1978 Greco EG-500 – Vintage Sunburst

1978 Greco EG-500 C – Vintage Sunburst

Beautiful looking and sounding 1978 Greco EG (Electric Guitar) 500. This is an odd guitar, I can’t find a catalog entry for it, has some unique and interesting touches that make it different than a standard Greco EG-500. For a start, this one has a single piece front and back ABR-1 bridge, semi chambered construction, not how a standard – Standard EG-500 is made, those things are solid and heavy too. This one is fairy light in comparison.  Excellent sounding original pickups, U1000 by Maxon, very high end Japanese PAF copies, same in construction and output to an Ibanez Super70. The neck is thin and blade like, actually thinner than any Gibson slim-taper. The neck also has no volute, so it doesn’t resemble the Gibson equivalent that it’s seemingly based on. It’s a very odd bird indeed. Like I said, I have never found a catalog entry for any instrument that resembles these particular specs. If I had to guess, I’d say it was a Japan market special with features designed to appeal to the home audience. Traditional aesthetics with super light weight and a thin neck,  something smaller for the Japanese frame. Setup on 10s, weighs an excellent and lightweight (for the period) 8lb and 10oz, and comes in an SKB hard case. Made in June of 1978 in the Fujijen facility in Japan.

I found the instrument with chemical damage to its original dark back. There was a small amount of damage to the front as well, but it was decided to leave it as a representation of the original finish and instrument, as it left the factory. When the back and neck were prepped it was discovered that the back was a single piece of wood, just like the front, so a vintage sunburst was added to make it really pop. Paint was shot by the great Pat Wilkins of Van Nuys, CA. Pro setup by Eric’s Guitars, rock solid instrument with classic PAF tones. Beautiful flaming in the neck. Feels special, a real relic that you wouldn’t be afraid to swing around on stage. Now 45+ years old and aging gracefully.

Condition is 8/10 – beautiful guitar, real vintage, not new, not pristine, obvious signs of age. Guitar presents as excellent.

Condition

 See the pictures, ask for more – as always there are more and better pictures on my own site at deegearlocker dotcom.