Classic Bacchus Strat

Matching Headstock

I found this one for sale on Yahoo Japan in a modded state. It had just a single P-90 in the bridge position and no singles. I thought that might sound pretty nice in a LP Jr type of way. When it arrived it was pretty clear that the standard P-90 polepiece pitch was not wide enough to be centred under each string on the guitar. The result was that the high e and low e strings noticeably lacked output compared to the rest. Too bad as the routing and mounting was done professionally. In the end, I took out the P-90 and put in a set of Yutas that were from a Momose strat with a new pickguard. 

I think a mini-humbucker with the wider magnetic field would be great as a future possibility but for now it is back to a standard strat.

This has a nice thick neck and great frets. It has nice rounded fret ends that you usually see on more expensive guitars.

A few bumps and dents

Is this Inca Silver finish?

Dead Stock Greco SE-500 "Spacey Sound"

Sometimes a 2 year old guitar can look 30 years old, and other times it is the opposite. This 1981 Spacey Sound Greco SE-500 looks like it just came out of the factory and has been on the display rack at Guitar Centre for just a little while. The nickel parts have almost no oxidation and the finish on the body is very shiny with only a couple of small scratches and dents.

Deluxe Kluson-style tuner.

This is a later 1981 Greco which has the vintage Kluson tuners with the simple bushing. Earlier Grecos had Kluson-style tuners with a larger threaded bushing and a retainer nut. I am not sure if there is much difference in tone but it takes a 100 g or so off the weight.

Smaller tuner post bushings with shameless homage to a real Fender headstock decal

Thin poly finish on a three-piece Sen-ash body?

The benefits of nitro over poly finish are not much of an issue with this guitar. It is so thin you can see the growth rings of the body and the neck feels very nice. The poly is not at all like the candy-apple poly sheaths some guitars have. Greco-stamped steel saddles are a classy touch too.

Vintage size frets, bone nut.

The neck is a very comfortable shallow C-shape. I had a 1980 SE-800 Super Real Strat and could not get along very well with the extreme V shape. This one is my ideal neck shape. There is a bit of oxidation on the frets but no fret wear visible.

November 1981 serial number

I have a black pickguard that will match up with the holes perfectly.  I'd need to drill a few more holes into the body but this would be a great guitar to change into a D. Gilmour look.

Shiny

I love these pickups. The 2 and 4 positions have that classic strat "quack" that can be hard to get with other pickups. The middle pickup is not reverse-wound as far as I can hear so maybe that is a key point. But it IS just a lower-level Greco after all so I had to play the VanZandt side by side to see if I was being overly generous to the Greco on the sound and playability front. Result? The VanZandt is a better guitar to MY preference for the sound of the pickups but they both play about the same. The VanZandt has a lighter body and nitro finish but for the price the Greco wins by around 5 to 1.

Greco and VanZandt Japanese 57 strat copies

VanZandt '57 model strat

VanZandt '57 Strat

Thin Nitro Finish + flame maple

Goodbye and farewell!

In the bowels of the Peninsula Shopping Centre in Singapore are several guitar stores. Hiding out in one was this Japanese ex-pat guitar, VanZandt stratocaster homage number 1833. Beautifully done thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish on a one-piece lightweight ash body. The flame-maple neck is has a fat C-shape and is also done in a thin nitro finish. 7 lbs 3 oz. 

I haven't had the guard off yet but assume that it has VanZandt pickups. Fullertone pickups were used in some models.

I ended up trading the blonde VanZandt and a couple of other guitars for this one. Sad to see blondie go but it was a great introduction to VanZandt guitars. 

VanZandt STV-R1 I presume

1978 Greco Tele-gib?

Today this old Greco tele arrived. It looks like it was made by Fujigen and the neckplate has a 78*** serial number so it is around 34 years old. It was originally routed for humbuckers but the previous owner put a single "Screamin'" pickup in the bridge with the pole pieces facing away from the bridge. The neck and frets are in good shape and it sounds pretty good even with the old strings on. It has no selector switch as it only has the single pickup.The black paint actually doesn't look too bad but I wonder what the wood grain looks like underneath.









I've seen a few Tele-gibs from Greco that are modelled after the original tele that Seymour Duncan modified and gave to Jeff Beck.I don't see one listed in the 1978 catalog though so perhaps they were a little shy in advertising it as Jeff was a regular visitor to Japan in those days.

Below is a pristine example of one of those old Greco Tele-gibs from 1978 from guitarsjapan.com:

***I am not terribly concerned about using these photos as the fine folks over there currently have my Greco Eg59-85 (top right, mislabeled as EGF-850) listed for sale on their site for some reason...likely because most of their guitars are not "their guitars" but are simply reposts of guitars that are or were for sale in Japan at other stores. They use pictures from the owners of guitars without permission. I sent an email to the guy running the site but no response. In any case, thanks guitarsjapan.com!**