Custom Made To Order '82 Greco Super Real Custom?

[Udonitron]

Hey guys

So this guitar looks VERY interesting IMO! I have NEVER seen a full gold Super Real Custom Mint Collection before EVER. No catalogs have this recorded and no serial number on the back. It seems to me to be a custom ordered model as it does not look like a repaint (paint looks too well done and legit everywhere including the pickup cavities etc and the translucent gold back and top...good god! No serial to me suggests that is was made "off the registry" for either a customer or an employee (perhaps?). Looks to be the same era as my violin burst Super Real Custom. What do you think?

 

[Koubayashi]

I have had an all gold Standard from the early 80's. Mint Collection.
It had serial number though. I had it in the sales forum here.

Looked pretty much like this but was a Std.

If you look under the tuners you might find something interesting.
To me, it looks like a finish flaw on the volute (saying it is refined) and it looks like the binding on the bottom side of the neck has been changed.

If it was a factory finish, why would they make the paint cover the grains fully over the entire guitar but letting the grains on the back of the body show?



HAve you scraped of any finish anywhere?

 

[JVsearch]

I have to agree, I think there's something funny going on with this one.

Something about where the gold on the top meets the binding, just looks like it was re-finished.
Also, is there a ghost of a serial number under the gold paint?

What's the deal with the tuners Koubayashi?

I like the gold with grain showing through! I'd like that finish all over a LP.

It looks good though!

 

[Koubayashi]

I have to agree, I think there's something funny going on with this one.

Something about where the gold on the top meets the binding, just looks like it was re-finished.
Also, is there a ghost of a serial number under the gold paint?

What's the deal with the tuners Koubayashi?

I like the gold with grain showing through! I'd like that finish all over a LP.

It looks good though!

The tuners are not really anything. When removing tuners or other parts that cover holes it can sometimes be easier to uncover things that has been tampered with.

**** I was away on holiday, otherwise I would have bought this

 

[Juni41]

If it's really a re-finished.. man that's a hell of a pro job.

 

[Udonitron]

I have had an all gold Standard from the early 80's. Mint Collection.
It had serial number though. I had it in the sales forum here.

Looked pretty much like this but was a Std.

If you look under the tuners you might find something interesting.
To me, it looks like a finish flaw on the volute (saying it is refined) and it looks like the binding on the bottom side of the neck has been changed.

If it was a factory finish, why would they make the paint cover the grains fully over the entire guitar but letting the grains on the back of the body show?

HAve you scraped of any finish anywhere?

That looks like a dent to me on the volute, not a finishing flaw. Plus gold top guitars had a solid gold top, like this one, but had wood backs. Thus the reason the paint is translucent on the back but not the front. To me it was to maintain that typical wood back and a gold top. If it was a refinish, why would the painter leave the back like that when he did such a great job on the top? Besides, if it WERE a custom order, then the buyer could ask for and request anything they wished done to the guitar. :-? To me that suggests it IS possible and Greco during the early to mid 80's did do custom orders.

I think the gold looks odd to us where it meets the binding due to the fact that we are used to seeing gold hitting a single binding strip and not a triple custom type binding

If it's really a re-finished.. man that's a hell of a pro job.

Agreed!!!!

 

[JVsearch]

...Plus gold top guitars had a solid gold top, like this one, but had wood backs.

There were some all gold ones from the early 50s and some rare reissues by Gibson - all gold like the top on the back, sides and neck as well.
But yeah most gold tops have only a gold top and just wood on the sides and back in either dark or light brown (stained).

So this finish is certainly something different to the usual gold top spec.

I think the gold looks odd to us where it meets the binding due to the fact that we are used to seeing gold hitting a single binding strip and not a triple custom type binding

That's a good thought! Photos, in the end, do not tell the whole story - a guitar can arrive and look much better or much worse than it does in the photos!

 

[Udonitron]

Yeah she is an interesting bird for sure!

 

[Koubayashi]

I have had an all gold Standard from the early 80's. Mint Collection.
It had serial number though. I had it in the sales forum here.

Looked pretty much like this but was a Std.

If you look under the tuners you might find something interesting.
To me, it looks like a finish flaw on the volute (saying it is refined) and it looks like the binding on the bottom side of the neck has been changed.

If it was a factory finish, why would they make the paint cover the grains fully over the entire guitar but letting the grains on the back of the body show?

HAve you scraped of any finish anywhere?

That looks like a dent to me on the volute, not a finishing flaw. Plus gold top guitars had a solid gold top, like this one, but had wood backs. Thus the reason the paint is translucent on the back but not the front. To me it was to maintain that typical wood back and a gold top. If it was a refinish, why would the painter leave the back like that when he did such a great job on the top? Besides, if it WERE a custom order, then the buyer could ask for and request anything they wished done to the guitar. :-? To me that suggests it IS possible and Greco during the early to mid 80's did do custom orders.

I think the gold looks odd to us where it meets the binding due to the fact that we are used to seeing gold hitting a single binding strip and not a triple custom type binding

If it's really a re-finished.. man that's a hell of a pro job.

Agreed!!!!

