Light Weight Les Paul Alternative w/335 Tone

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MIJvintage

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I recently purchased a 1980 Greco EG-450, the Greco Lester with the hollowed out mahogany body & the thin, multi ply top.

I've been curious about these so called 'hollow' Greco Lesters, and decided to jump on this one, since it is completely original.

The nicely aged patina on the hardware is exceptional, and particularlly so on the Greco Deluxe tuners.

The craftsmanship is excellent, the playability is also excellent, the tonal response is very 335 yet it retains the ergonomics & fret access of a Les Paul, and it weighs 7 lb. - 9 oz.

The pickups & electronics could certainly stand to be upgraded but for a light weight alternative for a Lester, and the near tonal response of a Gibson 335, this is an excellent choice with very high build quality.

This was certainly a good chioce for my only 'hollow' Lester 8)

Thank you Akira :)

EG-4502.jpg


EG-4501.jpg
 
Hi MIJ, do you know if they are chambered or swiss cheesed like the gibbo's ?.
I'm glad you like her because most people think that the change in tone from the chambered bodies is unacceptable and simply discount them as great guitars, I have also been curious and its good to hear a favorable report. After an upgrade of the electronics she Should be a bit of a blues machine. .
Cheers .......Mick
 
The mahogany body back is about 1 3/4 inch total thickness but much of the mahogany has been routed (from the top side) a full 1 inch, leaving only about 3/4 inch of the mahogany.

The top is made from a thin, multi ply material, that is press formed into a carved shape, very much like a 335. There are areas, namely in the center of the body where the bridge & stop tail are located, and around the perimeter of the body, where separate pieces are located that are sandwiched in between the (full thickness) mahogany body back, and the multi ply top. Again, this is somewhat similar to 335 construction.

I'll try & post some pics, eventually.
 
Ibanez LP style were arched pressed too,not solid as Tokais,it seems they were experimenting in '76-'79 era and using some solid tops in archtops but not the main rule.Greco did the same it seems....
 
Rare?Not so sure....Well,maybe yes it could be rare but no so desirable.
Sorry for my opinion on this but as far as it?s a low end Greco I always prefer higher specs ever, whatever the brand is. I just buy Tokais by brand because I like to suport them, but I would only buy high quality orher brands only.It?s just me yours can be different of course.
 
luis said:
Rare?Not so sure....Well,maybe yes it could be rare but no so desirable.
Sorry for my opinion on this but as far as it?s a low end Greco I always prefer higher specs ever, whatever the brand is. I just buy Tokais by brand because I like to suport them, but I would only buy high quality orher brands only.It?s just me yours can be different of course.

I wouldn't say that these are rare or particularlly desirable, just different.

That's why this one is so interesting, because I have a ton of typical Lester knockoffs, and this one isn't typical :)

I think it's really nice to have a Greco Les Paul copy that has the ergonomics of a Les paul & that plays like a Les Paul, yet has the tonal response & the weight of a 335

It's just another option, when I reach into my guitar arsenal 8)
 
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