Not A Degas But It's been on my want list for 5 years FROM JAPAN

[sambonee]

It's a Greco GOII

three single coils with floating trem. amazing guitar. I believe to have paid a fair price for it. It certainly wasnt a deal.

here are some photos. cool way to access the middle pickup. it has it's own on/off switch and vol!

[charles]

That is such a looker. Great score.

[sambonee]

[charles]

That trem is WILD. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like it.

[Barry]

Ah yes, very nice Sean.
Here's some more information for you in case you haven't already seen it: http://www.geocities.jp/guitarofworld/GO2.html

My Japanese translator widget is not giving me too much that's intelligible. The text is mostly anecdotal reminiscing, not many technical details except at the bottom of the page (take with a grain of salt):

Specifications: Walnut + mahogany + Walnut body. PU-250 pickup × 3 .. For the first and third pickup VOLUME control × 1. For the second pickup VOLUME control × 1. Master tone control × 1. The second pickup mode SW, the second pickup phase SW, the first and third pickup toggle SW T. S. Vibrato. 16 ways pickup combination is obtained. Ebony fingerboard...[gibberish]

I really doubt that it's "walnut and mahogany", more likely ash and maple. Walnut is not the best tone wood and mahogany wouldn't be strong enough for a neck thru build. Walnut is likely as the thin trim piece in the neck lamination however. Mostly decorative.

Also this little tidbit:

Serial No, that was also the time of trial for J796312 1979 年 10 月 ... Actually Fuji Gen.

(my emphasis) Hmmm.

I look forward to seeing her in the flesh soon!

[Barry]

Sorry I missed you when you dropped her off Sean, I had a family emergency to take care of.
I stripped her down this afternoon and gave her a thorough scrub-a-dub and I was quite impressed with her. Top notch build certainly. Lots of *cough* dust inside those 35 year old pickup cavities!

And Charles you're right about that tremolo construction. Quite unique. I love the way it adjusts. Very similar to a barrel truss rod adjustment where you simply insert a rod into the hole and turn. None of that wood screw in a claw with springs nonsense. Very civilized! And not a cheap piece of hardware either.

The range of tones was wonderful and the added option of adding or subtracting the centre pup was another unusual feature. The weight was surprisingly good for a neck thru too. Often, guitars of this vintage can be overly heavy, but this felt very comfortable. Likely the ash wings which give good tone without too much mass.

The only thing I could find to nit pick about is that it's a surface mount and not a string thru bridge. I think a string thru would have added a lot to the sustain, but hey, ya can't have everything. And if ya did, you'd have no excuse to buy another guitar!

I did find that the combination of the Fender style string posts and the hook bridge made restringing a bit awkward. Tricky to maintain tension so that the ball end doesn't pop out of the string slot in the bridge.

All in all a great score. Congrats and thanks for bringing her in!

[Barry]

Quick addendum:
Found a Japanese brochure featuring that unusual Greco tremolo:
http://www.geocities.jp/guitarofworld/Player-09_1.jpg

No idea what it says.

[sambonee]

So this guitar is different than most that I've played. Super solid and fun. Really flies.

You did such a great job Barry. Thanks a lot .


Now for the learning curve. It's quite a handful.

Knowing what switches do what is a big thing.

[charles]

I imagine dialing in a Strat "quack" would take 3 arms. Would you have to switch on the middle pup and then dial both the neck and bridge pup volumes down to achieve this?

[sambonee]

There's one vol and on/off switch for the middle Pu and one vol for the neck+bridge. Master tone

http://soundcloud.com/the-hurley-jam/re ... -1/s-u77ri

Going through a 12 watt '59 ampeg jet clone. Wah, [moratto custom pedals]> dynacomp, green ringer, overdrive and tone bender I

There you have it

[Barry]

Nice jazzy/bluesy tone. She can also rawk out if pushed.
Ya just can't beat a good single coil pup for versatility.

[ItchyFingers]

That's a nice looking guitar man. The body could very well be walnut and it's hard to say where the mahogany is. Regardless that' what I like to see. Natural woods. Tone wood is somewhat irrelevant in an electric from what I have found in a way. The integrity of construction makes a world of difference. Those hardwoods should make it rock solid with sustain forever. Congrats on that one. It should be a winner for sure. Nice and dense and heavy. I LIKE it!

[Barry]

Tom, the wings are Ash. The neck is a 5 piece laminate of rock Maple with thin Walnut strips. Quite typical of MIJ construction of the time, including Matsumoku and FujiGen. Strong stable and beautiful.

[sambonee]

Not too heavy. Perfect balance. And very little affect to humidity.

It's still one of my favorites.