Greco Les Paul with mini humbuckers, any idea what year?

[brewologist]

My first post was in the introduction section, but I don't think anyone saw my post about this Greco Les Paul replica. I'm fairly sure it's a Greco based on pot numbers and the routing for the holes in the back. The neck is different so that might have been replaced if this is in fact a Greco. Does anyone know of any other brands that made really good Les Paul clones with a neck and headstock like this? The inlays match all the Grecos I've seen but the headstock is completely different. This is a heavy guitar, solid mahogany body.

Also, note the mini humbuckers and the spacer rings tacked in around the pickup. How many models were built like this?

Here's a picture:



You can see more pics and the full story, or at least what I know and assume, here.



I'd really like to learn all I can about this guitar, and maybe even find out what its worth, if anything.

Thanks in advance for any input and info!

Drew

[mrblanche]

Isn't Greco one of the brands made by Ibanez? You might check out the Ibanez Collectors World web site. Real experts there.

[VintAxe]

Hi brewologist,

I've done some looking in my Greco catalogs and the only Les Paul model with mini humbuckers I see is the EG500GS from 1980-81. sb

[brewologist]

mrblanche, Greco was separate from Ibanez. Greco even made some copies of Ibanez guitars. I found a Goldtop online that has the same mini humbuckers and trim like mine.



The thing that's screwing me up here is the headstock. Just doesn't match any Greco, but there have been neck repairs si I can't rule out a new different neck on a Greco body. As I mentioned, the pots match the models used by Greco for their Les Paul clones.

I'll check out the site you mentioned mrblanche.

Thanks for the info.

[mrblanche]

It explains better than I ever could the relationship between Ibanez and Greco. Essentially, it says that the guitars were made in the same factory, often the same models, but the actual companies were not the same.

By the way, this practice continues. The same factory that makes Ibanez guitars in Japan also makes Fender guitars for the Japanese markets. And Cort and Samick both make guitars for many "house brands."