Greco N60?

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Author Message Pitchpocket Username: Pitchpocket Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Friday, December 01, 2006 - 10:57 pm:    I just got this closet Greco 175 copy. It was ignored on ebay, but was close by so I took a shot. The auction ended with me being the winner, and they delivered it this evening. When I looked at it, I could tell it was not as advertised, but the defects were minor considering the age. A quick negotiation and the price was very right. I think it's going to buff out nicely. The finish is in good shape except for the chipping on the extreme tips of the headstock, pretty normal. The bridge pickup is not functioning, but pots are dirty and the jack plug in is iffy. Frets are corroded from non-play and the thing is a bit dirty. I'll deliver it to my luthier tomorrow so he can put the love back in it. I'm thinking it's a 74 or earlier but looks like a '78 N60. No tag or serial number. Any help with the id? Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Friday, December 01, 2006 - 11:14 pm:    I did a word search on greco you might find some of this interesting and maybe helpful?http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Friday, December 01, 2006 - 11:19 pm:    You can do a ICW word search- and maybe you can find more info. on the greco. Cheers! Pitchpocket Username: Pitchpocket Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Saturday, December 02, 2006 - 12:00 am:    Gee thanks, I never would have though of that. Pitchpocket Username: Pitchpocket Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Saturday, December 02, 2006 - 9:07 pm:    Sorry for the sarcasm Fingers. Before I bought the guitar I read the 197 posts on this site that contained the keywork Greco plus spent several hours with the results of an extensive web search using "the google" on several of the internets. The Greco brand being the Japanese distribution of the factory that made Ibanez makes this guitar essentially a 2355M. The fact that no serial number is stamped on the headstock means (at least through my research) that the guitar was built before mid 1975 when the factory started stamping. The pickups say Maxon on them. Since the factory didn't dump Maxon pickups till 1974, I suspect the guitar is pre '74. Some reports say that these pups were only used between '70 and '72 because they weren't so good. It has the star tuners by Gotoh. That fact doesn't help with dating the guitar because they used the star tuners for many years prior to stamped serial numbers. I found a '78 catalogue that shows it being a model N60, but I can't find a catalogue from earlier vintage showing the guitar. I'm putting it in the '70 to '72 range but am open to suggestions if anyone has anything to offer. I found a great site for the 2355 which is what this guitar essentially is. Check out http://members.lycos.nl/ibanez2355site/index.htm for some very good 2355 info. So for what it's worth. I took the guitar apart and cleaned everything. I blew out the pots, lubed the switch and cleaned up the connection on the jack. Pleasantly everthing works. Except for polishing the finish scratches out, which I think I'll forgo to keep everything as original as possible, it cleaned up really nice. Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Saturday, December 02, 2006 - 11:30 pm:    Wow you got lucky mostly everything works- great!Are you goint to keep everything org.-thats a great project guitar fo sure.Even if you got everything working perfect and restored back to org.im not sure its worth all that much.Im curious about the fret work? It doesnt look all that great in the pic. how does it look to you ? Pitchpocket Username: Pitchpocket Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 10:35 am:    The frets are definitely original. The patina on them is from aging. The mid frets have been worked more than once and have lost their crown, but it is playable. I'm struggling a bit with the idea of a re-fret and dumping the tune-a-matic for an ebony bridge. A fret job would really make it a nice player. I played it for about 3 hours last night and it sounds great. The small scale and narrow fretboard make it very fast and a pleasure to play. The pickups are not that bad, they have a nice dark tone. I put some D'Addario .12's on it and the thing really woke up. There is a '75 N60 on ebay right now that appears to be identical. http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=1802666&mpre=ht tp%3A//cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D160055478168 It closed at $830 plus $90 freight from Japan. I don't feel bad about paying $500 delivered for mine. Pitchpocket Username: Pitchpocket Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 2:15 pm:    The nut measures 1-9/16 on this guitar. According to my research on Vintage Guitars, it is imitating a '65-'67 ES175. 1965-1967: Most models have nut width dramatically reduced making the neck feel very small. Back shape is about the same as the 1963-1964 era, but the narrow nut width makes these necks feel like "pencil necks". The pre-1965 neck width is around 1 11/16". The 1965 to 1967 neck width is 1 9/16" or 1 5/8". So, it appears to be a copy of a '65 to '67 ES 175. The Maxon pups put the build date '72 or sooner. I have tweaked the set up and it plays great. The narrow neck is not so bad for my hand size. It has a great tone, especially the neck pup. Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 9:10 am:    I'm not so sure about the year. In the Japanese ad it's a 1974. I don't see any differences. What's this with Maxon and 1972 or sooner? You wrote "The Maxon pups put the build date '72 or sooner." Didn't Maxon play a role in 1973 and 1974? Because I think it's a 1974. Harry and Hasy what do you know about this? Ginger Pitchpocket Username: Pitchpocket Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 11:35 am:    You may be right Ginger. I've read conflicting reports about these pickups. I was going on a post I read that the Maxon pickups were ousted after 1972. But I also read that they didn't put the name Maxon on the back until 1975 when Maxon became the registered trademark. These have the name Maxon inscribed on the back so a late '74 or '75 may be correct. Here are a couple of photos of the pickups. Maybe someone can ID them for me? Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 12:19 pm:    Just wait for Harry's and/or Hasy's comments on this. I think we don't have to invent the wheel on this one. Ginger

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