I remember seeing those guitars in the early 80s. A couple of friends had those guitars but they wanted to play my Japanese Aria Pro II because I had Dimarzio PUPS. It was a great time for LP copies such as Greco, Memphis, and Arias.
I was out walking in Chiba, Japan and saw the headstock of a 78 Greco LP sticking up out of the trash. I grabbed it triumphantly and play it to this day. It was pretty crusty, but responded well to refurbishment. Amazing luck!
Nice to see Grecos getting some attention these days. I absolutely love my 1979 EG600. I have to mention two wrong remarks here though: 1) The letter in the serial does not refer to the Fujigen factory but tells you the month the guitar was made in. So, F is the sixth letter in the alphabet and therefore stands for the sixth month of 1979. 2) EG 600s were NOT routed/chambered at least from 1979 onwards. My January 1979 EG600 only has seperate routings for each pickup and is otherwise rock solid, just like the US originals.
You're correct. The F does correspond to the month. My error, and I wish we'd have corrected it. Most of the examples of EG600s I've seen were routed. Inconsistency is certainly possible/probable given the time period.
I have a 1979 Aria Pro II LC700 Les Paul Custom copy in black. Looks just like the Norlin era Les Paul guitars. The only difference with mine is it has a three screw mount for the truss rod cover and no fret nibs. Mine has the set neck with the volute, open book shovel head headstock and the period correct ABR-1 bridge. Looks just like a 70's Gibson Norlin Les Paul Custom. I put a Dimarzio Super 3 Distortion in the bridge and a Dimarzio PAF in the neck. It is an awesome guitar. I also have a 1975 A5522 Les Paul Custom copy in black. It has the bolt on maple neck, with the open book headstock and a plywood body. The guitar still sounds and plays great.
Great video. My 1st guitar is like that. Columbus sunburst from the 70s with gotoh pickups and hardware. Like maxons the Gotoh pups are unpotted. It's a bolt on neck. I've still got it and use it regularly.
I bought a 1980 Yamaha Studio Lord 500 had it shipped to me and it's a really high quality instrument. Mahogany/Maple cap body, Maple neck, Rosewood fretboard, set neck not bolted...it's beautiful, I think of it as a quality guitar that happens to look similar to a Gibson, not identical.
What a beauty! You’re right put something over the name I can hardly tell the difference. Bet it plays great! A must for every Ace Frehley fan. And it’s 50 (!) years old.
I believe the top of the E G series was the 1200 model and the bottom was the 400 ( or 450 ) . Set neck Ibanez Les Paul guitars were made as early as 1973 but not very often , the issue with the open book design was because in America Ibanez branded guitars were a threat to Gibson ( as were other brands ) due to the increased quality of their guitars since changes were made around 1973 and onwards so Norlin Inc sent a Cease and Desist letter to The Elger Co who then owned The Ibanez brand ( Hoshino U S A now ) Fujigen still made Very Gibson like copies for Greco after ceasing production of copies for other brands . 😎 🎩
The Ace Frehley EGs were 6 & 800 (I believe) I haven't seen any other model numbers that meet the same "specs" for an AF. That said, I know they got up to at least 1200, and possibly 1500 with model numbers
F stands for June - the date / month of production , 79 is the year and the rest is the production #. The set neck had no bearing on the 1977 " Lawsuit " as Ibanez branded guitars mostly had bolt on necks and it was only these and then only the Open Book headstock that was the issue .
Set necks *with the open book* were absolutely an arbiter for the lawsuit definition. Having a bolt-on neck was enough of a design difference so as to not infringe on design patents. The open book headstock continued with *many* companies post-1977. The presented bolt-on LP copy in this video being a prime example.
Kanda Shokai were the owners of the Greco brand and the # system on their guitars was the same as Ibanez and other brands made by Fujigen for other Companies since late 75 when the system was introduced 😎 🎩
Lots of bad info here Yes bolt on necks were lawsuited it was the headstock that was copy righted The F in the Greco serial number is the month A - january B - February so F is June I have a black Yamaki Performer Les Paul custom from this time frame which was also sued by not only Gibson but by Yamaha also. It is a copy of a '58 as it has a long tenon neck joint.
More like 75% for pretty much the same thing haha. I’d probably never buy a real Gibson Custom in my life. I have 4 or so Gibson SG standards and a Burny SG and I like the Burny better than my Gibsons. These old Greco and Burny guitars are made very well and sound and play great. You’re just paying for the name when buying Gibson and they’re ridiculously overpriced. You can get a vintage set neck Greco LP Custom for under $1000. So much more worth it to me
Matsumoku factory was another manufacturing place. It burned down. Swap that bridge out for a tune-o-matic ABR. A lot of guitar players prefer not to have a volute. Very nice guitar btw!
I believe that the lawsuit guitars were made because worldwide distribution was sketchy in the 60-70’s. So they made their own to sell to the domestic market? Although No nitro finish I don’t believe?
Greco Les Paul copies were intended for the Japanese market and the Cease and Desist letter to the owners of the Ibanez brand who at the time were Elger Co ( later Hoshino U S A ) was settled in mid 1977 and by that time Fujigen were not making headstocks for Ibanez with the open book design since about a year before the " Lawsuit ". 😎 🎩
wrong wrong Wrong ,,Orville became Gibson Epiphone Japan and that lasted up until the Elitist models that are still to this day some of the best Lp's and SG's ever made all at Fugi gen,,now Epi is Korean China or Indonesia,,but I believe Fugi gen is still making Casino Elitist models.
I strongly think thats MOP inlays,,the bolt on models ,definitely plastic ,but I can tell by the glow that's Pearl ,even my 77 eg700 standard looks like real shell ,acrylic ,you always see segments and they don't have the glow that real pearl has. My Greco is a Norlin also ,pancake body with a 3 stringer maple neck,,I think my standard plays better than real gibson standards built today ,,Epiphone elitist are also built by fugi gen and like the old Greco's from 77 on have better frets than modern jumbo fretted Gibsons,,I can't stand jumbo frets ,feels like train tracks
WOW this is not a law suite guitar Gibson never sued them the only company that got bothered by Gibson is Ibanez guitars so anything other than an Ibanez guitar aka Les Paul copy are not law suite guitars...So because Gibson did not and still does not hold any patent's in Japan the Japanese guitar makers like Greco/Tokai/Burny and others can build guitars just like Gibson and get away with it as long as they do not sell them in the United States they are good so there is some facts for you.....
They were not that great. The lawsuit was because they were coping everything about the Gibson. They had no regard for United States law, and patent/trademarks.They are still cheap in the vintage guitar market. China is doing the same thing now. Try and buy a 1979 Gibson Les Paul for the price of that Greco lol.
At the time, better than Gibson. The Norlins were substandard to the late 70s Greco, Tokai, Edwards, Aria, and Ibanez. And Epiphone didn’t make a Les Paul until 1989. So…not even in the same league. I understand you want to slam the video, but you’re simply incorrect. The Japanese produced superior quality guitars during this time period. Thanks for watching.
You're chatting shite most of these guitars from the late 70s on are spot on Gibson replicas. Navigator made spot on 59 Les Paul Standards in the 80s with Honduran mahogany one piece bodies, one piece mahogany necks, Brazilian rosewood board correct body shape, two piece thick maple cap correct top arching The Navigators are way superior to any Gibson Les Paul Standard reissue from any year at any price.
