NGD...1981 Greco EG-480!!!

[cschlish]

Just hooked up what I believe is a modified 1981 Greco EG-480R! scored it for $300 + the outrageous shipping from Japan. My main needs were a LIGHT chambered or semi-hollow LP with a FAT Neck and preferably Cherry Sunburst. Looks like I covered all three from the specs, neck appears to be almost 1" deep from nut to body and weighing just over 7 lbs! That's as fat as my Allparts TMO-Fat neck on my #1 Tele. (-:

I'm pretty stoked to find exactly what I was looking for at a GREAT price! I've had a few MIJ Tokai LP's, but always got rid of them for weight issues. I had major Back surgery a few years back and I prefer just grab a guitar, sit down without a strap, turn on my 65' Blackface Bandmaster and let her rip. If the guitar is much over 8 lbs it just doesn't sit right for me...Looking forward to an early 80's Hand Crafted Greco, also interested to see how the Gotoh HB Classic buckers sound!

***PICS at link Below***

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/other-les-pauls/148952-ngd-1981-greco-eg-480-a.html

Specs from Seller:

Old Japanese Electric Guitar

Greco Super Power Model

Crafted by Fujigen

Maintained and cleaned by professional repairing staff.
Sounds great and the circuit is in good condition.

Great sounding guitar. Great vintage sound like PAF era. Neck condition is great, too.

Pickups are brand new HB-Classic from Gotoh pickups made in Japan.

TOM bridge is brand new Gotoh bridge.

Serial Number: 1 9915
Year: 1981
Nut width: 43.2mm (1 3/4 in.)
Heal width: 55.2mm (2 1/8 in.)
1F thickness: 21.9mm (7/8 in.)
12F thickness: 26.0mm (1 in.)
Grip Shape: FAT
Scale: 628mm (24 3/4 in.) 22F
Fret Board Radius: 12"
Fret: Medium Jumbo
Frets remain: 70%
Weight: 3.2kg (7.05lb)
Pickups: HH
Control: 2V 2T 3Way Selector [/url]

 

[jacco]

Congrats!
Another diagonal wire routing early 80s Greco. All of those feature the same neck profile > fat at 1st, very fat at 11th fret. My former 1981 EGC500 had 22.0 mm at 1st fret & 2.60 mm at 11th fret for instance.
If you think it sounds too dark/muddy, change the pots; this one has the 300k/100k combo.

 

[cschlish]

Thanks Jacco! Yeah, I think I've changed pots on just about every LP I've ever had. I usually wire it up with a 50's wiring scheme or a Greg Martin "Hillbilly wiring" design. I believe the shop who I bought this from changed the Bridge to a new Gotoh and also put the Gotoh HB Classics in, so maybe they changed the wiring from original...

 

[cschlish]

Well it arrived the other day, all in all pretty happy! It didn't have the huge neck that I was hoping for, more of a 59' profile. I'll have to find one of the low end MIJ Tokai's or some of the Edwards that are supposed to the fatter 58' neck profile down the road...After I do all my mods, this one should work out nice!

 

[jacco]

Shame about the neck profile. Does it have the thickness but is less shouldered as hoped for? Did you measure the thickness?

 

[cschlish]

Hey Jacco,

Yeah, could use a tad more shoulder at the lower frets for this particular neck profile to be optimal. But, really just wish I could find one that doesn't taper down from the 12th fret where it's a full 1" and feels nice and beefy.

 

[cschlish]

Hey Guys,

Just got around to finally doing some cosmetic mods to my Greco! I just deglossed the body with a 3M scotch brite pad to give it a nice satin finish, which also helped smooth out some of the nicks in the poly...

Also tried to take some shine off the new Gotoh Bridge, since everything else on the guitar (except PU's) is 31 years old, it was sticking out like a sore thumb. Then I covered the Gotoh HB Classic PU's with some nice brushed nickel Covers, happy to say at low/moderate volume anyway, PU's sound as good as my WCR/Duncan 59 combo in my other LP.

Really does sound and Play Great, really like the light weight & hollowbody type tone you get from these, it's a good contrast with my LP Standard!

Added the new pics to the Les Paul forum link here...

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/other-les-pauls/148952-ngd-1981-greco-eg-480-a.html