It arrived in 2 days! Sweet!

I think you are probably right Ryan, i am sure there are dry z's that have had there id marks rubbed off but the time period that this one was made and the fact it is basically a Mint Collection guitar using leftover super real neck and truss rod cover leads me to think these were either Dry 1982's or Groove pickups, actually the whole pot cavity looks like my 83 RR-65 almost exactly.

Mick

RyanC said:

SUSHI GUY said:

So now it's just very obvious that some DRY Z's don't have "Z" stamp on them for some unknown reasons. It's the truth I guess.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't go that far.

My guess is the pickups in both of these '81s are probably very early, unmarked Dry '82 pickups, if anything. Given both of these guitars were manufactured in December '81, it's feasible to think this was simply before they began labeling the Dry '82s as such.

Check this pic out - given that Dry '82 pickups were not stamped with a serial number, it's much easier to believe the mystery pickups are Dry '82 and not Dry Z (they would have to have forgone both the Z stamp and the serial number).

Click to expand...

Thanks. But did "the mint collection" start in the spring of 1982? Like April or May? No earlier than that? I was checking the Japanese Greco sites last night and before the spring of 1982, I think Greco was still showing only "the super real" everywhere.....You know nothing and nobody is perfect so maybe Greco and everyone too. Greco is only a great brand by Kanda shokai so they didn't have the factory of their own. Somebody always made their stuff and I guess they were possibly sloppy sometimes? Many guitar companies do make small mistakes. I have bought many american guitars before and on Fender USA and Gibson, there were always some sloppy jobs on them. so maybe Greco and other Japanese companies did too sometimes. I believe it's one of those things this no stamp DRY Z thing is. Sushi Guy.

Even the truss rod cover is a conundrum. It says Super Real Custom, but is the Mint Collection shape. Hmmm.....

Soundcreation - the bottom line is I'm sure it's a great guitar, and if you like the pickups then who really cares what they are!

Keep this in mind ? Super Reals were first featured in the 1980 catalog, though I've seen numerous Super Real EGF's with '79 serial numbers. Therefore, I think L81 (December '81) serial numbers could certainly have been '82 models. Agreed?

RyanC said:

Even the truss rod cover is a conundrum. It says Super Real Custom, but is the Mint Collection shape. Hmmm.....

Soundcreation - the bottom line is I'm sure it's a great guitar, and if you like the pickups then who really cares what they are!

Click to expand...

Agreed. It's a mystery but sure a very cool guitar!

Yeah I really do like the guitar (except it has one dead spot on the fifth fret first string...LOL..needs a fret level.) It does sound amazing to my ears and it just plays so nicely. I really can't get over the neck,...I love rosewod but man that ebony is just soooo nice.

But the pickup thing is just a cool mystery. And I'm the type of person who needs answers to things. In the end it won't change how I feel about the guitar though.


The thing is, at first I was just worried that someone stripped out the originals and put in some after market crap. But after all of this and reading past threads and hearing all the stories I'm 98% convinced that they are the original pickups that came in the guitar. Which basically means I think they probably are Dry something. And after all your guys pictures (thanks very much by the way) I'm actually more convinced that they are Z's. Of course that's probably what I WANT to think. But if you look at the pictures of mine and the one on yahoo right now..they more closely resemble the dry Z's with the gold posts and screws, that I've seen posted than the dry 82's with more silver color all around.

Of course this is speculative, but so far it seems the most logical to me anyway. It's too bad I don't have more experience with the Dry Pick ups by ear.

Just checked the 1980 Greco catalog real close and well and it seems that only the differences between EG1000C and EG800C are these.
@ the pickups....DRY Z or PU2.....@ the inlay....real MOP or MOP.....@ the tuners.....USA Grover or Japanese Greco......
The both, 1000 and 800 have nitro lacquer finish so that's the same. It seems to me the easiest point is the tuners. Grover or Japanese. when the PU's are unclear. Also the model name sticker obviously tells it. I don't think anybody makes the fake sticker usually so super real so no need to worry that one i guess. There is this lower model called EG500C or something but this one's specs are very different from the higher models so never be mistaken. Anyway, suprised that they, Japanese makers really had made so many models back then. All Gibson/Fender copies and the quality was good! We don't see that many good copies today only Tokai and Edwards maybe?
the 80s seems to have become "the good old days" already now.....maybe true yet feels strange. I still remember then mostly just like yesterday.

soundcreation said:

I'm 98% convinced that they are the original pickups that came in the guitar. Which basically means I think they probably are Dry something.

