According to a reader, this guitar is in fact an "... EGC made by Cort in Korea post 1989," and "not a 1975 Gneco." I thank this kind individual for dropping by and sharing his/her opinion on the matter.
Perhaps the most intriguing feature is that it lacks a serial number on the back of the headstock. Interestingly, Vintage Japan Guitars affirms that Greco only started issuing serial numbers in 1975. Therefore, one can safely assume that this black beauty was manufactured before 1975.
This Greco came in for a thorough electronics check because i) only the neck pickup was active in all three switch positions; and ii) none of the controls worked. A quick check with a multimeter revealed that the bridge pickup was indeed functioning. However, the hot and ground leads from both humbuckers were wired directly to their respective tone pots.
Gotta admit that this was the first time I'd ever come across such a wiring scheme. One usually wires each pickup to its volume pot, and then takes the signal off the input lug to the tone pot. Meanwhile, the signal from the output lug of each volume pot goes to the three-way toggle switch; and out to the output jack.
The wiring was in such an unwieldy mess that I did not bother trying to figure it out. I simply desoldered everything and did a full rewire. The tiny pots, which I suspect were not the factory originals; were dumped in favor of full-sized Alpha A500K Long Shafts. The toggle switch and output jack were serviced and reused as they were still in good condition. Thankfully, the guitar sounded as it should after rewiring. Here's a SoundCloud audio file of the rewired Greco through my little 'ole Ross G515 MiniMouth amp.
It's a beautiful instrument, no doubt. Amongst its impressive appointments are gold hardware, "Greco Guitar" tuners, abalone headstock inlay, five-ply headstock binding, seven-ply body binding, bound ebony fretboard; and mother of pearl fretboard inlays. I don't think they're mother of toilet seat. Nah, Japanese guitar makers were dead set on outdoing Gibson at their own game in those days. So, I don't think they'd go for fake MOP. What do you think?
That's a EGC made by Cort in Korea post 1989, not a 1975 Gneco.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for shedding light on this guitar. Much appreciated.
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