Help with identifying a Dry Z pickup

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wknight2

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Can anyone help identify if a pickup is a Dry Z?
I purchased a guitar sold as a 1981 Greco EG1000 with Dry Zs. This week I took the guitar to my guitar techs for a cleaning/setup. When the pickups were taken out, they had no markings on them at all. I'm confused, as all the Dry Z pickups I have seen have Dry Z marked on them.

Has anyone heard of a Dry Z not having any markings at all on it? Any thoughts or opinions as to if these are Dry Zs?

Thanks in advance...
P1030696.jpg

P1030704.jpg

EG1000C004.jpg

EG1000C005.jpg
 
since the guitar has a Dec. 1981 serial, the pickups may not have had the MAXON number stamps, the Z stamps, or the DRY 1982 stickers

It's a possibility but only one possibility of several

what do they sound like, to your ears?
 
Well, they measure pretty low (7.2K)...they sound decent, not quite the same as the Dry Zs in another greco, but that could be for several reasons.

Do you have any EG1000 customs in your collection? I was told they came standard on those guitars...

MIJvintage said:
since the guitar has a Dec. 1981 serial, the pickups may not have had the MAXON number stamps, the Z stamps, or the DRY 1982 stickers

It's a possibility but only one possibility of several

what do they sound like, to your ears?
 
I think the same as what MIJvintage said.
To me they look like Greco stock pickups.
The hole in the right hand corner and the bottom screws match some Dry pickups so they might be Dry 82 pickups that have lost their sticker.
 
japanstrat said:
I think the same as what MIJvintage said.
To me they look like Greco stock pickups.
The hole in the right hand corner and the bottom screws match some Dry pickups so they might be Dry 82 pickups that have lost their sticker.

Guys, here are some more photo's of the pickups showing the hole placements, as u can see from the images, the hole placement is not the same on both pickups......I have more photo's......

EG1000006.jpg


EG1000001.jpg


EG1000002.jpg


EG-1000SuperReal004.jpg


EG-1000SuperReal001.jpg


EG-1000SuperReal002.jpg


EG-1000SuperReal003.jpg
 
Has anyone ever personally seen a verified Dry Z without markings of any kind?
Here is a picture of a Dry Z with a Dry 1982 sticker on it, which implies that the Dry series always had markings on it.

http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/images/large/Greco%2059-100.jpg


One of the challenges with older guitars is there just isn't a lot of documented information from the manufacturers <sigh>

japanstrat said:
I think the same as what MIJvintage said.
To me they look like Greco stock pickups.
The hole in the right hand corner and the bottom screws match some Dry pickups so they might be Dry 82 pickups that have lost their sticker.
 
There are no absolute certainties with Japanese guitar makers, the more you look into these things, the more you find out that there are exceptions for almost everything.....

Mick
 
all the DRY-z have ever seen have a Z-stamp and ser no, and that includes DRY-Z which must have been the last used by greco, as they were in a transitional model mint collection EG58-120 from early 1982..

dryZ003.jpg


I have never seen an unstamped DRY-Z in any of the 30+ EGF-1200's and 1800's that I have owned...
 
I was comparing the pickup to http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/images/large/Greco%2059-100.jpg It does look like a Maxon Dry Z with no serial number but could be a Dry 82 as well. Around 1981/1982 the pickups seem to go from being made by Maxon to being made by Fujigen so who knows what happened. Maybe Maxon just dumped all their stamped and unstamped leftover Dry Z's on Fujigen when Fujigen took over making the pickups and Fujigen put Dry 82 stickers on them like http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/images/large/Greco%2059-100.jpg and this pickup has lost it's Dry 82 stickers. Hard to say really. They probably are Dry Z pickups.
 
The pickups in the first post look very shiny, is it possible someones polished off the 'Z'?
 
JohnA said:
The pickups in the first post look very shiny, is it possible someones polished off the 'Z'?

Well, maybe it could have happened on 1 of the pickups, but both? No, I don't think so...
 
Here's the litmus test:
If I offered them to you, would you buy them?

japanstrat said:
I was comparing the pickup to http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/images/large/Greco%2059-100.jpg It does look like a Maxon Dry Z with no serial number but could be a Dry 82 as well. Around 1981/1982 the pickups seem to go from being made by Maxon to being made by Fujigen so who knows what happened. Maybe Maxon just dumped all their stamped and unstamped leftover Dry Z's on Fujigen when Fujigen took over making the pickups and Fujigen put Dry 82 stickers on them like http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/images/large/Greco%2059-100.jpg and this pickup has lost it's Dry 82 stickers. Hard to say really. They probably are Dry Z pickups.
 
Yes I'd buy them. They are Maxon pickups. Whether they are Dry Z pickups I don't know for sure but they probably are.
The 1981/1982 period was a transitional period between the Super Reals and the Mint Collection and also the Dry Z (U-1000 etc) and Dry 82 (Screamin etc) pickups so some strange things appear like the Dry Z Dry 82 pickup http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/images/large/Greco%2059-100.jpg
 
There's a set on Ebay now for $598. You can have mine for $545. The offer applies to everyone who would like them.

japanstrat said:
Yes I'd buy them. They are Maxon pickups. Whether they are Dry Z pickups I don't know for sure but they probably are.
The 1981/1982 period was a transitional period between the Super Reals and the Mint Collection and also the Dry Z (U-1000 etc) and Dry 82 (Screamin etc) pickups so some strange things appear like the Dry Z Dry 82 pickup http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/images/large/Greco%2059-100.jpg
 
one thing that seems odd to me is that the caps are the small ceramic ones, not the large black FUJICON caps

I would have assumed that this model would have had the FUJICON caps; weird.................
 
MIJvintage said:
one thing that seems odd to me is that the caps are the small ceramic ones, not the large black FUJICON caps

I would have assumed that this model would have had the FUJICON caps; weird.................

Yeah I noticed that too. Also a lot of the solder joints are not original. You can see where the pickups and covers have been removed before.
 
MIJvintage said:
one thing that seems odd to me is that the caps are the small ceramic ones, not the large black FUJICON caps

I would have assumed that this model would have had the FUJICON caps; weird.................


here's an ended listing for a 1980 Greco EG1000C, also with the ceramic caps so, so much for my assumptions :-?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160237031993&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=006

I think I do however prefer the black one in the link, over the sunburst model
 
I do not believe these are Dry Z. I base this on:
1. Reading the replies, the seller had 7 (Seven!) pictures of the pickups, but, not a single one was posted in the ad. Hmmmmmm
2. The ad indicated the guitar was 1 piece back. It was a 3 piece back.
3. Not a single person, including people who have seen dozens of Dry Zs, has ever seen one without markings of any kind
4. Folks have pointed out the solder joints are not original
5. In the link provided in the post above, there is an EG1000 Custom with Dry Zs. The Dry Zs have a Z on them and a serial.
Plus other reasons.

1 lesson learned: When buying a guitar with super expensive and rare pickups and there are no pictures, ask for pictures!

Thank you to everyone who responded. The forum continues to be a helpful and informative place. Hopefully the seller with work with me in an honorable manner.
 
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