Click to expand...

FWIW, I completely agree with you.

A few more here....

- Grover tuners used on the EG1000C is the Grover model 102G.
-The tuners on EG800C is "MH-EGC"?.....I guess "Machine-Head-Electric-Guitar-Custom"?
- In Japan, the things start in April like they do in September in the western countries.

No more infos I could find on the EG1000C now.
Your guitar is very cool. especially the color "Black Sunburst" is the killer!

Thank you very much! Yeah A year ago I saw an old navigator in that color but it was a bit too pricey so I passed. But it instantly became my favorite color. So when this one came along it was a no brainer.

As for the specs...LOL...my tuners were swapped out for Gotoh some time ago...LOL...so no help there.

How do you know if it's real MOP or just MOP?

Yes the tuners on EG1000C look like the same used on some Gibson post war models, the Kluson Super Tuners with metal buttons. 8)

The baseplate looks the same as Dry Z to me, with the gold color screws and pole adjusters, hole position and size etc.....the mystery continues for late 1981 Super Real Greco Custom high end 1000C, why no markings on back of pickups? actually, i have not seen any high end Greco Custom with markings on the back of pickups from late 1981 .......has anyone else here?

soundcreation said:

Thank you very much! Yeah A year ago I saw an old navigator in that color but it was a bit too pricey so I passed. But it instantly became my favorite color. So when this one came along it was a no brainer.

As for the specs...LOL...my tuners were swapped out for Gotoh some time ago...LOL...so no help there.

How do you know if it's real MOP or just MOP?

Click to expand...

Sorry about that. I seriously don't know how! But anyway there are 3 kinds of inlay infos on the 1981 Greco catalog as far as the customs are concerned. Only the 1000 had the real MOP. And the 800 had MOP that seemed not 1 piece but glued or something. The 500? had the acryl shell which was obviously not natural but acryl plastic kind. So don't know how exactly but you can see it real close if it's 1 piece or not. Maybe if it looks very 1 piece then it's what they called real MOP. this is my most guess so can't say anymore. I just started to learn about Greco so not so good yet. We can really tell a lot of real infos from the catalogs if we check them patiencely. I personally believe that the catalogs are the best places to get the best infos easily. it's just that we wish we can read them all in English. Hopefully someday someone will translate them all! Your guitar is so cool I just love that finish! very deep impression it leaves in me I can't forget it since I first saw it. I think I sure get my own EG1000C someday!

hi
will a egc from 81 (serial A81xxxx) with real mop be a 1000 or a 800 ???
i got a greco egc long time ago from japan ,,,, but the pickups and the hard ware was changed ,,,,, had some kind off dimarzio sd knockoff pickups and chrom hardware ,,,,
it has a allmost one piece body (5/95) it is in tobbaco burst ... head like a real gibxxn ,,,,, big big neck ..... says super sound on the truss rod cover
i am thinking it is a egc 800 if it has real mop ...
can you help me
see this link ..... my guitar look just the same ....
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=10627
all the best
otto

muccax said:

hi
will a egc from 81 (serial A81xxxx) with real mop be a 1000 or a 800 ???
i got a greco egc long time ago from japan ,,,, but the pickups and the hard ware was changed ,,,,, had some kind off dimarzio sd knockoff pickups and chrom hardware ,,,,
it has a allmost one piece body (5/95) it is in tobbaco burst ... head like a real gibxxn ,,,,, big big neck ..... says super sound on the truss rod cover
i am thinking it is a egc 800 if it has real mop ...
can you help me
see this link ..... my guitar look just the same ....
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=10627
all the best
otto

Click to expand...

If yours says "Super Sound" then it must be EG800C.

http://psyco.jp/greco/c12_05.html

hi
and thank you very much ..... but sad it is not original ,,,, and i can not find tuners like that again
all the best
otto

With out trying to cause a sh.t storm I'm resurrecting my thread as I think it could be useful.

I don't know the complete story as I'm not really interested in back reading the whole drama and bickering but it appears someone is being accused of being a liar about a super real custom 1000 with the unmarked pickups?

