Beautiful guitar..... such lovely tone. Plus really tasteful playing. I have really enjoyed all of your posts and work. Thanks! I am fortunate to own a 1979 Greco EG900 which is one of my "not going anywhere" guitars. I found it benefitted greatly from a pickup upgrade to low wind A3 (neck) and A2 (bridge) along with 50's wiring. Would love to see more of this instrument. Cheers Neil (Australia)
Hi, thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate it. Your Greco sounds like it is a great guitar. So many gems coming from Japan in that period. You can be certain that my Greco will appear in more videos from me 😃 Cheers.
Really nice. I love 70-80's MIJ especially Greco and Tokai. In the later 80's they produced alot of the Greco pickups without the stickers so it's hard to know. I do think if its a 60/600 level it's probably Screamin'.
I flipped the neck magnet and turned the pickup around and when playing on the neck it is noticeably less bassy. I’ve got a Greco eg900 from 1979 with swapped in DryZ pickups. But I went through the stock dimarzio, then swapped in Greco pu2 pickups, prior to landing on the DryZs and they honestly all sounded good.
Hi, if you flipped the magnet you would have made it out of phase with the pickup selector in the middle position. Is that what you recognised as the less bassy tones or do you think that having the pole pieces moved closer to the bridge by turning the pickup around also did something to make it less bassy?
Your Greco also has a stamp in the pickup cavity that was commonly used by Tokai using the same font and style. I have a 1978 (first year) Tokai LS-60 which is also a poly finish; now somewhat aged. The early Tokai's were based on a 1958 Gibson Les Paul they had and used the measurements from to replicate their copies. The LS-80 and up had nitro finishes and fret nibs. Tokai is still making wonderful replicas in Japan at a variety of price levels to this day (I have four all together). I believe Tokai made some Burny LP's as well. Check out the Tokai and Japanese Guitar forum if you haven't already, there is a lot of great info there about Tokai and other Japanese guitars and manufacturers.
Hi, thanks for your comment. Good to get as much info as I can on this and very useful for others looking to find out about their guitars. It's interesting to hear about the difference between the Tokai LS-60 to the LS-80. Thanks for your tip on the forum. Will check it out. Cheers.
Both Greco and Tokai are lovely guitars. Whether when made in the same factories and sharing many of the same parts or otherwise. Your Greco is a stunner and sounds great.
I clicked super quick when I saw this one! Love that guitar. And I can tell you’re digging it - you can hear it in your playing. Is it just me or is this Greco (and any mystery attached to it) a little bit more “cool” than having Gibson on the headstock? As regards brightening up a neck pickup…. try picking nearer the bridge in these moments. Over the years my picking hand seems to shift around constantly, like an EQ switch 🤣. I swapped my pickup round in my R9 but I did it as a wee personal salute to Peter Green. I can’t say I noticed an EQ change…. but I guess it’s worth a try. Cheers Thor
Hi Paul, I think it is fair to say we share similar taste in guitars, and yes I absolutely agree that this lovely Greco Les Paul is cool indeed. I have to be honest and say that if I could afford a vintage Gibson of similar quality, I would probably have thought of that as even cooler😄 But then again, a 1989-90 Gibson might not be considered vintage enough for the coolness to stick. Your tip on shifting the hand closer to the bridge when playing the neck pickup is a good one. I will put that behind my ear and see if I can manage to change my habits and incorporate that in my playing style. But yes, I need to try to swap the pickup around, and also to adjust the pole piece heights to see if there are something to gain from such adjustments. All the best!
Wow. I remember looking at this Guitar either Reverb or ebay. The skull is why I'm certain this is the guitar. Love the color on this Enjoy it. I have a 95 orville by gibson lps-57c reissue Guitar. I love it . Amazing instrument
Cool, yeah I was also watching the guitar for a while before I just had to get it. It was between this and an Orville. I bet that is also a great guitar. Cheers.
Hello Thor..... so , as I’m watching you play, I’m thinking I would love to see you do a live stream. You seem like such a laid back ,cool guy... a guy that we’d all like to hang out with and talk guitars and music... and also listen to you play... maybe play for a few minutes and then take some questions and interact with your friends in the chat...discussing music ,guitars , gear , and techniques. Anyway , just a thought ! Best wishes!
Hi DW, it would be cool to do something live. I would prefer something like a zoom call where we could see, and talk to each other. But who knows, I will give it some thought. Thanks for your kind words and always cheering me on. I appreciate it much my friend.
Yes, flipping the pickup around should give you a bit brighter tone. I did the same thing on my last Les Paul, but to make the bridge pickup a bit darker. It worked.
Hi, you are right. I will try to adjust the pole pieces also, but I have been curious to see if it makes any difference by flipping the pickup also. Will probably make a video to document the result. 😄 Cheers.
