82 Super Real PUP Identification

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:43 pm

Hi All
New to the forum and a beginner player (just under 6 months) so be gentle!

I've been fortunate enough to buy a nice Greco 1982 Super Real and wondered if anyone could confirm a few things about the spec - predominantly the pick ups - the guitar is all original. The gentleman I purchased it from reckoned it is an EGC 1000 - I think mainly due to the braided wires on the pick ups. From what I can gather though in 1982 there was a transition to Mint Collection so difficult to ascertain the exact specs.
If anyone out there can shed some light or confirm that it is an EGC1000, I'd be grateful!

It has a 5 digit serial 2 59 (which I believe is 1982 and the neck style) ends in 52 - does that relate to a model type?

PS - No idea how to post pics but could email some!

Cheers.[/url]

wulfman · Post by **wulfman** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 7:42 pm

Hard question to answer as all sorts of 1982 Grecos models can have "Super Real" on the headstock and the serial number gives no clue as to the model.

Original pickups from 1982 almost always have stickers and would be Screamin, Double Trick or DRY. Does the guitar have fret-edge binding and how many pieces and what kind is the top? 2 or 3 piece? Plain top or flametop? All the pickups had braided wire then.

Need a bit more info here.

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:09 am

wulfman wrote:Hard question to answer as all sorts of 1982 Grecos models can have "Super Real" on the headstock and the serial number gives no clue as to the model.

Original pickups from 1982 almost always have stickers and would be Screamin, Double Trick or DRY. Does the guitar have fret-edge binding and how many pieces and what kind is the top? 2 or 3 piece? Plain top or flametop? All the pickups had braided wire then.

Need a bit more info here.

Hi
As I say, a bit new to this! Here is the link to the guitar on eBay with several pics. Hopefully you will get more info from that.
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Greco-Super-Re ... 2274030043

Any info would be much appreciated. Sounds ace in my humble opinion though😁

brokentoes · Post by **brokentoes** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:26 am

That's in great shape, '82 is a transitional year so I think you've gotten older Super Real pups (Maxon), and the non doweled long tenon of the mint collection. Nice mix i dare say. Frets look great, I think you choose wisely. I bet that one delivers.

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 12:44 pm

brokentoes wrote:That's in great shape, '82 is a transitional year so I think you've gotten older Super Real pups (Maxon), and the non doweled long tenon of the mint collection. Nice mix i dare say. Frets look great, I think you choose wisely. I bet that one delivers.

Thanks for the info there, How you can tell these things is beyond me! Is it likely to be an egc1000 then or some weird cross breed of specs?

wulfman · Post by **wulfman** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 3:10 pm

What you have there is a beautiful EC68-50, or "50,000 yen" model. It was the lowest custom and has rosewood board and acrylic inlays, but has all the ingredients to be a Gibson killer IMO. Congrats, and enjoy!

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 3:40 pm

wulfman wrote:What you have there is a beautiful EC68-50, or "50,000 yen" model. It was the lowest custom and has rosewood board and acrylic inlays, but has all the ingredients to be a Gibson killer IMO. Congrats, and enjoy!

Thanks for the info - appreciated!

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 6:41 pm

wulfman wrote:What you have there is a beautiful EC68-50, or "50,000 yen" model. It was the lowest custom and has rosewood board and acrylic inlays, but has all the ingredients to be a Gibson killer IMO. Congrats, and enjoy!

Have checked these out in old 1982 catalogue 'mint collection. It says they have the screamin' pups. Does that sound right?
If you don't mind me asking, how do you tell the difference between the super real EG1000 in the 1981 catalogue and the mint collection EC68-50? As to my untrained eye, they both look pretty similar to mine lol.

Sorry for all the questions
Cheers Steve

..as an aside, would anyone recommend the pearly gates pups in these guitars?

marcusnieman · Post by **marcusnieman** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:53 am

I love the Screamin pickups - have them in an ES and EG59

brokentoes · Post by **brokentoes** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 10:14 am

The picture in the ebay ad shows numbers on the backside of the pickup. Those are the Maxon made pickups used during the earlier era. No number stamp on the mint collection in house made pickups. Like wulfman states they had little stickers, on the in house made ones. You can't really use the catalogs much because your guitar shares features from both the Super Real Guitars and the Mint collection. As to pickup change what style music do you play mostly ???

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:26 pm

brokentoes wrote:The picture in the ebay ad shows numbers on the backside of the pickup. Those are the Maxon made pickups used during the earlier era. No number stamp on the mint collection in house made pickups. Like wulfman states they had little stickers, on the in house made ones. You can't really use the catalogs much because your guitar shares features from both the Super Real Guitars and the Mint collection. As to pickup change what style music do you play mostly ???

Ah ok, thanks for that. Which Maxon ones would they be likely to be? I like (trying) to play )80s rock/blues rock/hair metal stuff.
In terms of the guitar spec then is it a bit of a cross breed of models and is that a good or bad thing?
Many thanks for taking the time to answer.

brokentoes · Post by **brokentoes** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:40 pm

Everything is subjective. I'd think most people think having fret edge binding on a guitar is a upgraded feature, likewise on a long tenon, Does it have a solid top ?? I think you got the best of both worlds. '82 is thought to be part of the "Golden age" of Japanese guitar making. Have you the guitar in hand ?? I'd test drive the guitar before i start thinking about pickup swaps.

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:53 pm

brokentoes wrote:Everything is subjective. I'd think most people think having fret edge binding on a guitar is a upgraded feature, likewise on a long tenon, Does it have a solid top ?? I think you got the best of both worlds. '82 is thought to be part of the "Golden age" of Japanese guitar making. Have you the guitar in hand ?? I'd test drive the guitar before i start thinking about pickup swaps.

Hi, yes I have the guitar but I'm a complete novice at these things so not sure how to check if it is solid. I better Google it! I know it weighs just under 9 pounds. The chap who sold it was a guitarist in a decent cover band. He had it as a back up and said it had had the thumbs up from a couple of well known players ...but then he also thought it was an egc1000.

brokentoes · Post by **brokentoes** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:08 pm

Actually i just looked back at the ad and i'm pretty sure that's a solid top. My advice is to plug in to your amp and start dialing in your sounds and listening for the sweet spots. If you can't find them then perhaps new pickups would better suit you. Getting there should be half the fun. I have two Greco Customs but they are both from the Mint Collection Series, an '84 and an '89. I don't have much knowledge about the Super Reals Era. Mine are both lower end models but are fantastic.

brownie74 · Post by **brownie74** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 6:03 pm

brokentoes wrote:Actually i just looked back at the ad and i'm pretty sure that's a solid top. My advice is to plug in to your amp and start dialing in your sounds and listening for the sweet spots. If you can't find them then perhaps new pickups would better suit you. Getting there should be half the fun. I have two Greco Customs but they are both from the Mint Collection Series, an '84 and an '89. I don't have much knowledge about the Super Reals Era. Mine are both lower end models but are fantastic.

Spent an afternoon trying to learn a zz top tune, playing through a pal's vox amp. The guitar sounded fab. My playing not so lol.
Anyway v happy with it.
Thanks for your advice.