco Model GR-960 electric XII semi in Greenburst finish and with those wacky V-shaped pickups

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've previously looked at these Greco semi-hollowbodies with crazy V-shaped pickups before on Guitarz (see here and here) but the example pictured above is all the more rarer for being a 12-string. This guitar differs from the 6-string Greco Shrike in that it doesn't have the same contoured - almost German carve - top, plus the pickup selector switch panel is located on the upper horn rather than on the lower bout. Note too the body and neck binding and proper f-holes rather than the Shrike's diamond-shaped soundholes.

I'm not sure if technically it is a "Shrike" - the eBay seller lists it as being a Greco Model GR-960. The neck plate of the guitar mentions that the pickup design is U.S. patent pending, SH0-42-12136. I do like the single volume control. I often think that's all you need.

Currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,595.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

No, it's NOT an Ibanez Iceman, it's a Greco Mirage Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

With a starting price of €600, this silver sparkle Greco Mirage Bass with two split P-Bass style pickups is currently listed on eBay by a seller in France; which is interesting because it's quite unusual indeed to see these guitars outside of Japan.

But I know what you're thinking... "Surely, it's a copy of an Ibanez Iceman?"

Well, no, it isn't. The Mirage/Iceman was designed in the mid 1970s by a committee consisting of Hoshino (Ibanez), Kanda Shokai (Greco) and leading Japanese guitar manufacturer FujiGen. The resulting guitar was marketed by the different distribution companies in different global markets, and so the guitar we think of as the Ibanez Iceman was marketed outside of Japan, but within Japan the same guitar was marketed as the Greco Mirage.

To confuse the story a little further, early Ibanez examples were known as the Ibanez Artist 2663, the name being changed to Iceman in 1978, so this guitar has legitimately appeared under three different guises none of which can be said to be a derivative of the other.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Vintage & Rare guitar of the week: Zemaitis GZV 500 MF

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This Zemaitis GZV 500 MF is a Japanese-made Greco/Zemaitis guitar rather than one built by the late legendary British luthier himself. Nevertheless it is a very elegant piece, one of the most attractive Flying V style guitars that I have laid eyes on. Metallica's James Hetfield is also a fan having played the exact same model guitar on the World Magnetic Tour. The guitar features a two-piece Mahogany body, engraved aluminium top, DiMarzio DP103 PAF pickups, a 25" scale, and Schaller M6 tuners.

This guitar is currently being offered for sale via Vintage & Rare priced at €3709.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1960s 4-pickup Greco solidbody "surf" guitar - but does anyone know the model?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Amy Osbourne wrote the following on our Facebook page:

Hey all! I own a shop in Indianapolis. I came across your info while researching this Greco that just came in. There is no serial. Would anybody be able to tell me more about it? Anything is helpful! Thanks!

Well, it's very similar to a Greco we looked at before but has four pickups rather than two.

Wikipedia tells us that:

...in the mid/late 1960s, Kanda Shokai produced Greco branded guitars based on Hagström and EKO designs for Avnet/Goya in the USA and these guitars were made by the Teisco and FujiGen guitar factories and were very similar to the late 1960s Ibanez guitars based on Hagström and EKO designs.

I wonder if they also used Framus guitars as a design influence, for this Greco is very reminiscent of the Framus Strato Deluxe, especially with the large metal plate behind the bridge.

Guitars were so much more interesting back in the 1960s, it seems. You had companies all over Europe producing all manner of weird and wonderful designs, and then you had the Japanese copying them so that with some guitars it's very hard to tell which is the original design and just who copied who.

But if anyone does have any further information about Amy's 4-pickup Greco, please chip in under the comments section below this post.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Sekova hollowbody electric: another 1960s Japanese-made oddity

guitarz.blogspot.com:

These days I find myself increasingly drawn towards thinline hollowbody or semi-hollowbody guitars than I do to solidbodies. I think it's something about the resonance that the guitar gives when you play it; it feels somehow more alive.

