Just Snagged this Greco LP

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Author Message   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 8:54 pm:    Ebay Item #250164704247 Cherry burst, set neck, made most likely in the Fujigen factory. This is the same guitar as an Ibby 2650, and I snagged it for $410!!! My last bid with 10 seconds to go was over $500, but nobody was there at the end with me. Cool beans. This little baby will get Ibby velvetune pearl tuners (got 'em already), a Carvin SD bridge pup and a Kent Armstrong neck pup (got 'em) and some Gibson knobs (got 'em) to match this guitar once used by Frank Zappa: The dream lives! (By the way, if it turns out there are some Super 70's in this baby, I might be pursuaded to sell them.)   Chipsotoole Username: Chipsotoole Registered: 2-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 11:43 pm:    nice deal! Congrats.... there's a Greco set neck SG Custom (3 pup split -diamond headstock inlay) in my local music shop here in Bangkok for 540 US..is this a bargain?   Roland_g303 Username: Roland_g303 Registered: 5-2007 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 11:44 pm:    Nice grab on that Greco. I've always dug the pancake bodies of the 70's Les Paul's. My '70 Gibson Deluxe is built that way and it sounds killer. That's pretty neat how Greco even copied that. I'm sure that Greco will be cranking out 'I am the Slime' in no time. Are you going to keep the Greco logo? Patrick   Harry Username: Harry Registered: 3-2001 Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 2:06 am:    ChuckE Frank Zīs guitar had also 5 control knobs.... Are you gonna do that cosmetic surgery too, in order to get the "match" as close as possible? And what will the function be of that control? If you want to sell the Super 70īs: In another recent topic ("Help identifying this Super 70 Custom") a Dutch guy is asking for a pair of these pups in order to rebuild his 2355. Maybe you can contact him. Kind greetz, Harry   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 9:09 am:    Roland, yes, I'll keep the Greco logo. That's a detail I can live with. Harry, I know about the fifth knob and I'm not sure, since I don't even know how to go about wiring it. (I have the actual article where Zappa explains what the knob does, maybe the tech I will use can decipher it.) The pups I have are both capable of splitting and I may have the tech install the switches where the fifth knob was on Z's guitar. I do hope they are Super 70's and if they are, I'll look up the Dutch guy. BTW, I just scored 2nd row center seats for the "Zappa Plays Zappa" tour when it comes to Seattle. That's Dweezil Zappa's band, playing Frank's old music. I'm in Zappa heaven at the moment. -Chuck   Roland_g303 Username: Roland_g303 Registered: 5-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 9:45 am:    Hi Chuck, It also appears that Frank's guitar has a brass nut. I've heard good reviews about the Zappa plays Zappa. I didn't see it, but I heard it's very good. I think Steve Vai was doing a few of the shows with Dweezil. I don't know if he still is? Patrick   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 10:05 am:    I have the brass nut too. Re: Dweezil's shows, I saw him last year when he played Seattle and Vai was a guest and played a bunch of songs. Terry Bozio was also there. Napoleon Murphy Brock was part of the main band, so they did mainly Zappa songs from the mid-1970's (which are some of his best anyway). A lot from "One Size Fits All" and "Overnite Sensation". This year, I don't know about special guests, but it looks like Ray White will be taking the duties that Napoleon had last year, that is, playing with the main band the entire night. My hope is that that means the set list will come from the "You Are What You Is" through "Them Or Us" period (1980-84). -Chuck   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 12:26 am:    Here she is. Couldn't wait to mod her up. Yes, I know the tuners are chrome, not gold like Z's, but those are the ones I could find, because I wanted the tightening thingies. About the pickups: This is definitely a 74-75 Greco, from the FujiGen factory (the sheer amount of dust inside confirms the age to me) but the pups are not marked "Super 70's". They do have serial numbers on them. See the pictures. Could they still be 70's? -Chuck   Roland_g303 Username: Roland_g303 Registered: 5-2007 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 10:32 am:    That looks great Chuck! How does it sound? Patrick   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 11:47 am:    Chuck, are the tuners on Franks axe defintly Ibanez? They sure look like it.   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 11:55 am:    Roland, it sounds an feels freakin' fantastic. I love it. The neck is thinner than on other LP clones I've played recently (those were all bolt-ons). If I can fix the pup problem (I'll probably just take it to the tech and get the split coil switches put in at the same time) then it goes to the top of my favorites list. Freak, I don't know if the tuners on Frank's axe are branded Ibbies, but they are certainly the exact same in construction. While I was at the guitar show last weekend, I picked up a bootleg DVD of Frank doing a concert on French TV in 1980. He's playing the LP in the video, but what's cool is that it is "pre" some of the mods he made to it later, including the fact that the guitar still had its original Gibby tuners on it. So Frank's guitar was a "work in progress" its entire life, most likely, which is what you'd expect from a master musician like Frank: He was always pushing the envelope. Consider me very happy with this purchase. I might also be developing a fetish for Greco Paul's (at least Fujigen ones). -Chuck   Roland_g303 Username: Roland_g303 Registered: 5-2007 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 2:53 pm:    Here's a pic I found of that guitar with some different mods. Here's the link... http://www.angelfire.com/freak2/arfz/equipment.html Cool guitar and that's good to hear that it plays so great! Patrick   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 3:02 pm:    Great link there! I remember reading somewhere of Zappa describing his touring effects "box" as being three feet tall and nearly as wide. With it, he was able to reproduce any sound he had ever made on any recording. The picture of the LP shown confirms to me that he modded that thing constantly. I like the Kent Armstrong pup I've put in the bridge, though, and the Carvin SD is hot-hot-hot in the bridge, so for the time being, I'm done with pups. If I can ever track down that thin eq/preamp thingy he stuck between the bridge and the bridge pup, though, look out! -Chuck

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