This one looked like a garden-variety 1981 SS40BB when I got it, maybe with a slightly wider neck than most you see...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/psNQybf.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/d2f9tNp.jpg[/img]
...but when I opened it up, I could have sworn I was looking into Greco SE450 from the same year. Same squared-off body routs, used in all Greco SE's up until 1979, then in the 450 and 700 only.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Ht2rRGh.jpg[/img]
Same non-standard microtilt hardware as the Grecos have.That style of stamped letter is common in them as well, though usually slightly earlier than the 80's. Is that T for Tokai??
[img]https://i.imgur.com/sdbN8Dw.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/R7DwWV2.jpg[/img]
Different pickups than Excels though, and not Gotoh grey bobbins either. I've seen similar ones - with the thin red-white-blue wires and a slightly deeper triangular shape to the bottom bobbin - in Freshers and other low-end guitars. Replaced pots, pity, any date codes would have been interesting to get a look at.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Xh8WFp8.jpg[/img]
I know the topic "Fujigen-made Silver Stars" has been up here before, but I wasn't aware of it when I got this. So I did a lot of head-scratching, then googled deep and found a few more. A couple of sources had them as "SS36" (one of them had a sticker iirc - this one had residue from one), a model number not officially in use in 1981, if it's correct, they're definitely an out-of-catalog entry level model.
it would be interesting to know at what point in 1981 these came out. Greco Fender copy production ended in April 1982, the Fender Japan deal was officially announced in March. Maybe Fujigen knew what was coming in late '81 and became aware of having Greco parts in stock that they would probably never have use for. Why not offer them to their competitors? It seems like a very Japanese-guitar-industry thing to do...
Who knows, but the guitars are out there. Literally.