However, I take one look at these photos of this 1960s Japanese-made Sekova and I can't help imagine it rattling like hell when played and producing a boxy tone.

There's something very odd-looking about its construction. Take a look, for instance, at the way that the neck pocket is biased towards the treble-side of the instrument when it looks as if there was plenty of space to have it centred and achieve a better fit.

I confess that I know nearly nothing about the Sekova brand, so I'm not going to throw random Japanese brand names about (Teisco, Kawai, Guyatone, etc...) hoping that one will stick. However, if I was to make an educated guess, I can't help noticing the similarity of the headstock shape with that of this Greco guitar produced by the Kanda Shokai company (which had guitars built at the FujiGen and Teisco factories).

This may be a "rare" or unusual guitar in this day and age, but once again we see a totally unrealistic hyper-inflated Buy It Now price on eBay, a downright crazy $1,440.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Vintage Japanese 1960s Greco Shrike with V-shaped pickups

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at a Greco Shrike before, but that example was missing one of its very distinctive V-shaped pickups. This example pictured above, currently listed on eBay UK with a whopping starting bid of £1,995 has both pickups but alas still is not fully intact as it is missing the vibrato arm.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Merlin/Greco Arthur Smith Country Squire

guitarz.blogspot.com:

In August 2010, Bertram posted a Guitarz blog entry featuring a 1960s Merlin/Greco 921 guitar, which prompted reader Jim Garcia to submit the above photos. Jim writes:

I just picked up that same guitar, except it has a different pickguard (I'm thinking the white one [on the guitar we featured before] may be a replacement, maybe from the Greco), the pg on mine has semicircle cutouts that wrap around the curved bottoms of the single coil pickups - the material is black with cream binding, and it says "Arthur Smith" (in gold script) "Country Squire" (in Abalone script). Arthur Smith had a hit in the late forties with "Guitar Boogie", as early an example of rock n roll guitar that you will find. The model was distributed through Lowe's from '62 to '64 from what I've read and been told. I had thought the Merlins were made by Teisco but it's likely all the Greco/Teisco parts got interchanged.

Hey Jim, thanks for filling in another piece of the big jigsaw puzzle that is the history of the electric guitar!

As always, we want to see your guitars, and the more unusual they are, the better! (I think we've all got the measure of what Strats, Teles, Les Pauls, SGs, etc, are like by now, but if yours is an intriguing variation on a theme then it's still good!)

Keep 'em coming, folks!

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Greco Tusk "V"

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at a Greco Tusk with an Explorer/Star-shaped body before, and here's another from the Tusk series with Randy Rhodes-esque V-style body.

Ken Shima, who found this guitar on the Yahoo Japan auction site, comments "totally awesome tuners, how do they work?"

Well, I think it's effectively a headless system with the tuners on the bridge, while the three "tuners" on the headstock are actually just string clamps.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

60s Merlin/Greco 921

guitarz.blogspot.com

This Merlin semi-hollow body beauty is a mystery - not a big one, but I'm afraid I cannot identify it! 

Well, I do identify it as a Greco 921 as it is in Greco's 1968 catalogue... But why it is here a Merlin guitar, I cannot tell - but we're not surprised by this typically 60s cross-branding! This is from before the time Greco started to clone American brands - but I told this story already before...

Anyway, it is a marvelous guitar with its pointy horns - always cool on a semi-hollow body guitar - contrasting with the round pickguard, the 3 vintage single coils, the unusual 3 switches on the lower horn and a superb tremolo.

bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Here's one for all you 1980s hair metal throwbacks: the Greco Tusk

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Ken found this Greco Tusk for sale on Yahoo Japan. Greco, of course, are best known for their high quality replicas of guitars by the likes of Fender and Gibson, and whilst this does have a touch of the Explorer about it, it would appear to be an original design. Whilst it's not headless, the headstock is really only there for aesthetics - and perhaps balance too - with the tuners being down at the bridge.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Greco Les Paul Custom Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Back in August of last year we took a look at the Czech interpretation of a Les Paul bass with this Jolana Diamant.