Maybe people should have another read through this thread and realize that the unmarked pickups are in all likely hood Dry Z's. As someone already mentioned in this thread they have seen six late 81 1000's with unmarked pickups. Coincidence? All have been switched?..doubt it. So again as I reasoned earlier...if the pickups are original then they have to be Dry something. Since my pickups look exactly like all the pictures of Dry Z's and don't look anything like Dry 82's (or any other type for that matter) I would think that leaves only one conclusion.

People should see this as a good thing. Cause for me I'm 99% sure I've ended up with a guitar with Dry Z's for an incredible price.

If anyone could read through my thread and come to a more logical conclusion given the evidence, then I would be glad to change my mind.

soundcreation said:

It's an 81. Like December of 81. I don't think the pickups are original...It's suppose to have Dry Z's but there is no stamp so I seriously doubt they are. And no sticker for Dry 82's either. So who knows.

Click to expand...

I have one set of Dry Z from a December 1981 MSV850, both pickups are stamped with a November 1981 date
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14243


Here?s a set with a September 1981 stamp.
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=13995

Please (someone) correct me if I am in error on the dates ???..

I found Custom for sale on one of the Japanese guitar sites. After lurking through these threads to find out more, since the seller doesn't provide pickup pictures, I'm curious about something.

The person who claims to have seen 6 Customs with unmarked Dry Z pickups is the SAME person who sold the guitar with unmarked Dry Zs. Not to insult anyone, but that's not a big confidence builder. Can you tell me about those 6 guitars and provide pictures of the cavitys so we can compare?

Also, if a pickup is unmarked, how can be positively identified as a Dry Z? That sort of doesn't make sense to me.

It looks like late 81 Customs may sometimes come with unmarked pickups, but that's all that seems to be proven, not what the pickups actually are.

Sorry if I am out of line. But it seems the guitar i want may be worth $500-$600 more if pickups are Dry Z than if not, correct?

JimAdams said:

Sorry if I am out of line. But it seems the guitar i want may be worth $500-$600 more if pickups are Dry Z than if not, correct?

Click to expand...

Yup. Or, possibly, more than that. Sometimes the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

Is it the same person? Even so my guitar lends credibility to his argument. Not to mention I saw another Dec 1000 about a month later on Rinkya with no stamps.

OK but Greco TELLS you in their catalog that if you buy a EG1000C then you're getting Dry Z's right? So in December of 81 they just said "f..k it... we'll through these cheap pickups in all our 1000C's and not tell anyone"

Sorry, I seriously doubt that. So it seems to me I have to ask myself the following questions.

1) Is the guitar a fake 1000?

Well it's got a 1 piece body, nitro, two piece top, and super real 1000 sticker that if you see it you would believe has been on their for nearly 30 years. So no I don't think it's a fake.

2) Did someone swap the pickups?

Well the Solder looks untouched to my eye. The wear on the pickups is consistent with that age, and the visual again matches the look of dry Z's to a T.

So this leaves me with a couple of conclusions. (If I believe the pickups are original...which personally I do based on above)

1) Greco started putting something other than Dry Z's in 1000C's at the end 81; made them look exactly like Dry Z's; and lied about the pickups that came standard in that guitar.

2) Greco was winding down production of Super Reals had boxes of Dry Z's to shove into guitars and probably just didn't care to spend time stamping them.

3) Maxon had last minute orders to fill with greco and again didn't care about stamping them. Just get them out the door to the manufacturer.

2 and 3 sound much more logical to me than 1.

In the end though you're right in that if they are unmarked then only greco themselves could tell us if they REALLY are Dry Z's. But I mean come on; let's try to use a little logic to figure this out. If they aren't dry Z's then what are they? I'll go with greco were not scammers just dumping anything into the 1000's at the end and that they are Dry Z's.

And maybe that guitar you want is cheaper because there are so many paranoid people out there who think everything is always a scam and need re assurance by having a stamp. Fine. If my logic is correct then those people are missing out on some great deals. If I'm wrong then I'm wrong. But so far nobody has provided me with a reasonable explanation as to how pickups that look exactly like Dry Z's are in a guitar that is SUPPOSE to have Dry Z's,,,,but are not Dry Z's.