I was just pointing you into directions. Things that from the pictures looks "suspect". Cause you kind of asked for it in your topic :wink:

There are certain points making me suspekt it might not be a factory finish.
The part of the binding that seems changed, but I can't confirm from just a pic.
Secondly, the lack of serial number is worrying me. All (3 or so) Greco Custom order I have seen had serial number. My Greco M-Coll 57ri all gold had serial number as well. That one wasn't shown in the catalogues either and it had some weird markings in the pup-cavity. Finally, my all gold had solid finish all over. Nor have I seen a Gibson all gold with transparent finish on the back of the body. Wich ultimately doesn't say much about your Greco anyway cause the Japanese were seriously inconsistent

But, be pragmatic and scrutinize! Sometimes when you wish for something hard enough it ends up being that.

 

[Udonitron]

Haha true that! I am not saying your thoughts are wrong, just giving my opposing opinion is all It would be nice if it were a custom made guitar by and for a Fujigen employee. That would explain the lack of serial number and I have seen numerous Greco's from the Mint Collection era that never had serial #'s as well. Either they just forget or who knows?? I do know that the weed in Japan is horrible so that cannot be the excuse LOL :lol:

 

[Koubayashi]

Haha true that! I am not saying your thoughts are wrong, just giving my opposing opinion is all It would be nice if it were a custom made guitar by and for a Fujigen employee. That would explain the lack of serial number and I have seen numerous Greco's from the Mint Collection era that never had serial #'s as well. Either they just forget or who knows?? I do know that the weed in Japan is horrible so that cannot be the excuse LOL :lol:

Talking about weed in Japan. A little anecdote: my mate from NYC got 3 months in the bin for being in a room where there was an ashtray with a joint butt in it. He tested negative for THC in the urin sample but still got 3 months. Simple message: don't do drugs in Japan!

and talking weird Grecos. Just today I picked up 40kgs of Japanese guitars at the Post Office. Pleasant as hell I got a strange 3-pup Greco Custom. It has the post-77 Greco logo, FEB, nitro, 800-sticker etc but no serial number. Weird as well (found out about the nitro when I removed a sticker on the back of it and there is a not-so-pretty mark now ).

Seems those weird things can be rather common.

By the way, there are a series of "mint coll" without serial number but the open O and they are made in Korea. Easiest way to spot them is the very yellow inlays in the head.

Btw, got this today http://page21.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/j93879369
She's a piece of junk but I wanna check the finish and see if this has poly just like my other 1980 EGF850.

 

[Udonitron]

LOL 40 kg!?!?!? Man, you have a SERIOUS problem now, time for you to be on Intervention LOL. I am inundated at 22 and want to get down to 10 tops! Are you going to tile your floors with them all?

Yeah I was watching that one, looks OK to me but you bought it JUST to check for poly vs nitro? Haha sh!t Koub...you are a mad man LMAO! So you must be in Japan right now since that finished yesterday, no?

Yeah no yellow on this one's inlays. I have seen some Fuji gen Mint's with no serial as well...I think the standards for build quality were ALWAYS first and foremost but small nuances such as serial #'s, matching logos with time period, truss covers, etc were just not that important thus all the "little" discrepancies.

Here in BC, THC is as natural as red and white blood cells

 

[Koubayashi]

LOL 40 kg!?!?!? Man, you have a SERIOUS problem now, time for you to be on Intervention LOL. I am inundated at 22 and want to get down to 10 tops! Are you going to tile your floors with them all?

Yeah I was watching that one, looks OK to me but you bought it JUST to check for poly vs nitro? Haha sh!t Koub...you are a mad man LMAO! So you must be in Japan right now since that finished yesterday, no?

Yeah no yellow on this one's inlays. I have seen some Fuji gen Mint's with no serial as well...I think the standards for build quality were ALWAYS first and foremost but small nuances such as serial #'s, matching logos with time period, truss covers, etc were just not that important thus all the "little" discrepancies.

Here in BC, THC is as natural as red and white blood cells

Im in Europe right now. Won't be in Japan til next month.
So I am smokin as much as I can now

It would be nice to have a solid explanation why some Grecos which should have serial doesn't. But I can't think any. Maybe shrooms? It was legal in Japan til world cup in 2002 (which was a fxxxxn mad month I tell u ).

I just like guitars, I don't care to see them, or play them all, I just like the feeling of having them

 

[Udonitron]

LOL fair enough but where in the hell do you keep them!? I am sure your wife says you are "kuru kuru pa!" Smoke man, keep smokin! Oh wait a second, you are in Norway or the Netherlands?

 

[Koubayashi]

LOL fair enough but where in the hell do you keep them!? I am sure your wife says you are "kuru kuru pa!" Smoke man, keep smokin! Oh wait a second, you are in Norway or the Netherlands?

Neither, I'm in Sweden. And your in the states right? :wink:
Eyyyyhhhh

Anyways, my wife is alright with my manic behaviour. Normally she just calls me baka or okashii Then I respond karapo

Edit: I have a workshop for my hobbies were I keep all junk I can't keep at home.

 

[Udonitron]

Ah Sweden eh! Nice So what is your count at now guitar wise? 150?

I bet you will wake up one day and think...WTF am I doing haha. I did and that is why I need to liquidate a few minus the real special rare ones. I cannot play these all anyway lol. I bought a GORGEOUS OBG but it needs 6 inlays done...a lot of work so I might just sell it as is.