Hi Thor! I have a Korean made Tokia Love Rock which was apparently made by Dillion Guitars. Somebody told me it was a fake and I can't find any more info on it. It is however, just as good as Gibson and it's the only guitar that I really take care of. There's a ton of mystery surrounding these imports.
Hi Christopher, maybe you can get a clearer idea if you look into the pickup cavity and see if it resembles mine with the offset tenon and the square router holes in the pickup cavity? But as you say, if it is a guitar you love and care for, it really doesn't matter other than it is good to know if you one day should wanna sell it. Cheers.
I'm not an expert of the old Japanese guitar manufacturers, but as far as I know, the Greco guitars were made by the Fujigen (FGN) factories, and the Tokai guitars were made by the Matsumoku factories. Also the Greco guitars' pickups were made by Maxon (Nisshin Onpa). And Nissin Onpa also was making effect pedals for Ibanez (ie. Tube Screamers). Tokai's pickups were made by Gotoh Pickups (not the same company as Gotoh String Instruments Parts). Very complicated, ha....... Of course there must be many exceptions, I guess..... Maybe you could ask AI chatbots on this things.
Hi, thanks for sharing your insight. I actually asked ChatGPT (4o) to check my part I video and it came up with what looks to be legit observations. I've updated the description to this video to include that. Cheers.
The orientation of the pole pieces will not make any difference to the tone (or at least shouldn't do). The adjustable pole pieces were added by Gibson as a marketing gimmick on the original PAFs. Maybe wiring the guitar 50s style with good quality components and or swapping out the pickups (although that can be a case of option overload as there are so many manufacturers out there) will get you there.
I have an 1989 Eg59-60 and EG59-70 and they have flame top's it's a mint collection Greco EG500 not a EG59-60 your does not have a long neck tenon so it can't be a EG59-60 because they have long neck tenons....And you pickups are screaming 82's they came with stickers and with out them they are Greco made or Fujigen made pickups..
Nice one, good playing!
Mine is a pre-serial number 1976 (first year for glued neck LPs at Greco) with Maxon PAFs. It's a keeper
Beautiful guitar..... such lovely tone. Plus really tasteful playing. I have really enjoyed all of your posts and work. Thanks! I am fortunate to own a 1979 Greco EG900 which is one of my "not going anywhere" guitars. I found it benefitted greatly from a pickup upgrade to low wind A3 (neck) and A2 (bridge) along with 50's wiring.
Would love to see more of this instrument. Cheers Neil (Australia)
Hi, thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate it. Your Greco sounds like it is a great guitar. So many gems coming from Japan in that period. You can be certain that my Greco will appear in more videos from me 😃 Cheers.
Really nice. I love 70-80's MIJ especially Greco and Tokai. In the later 80's they produced alot of the Greco pickups without the stickers so it's hard to know. I do think if its a 60/600 level it's probably Screamin'.
I flipped the neck magnet and turned the pickup around and when playing on the neck it is noticeably less bassy. I’ve got a Greco eg900 from 1979 with swapped in DryZ pickups. But I went through the stock dimarzio, then swapped in Greco pu2 pickups, prior to landing on the DryZs and they honestly all sounded good.
Hi, if you flipped the magnet you would have made it out of phase with the pickup selector in the middle position. Is that what you recognised as the less bassy tones or do you think that having the pole pieces moved closer to the bridge by turning the pickup around also did something to make it less bassy?
Your Greco also has a stamp in the pickup cavity that was commonly used by Tokai using the same font and style. I have a 1978 (first year) Tokai LS-60 which is also a poly finish; now somewhat aged. The early Tokai's were based on a 1958 Gibson Les Paul they had and used the measurements from to replicate their copies. The LS-80 and up had nitro finishes and fret nibs. Tokai is still making wonderful replicas in Japan at a variety of price levels to this day (I have four all together).
I believe Tokai made some Burny LP's as well. Check out the Tokai and Japanese Guitar forum if you haven't already, there is a lot of great info there about Tokai and other Japanese guitars and manufacturers.
Hi, thanks for your comment. Good to get as much info as I can on this and very useful for others looking to find out about their guitars. It's interesting to hear about the difference between the Tokai LS-60 to the LS-80. Thanks for your tip on the forum. Will check it out. Cheers.
Both Greco and Tokai are lovely guitars. Whether when made in the same factories and sharing many of the same parts or otherwise. Your Greco is a stunner and sounds great.
