Is this guitar a 1973 SE430w Greco?

[TheStrings]

I was trawling through ebay when I noticed this guitar hovering around the £20 mark with few bids. I was struck by the look of the neck which reminded me of my own Westone bass neck and thought I would buy it just to have a closer look.


When I got it home I could see that the neck was three piece maple with a maple fingerboard and the large 70's Fender style headstock. I decided to keep it and take the rest of the guitar to pieces to possibly sell on. The pickups weren't earthed so the sound was pretty crap. I also noticed that the scratchplate was attached by tiny screws and that the whole thing was very heavy. The body weighs 6.44 lbs as I have later found out. However, when I took it apart I discovered that the pickups were maxon's with 5 digit serial numbers which date them to 1973.

[TheStrings]

The body has been resprayed a sparkly blue, probably back in the 1980's sometime which makes it difficult to judge the actual wood, but underneath the blue is clearly an original white body showing through.
[url=http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/stringer64/media/DSCF4668_zpse8e4f010.jpg.html]

The neck has a skunk stripe and the truss rod is accessed through the heel of the neck.

[url=http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/stringer64/media/DSCF4651_zpsaa1fb3cb.jpg.html]

[url=http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/stringer64/media/DSCF4652_zps596d7ca7.jpg.html]

It has a three way selector switch with each position picking up a separate pick up.

[url=http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/stringer64/media/DSCF4676_zps065724c7.jpg.html]

[TheStrings]

The electrics look like this?

[url=http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/stringer64/media/DSCF4672_zps71493e94.jpg.html]

and once I cleaned everything up, sprayed some WD40 and earthed the pickups, I put everything back together. Although not loud compared to my SQ series strat, it has a really sweet tone and plays well. Despite low frets (all 21 of them) I am not getting fret buzz. I also noticed however, that the scale length of the neck appears to be like a gibson LP's rather than a strat's. I searched the internet for info and found that this guitar could have been originally a late 1973 or early 1974 Greco SE 430w stratocaster copy. It matches the look and description of that guitar. One other thing. The neckplate is slightly smaller than a conventional Fender neckplate and does not have made in Japan on it. It is the original neckplate though as there is only one set of screwholes in the body and the neck.

I was hoping that someone from the Forum would be able to confirm my suspicions. If so, not bad for a guitar that cost £22.

[VintAxe]

Hi The Strings.

I'm not sure what your strat copy is but I question whether it is an SE430. My concern is the truss rod configuration. In my 1972 Greco catalog, the SE430 has a large metal truss rod cover and only 1 string tree. It is clear from your photos that the truss rod on your guitar is designed to be adjusted from the butt end. I don't have any 1973 Greco literature but all the SE430's I see on the web have the same metal truss rod cover as the 1972 catalog image.

What is your take on this difference?

[TheStrings]

Hi Vintaxe, thanks for your reply. I have found the 1973 Greco catalogue on the web and it is difficult to tell from the picture but it does look like the SE 430W does not have a truss rod cover. The webpage is below.

[TheStrings]

The neck is also very similar to the one on this ibanez 1973 Strat copy which has two string trees and a truss rod accessed from the heel. The tuners are exactly the same on this ibanez and my strat copy too.

[VintAxe]

The similarities between your guitar and the 1973 Ibanez suggests your instrument was built by Fujigen Gakki. In the 70's Fujigen used the Greco brand on domestic production and Ibanez on exports. Of course other companies could buy their guitars and put whatever name they wanted on them. Chances are your guitar was imported by a distributor that didn't apply a brand name or the name badge was lost/removed at some point in the past. The brand name doesn't really matter anyway, it's the manufacturer that's important. I say Fujigen Gakki until a more knowledgeable individual can prove otherwise.

[TheStrings]

Thanks VintAxe! The fact that this guitar was probably made in Japan and at the FujiGen Gakki factory in the early to mid 70's is what I was hoping for. It is a great sounding guitar and the electrics are still perfect. I shall go and play it again now.