Leave it to the Japanese to come up with the most convincingly Gibson-esque Les Paul style bass, the above-pictured Greco. Whilst Gibson have made several Les Paul basses over the years, I don't believe they have ever made one based on the Les Paul Custom, certainly nothing that looks as good as this.

Greco, along with Burny, are known for their quality Gibson replicas, with some guitarists even preferring them to the originals. It seems they also ventured into the realm of fantasy instruments, ones that Gibson could have built but didn't. The bass appears to be short-scale (judging by the bridge position) and has a set-neck as it would have done had Gibson built it. It is apparently a model built for the Japanese market only and few would have been seen outside of that country.

The only things that niggle me about it are that the top of the 24-fret fingerboard probably isn't accessible anyway, so why bother with 24 frets, and it also seems odd to have the same legend on the pickup selector disc as the guitar models, i.e. Rhythm / Treble. How about Bass / Bassier? (Or is that getting into the realm of Girl Brand guitars?)

Oh, and shame about the stickers.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Greco Firebird copy

guitarz.blogspot.com

Another Firebird, and a vintage black one (!), but it's not a Gibson, it's a Greco... 

I don't have more info about this guitar, but it looks like a faithful copy, obviously from the lawsuit era... Greco were so good at copying other companies guitars that they ended up as Fender Japan - just had to change the logo on their teles!

bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Watch this eBay listing get pulled...

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Rickenbacker are known to be particularly zealous when it comes to copyright infringements based on their brand name, designs and trademarks. They are known to trawl the eBay listings looking for cheaper copy guitars listed in conjunction with the Rickenbacker brand being mentioned. The best a seller of a Ricky rip-off can do is to display good clear photos so the buyer can see what they are getting, and avoid mentioning the R-word anywhere in the text. Even derivatives of the name, e.g. Ricky, aren't advised, as these will get pounced on too.

With a feedback score approaching 1000, you wouldn't have suspected the seller of this Greco of being that green in this respect, but he or she is really asking for it when listing this guitar thusly: "1984 Greco Rickenbacker Vintage and Rare COOL!"

They are only making matters worse for themselves when they say:

If you have been craving a Rickenbacker but don't have the funds then this might just be for you, it's a made in Japan 1984 Greco Ricky copy with 3 toaster pick ups and the all important blend knob which helps give it it's (sic) distinctive sound, it plays nice and looks the part, in fact you only need change the tail piece and truss cover to rickenbacker ones and nobody will know it's not the real thing.

Shooting yourself in the foot or what?

Anyone want to bet how long it is before this listing gets pulled?

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Anyone got a spare V-shaped pickup lying around?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another fantastic original design Japanese guitar to feast your eyes upon.

The seller of this vintage Greco Shrike in redburst from 1968 claims that his primary reason for listing it on eBay isn't to sell it (although he would be willing to do so if you wanted to shell out the readies) but to try to find a compatible pickup for the one that is so obviously missing, so allowing him to complete the resoration of this guitar.

However, I doubt that V-shaped pickups are too easy to come by. When did you last see one? (I expect that each pickup is composed of two coils. I can't imagine how the maker would be able to wind it otherwise). Possibly, the only way he's going to get a new pickup for this is to get one custom-made. But you never know...

If you can help, click through to the auction page and contact the seller.

G L Wilson

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!

1960s Greco Surf Guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:
This 1960s Greco is in immaculate condition. It looks as if it could be new. I just love the probably impractical headstock design.

If asked I would have guessed that this was a European, possibly Italian guitar, but of course - being a Greco - it's Japanese.

Greco were better known for their later Fender and Gibson copies in the 1970s and which seriously worried those giants of guitar production.

The Greco brand were produced by Kanda Shokai and were of such high quality that Fender legitimised the production of Japanese replicas of Strats and Teles with the launch of Fender Japan and the Squier brand which were also produced by Kanda Shokai and Yamano Gakki and built in the FujiGen Gakki, Tōkai and Dyna Gakki factories.

G L Wilson

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!