Change the neck volume potentiometer to a 1meg log that will brighten it up also adjust height if pole pieces are low
I clicked super quick when I saw this one! Love that guitar. And I can tell you’re digging it - you can hear it in your playing. Is it just me or is this Greco (and any mystery attached to it) a little bit more “cool” than having Gibson on the headstock? As regards brightening up a neck pickup…. try picking nearer the bridge in these moments. Over the years my picking hand seems to shift around constantly, like an EQ switch 🤣. I swapped my pickup round in my R9 but I did it as a wee personal salute to Peter Green. I can’t say I noticed an EQ change…. but I guess it’s worth a try. Cheers Thor
Hi Paul, I think it is fair to say we share similar taste in guitars, and yes I absolutely agree that this lovely Greco Les Paul is cool indeed. I have to be honest and say that if I could afford a vintage Gibson of similar quality, I would probably have thought of that as even cooler😄 But then again, a 1989-90 Gibson might not be considered vintage enough for the coolness to stick. Your tip on shifting the hand closer to the bridge when playing the neck pickup is a good one. I will put that behind my ear and see if I can manage to change my habits and incorporate that in my playing style. But yes, I need to try to swap the pickup around, and also to adjust the pole piece heights to see if there are something to gain from such adjustments. All the best!
Wow. I remember looking at this Guitar either Reverb or ebay. The skull is why I'm certain this is the guitar. Love the color on this
Enjoy it. I have a 95 orville by gibson lps-57c reissue Guitar. I love it . Amazing instrument
Cool, yeah I was also watching the guitar for a while before I just had to get it. It was between this and an Orville. I bet that is also a great guitar. Cheers.
Put higher value pots to increase the treble response. Even 1k pots.
Hello Thor..... so , as I’m watching you play, I’m thinking I would love to see you do a live stream. You seem like such a laid back ,cool guy... a guy that we’d all like to hang out with and talk guitars and music... and also listen to you play... maybe play for a few minutes and then take some questions and interact with your friends in the chat...discussing music ,guitars , gear , and techniques. Anyway , just a thought ! Best wishes!
Hi DW, it would be cool to do something live. I would prefer something like a zoom call where we could see, and talk to each other. But who knows, I will give it some thought. Thanks for your kind words and always cheering me on. I appreciate it much my friend.
Yes, flipping the pickup around should give you a bit brighter tone. I did the same thing on my last Les Paul, but to make the bridge pickup a bit darker. It worked.
Thanks I will try it.
Looks crispy vintage. You sounds out of breath when talking, are you ok?
I Everyday listen to your demos. So good
Thank you for your kind words and your concern. I'm fine but might have been rendered breathless from this stunning guitar 😄Cheers.
Hi, before flipping the pickup, did you try to adjust each of the pickup poles individually? Sometimes it's enough.
Hi, you are right. I will try to adjust the pole pieces also, but I have been curious to see if it makes any difference by flipping the pickup also. Will probably make a video to document the result. 😄 Cheers.
@@GUITARSGIZMOS ok, can't wait, if it works maybe I'll try it myself :)
Hi Thor! I have a Korean made Tokia Love Rock which was apparently made by Dillion Guitars. Somebody told me it was a fake and I can't find any more info on it. It is however, just as good as Gibson and it's the only guitar that I really take care of. There's a ton of mystery surrounding these imports.
Hi Christopher, maybe you can get a clearer idea if you look into the pickup cavity and see if it resembles mine with the offset tenon and the square router holes in the pickup cavity? But as you say, if it is a guitar you love and care for, it really doesn't matter other than it is good to know if you one day should wanna sell it. Cheers.
Personally, I really liked the warm tone of the neck pickup.
I'm not an expert of the old Japanese guitar manufacturers, but as far as I know, the Greco guitars were made by the Fujigen (FGN) factories, and the Tokai guitars were made by the Matsumoku factories. Also the Greco guitars' pickups were made by Maxon (Nisshin Onpa). And Nissin Onpa also was making effect pedals for Ibanez (ie. Tube Screamers). Tokai's pickups were made by Gotoh Pickups (not the same company as Gotoh String Instruments Parts). Very complicated, ha....... Of course there must be many exceptions, I guess..... Maybe you could ask AI chatbots on this things.
Hi, thanks for sharing your insight. I actually asked ChatGPT (4o) to check my part I video and it came up with what looks to be legit observations. I've updated the description to this video to include that. Cheers.
The orientation of the pole pieces will not make any difference to the tone (or at least shouldn't do). The adjustable pole pieces were added by Gibson as a marketing gimmick on the original PAFs. Maybe wiring the guitar 50s style with good quality components and or swapping out the pickups (although that can be a case of option overload as there are so many manufacturers out there) will get you there.
I have an 1989 Eg59-60 and EG59-70 and they have flame top's it's a mint collection Greco EG500 not a EG59-60 your does not have a long neck tenon so it can't be a EG59-60 because they have long neck tenons....And you pickups are screaming 82's they came with stickers and with out them they are Greco made or Fujigen made pickups..