The top dog of lawsuit era Greco Les Pauls, this Japanese made 3 pickup Custom is not only sweet looking, but is a fantastic player as well. The model sticker is long gone, but I believe it to be the “Peter Frampton” EG-600 model. The serial number dates it to 1978, and it features all of the “right” styling cues that one might look for on a guitar like this - correct open-book headstock, full double binding with fretboard nibs, diamond headstock inlay, square fretboard inlays, and a chambered body resulting in a nice giggable weight. It oozes mojo, and showcases why these early Grecos have become so sought after!
It features the “narrow G” abalone Greco logo and an excellent feeling rosewood fretboard. It has more recent Gotoh tuners, and the bridge and tailpiece are stamped “Gotoh” as well; fitting components for a high end Japanese guitar. The pots appear to be original, as does the neck pickup. The middle pickup is quite interesting; out of an earlier Yamaha SG-1000 (another fitting choice in my opinion), and the bridge is an old PAF style DiMarzio. It is wired as a standard Les Paul, with the 3- way switch toggling between neck, bridge, or both. The mini switch activates the middle pickup only, and also bypasses volume and tone controls for full send output. It plays very well and is a ton of fun, with a speedy neck on the slimmer side.
Cosmetically it is in good shape considering it nearing 50 years old, with some dings, scratches, and wear associated with use from over the years. There are some blemishes to the finish throughout that look to possibly be a result of improper cleaning - these could probably be buffed out, but aren’t super noticeable and I haven’t felt the need to try this. The clear coat on the headstock shows a bit of clouding/lifting as is common on its Gibson cousins, which in my opinion adds to the vintage look of the guitar. There are two small holes in the back panel cover, and the bottom two pickups have been wired in “reverse” in order to maintain proper phase. It’s new owner may want to do a rewire in order to utilize different pickup combinations, but the electronics do all work they way they are, and to my ear the pickups sound excellent. Overall the guitar presents well, with a sweet vintage mojo that epitomizes the essence of an old Les Paul.
It has been setup with D’Addario XL 10-46s, yielding a nice string height of around .060” at the 12th fret.