Electric Guitars On eBay

Greco is one of the pioneers of the so-called “lawsuit guitar makers” that flourished in the 1970s. They have been making guitars since the early 1960’s at the Fiji-genGakki plant. However, note that some Fender copies were made in the infamous Matsumoku plant prior to 1967. During this period, Greco made their own series of guitars, but in the early 1970’s, they got into making replicas of original Fenders and Gibsons. In the beginning, their work on these replicas were mediocre due to lack of proper knowledge and materials. But by 1974 or so, their standard of making these copies escalated as they acquired correctly styled hardware. To top that, their craftsmanship were excellent.

In no time, Greco made more clone models of original Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Gretsch, lbanez, (and other brands) than all other Japanese company combined. In terms of quality, skill and knowledge, they beat Tokai to the lawsuit race by at least 5 years.

Eventually, as demand for Greco’s popular replicas grew and the size of the production was getting too large, they relinquished their Stratocaster division to Fender Japan in late 1981. By 1982, Greco Stratocasters became Fender JV Stratocasters, then later MIJ and CIJ Stratocasters. These guitars were made by the same guys who made the Greco “Sparkle Sound,” “Spacey Sound,” “Sparkle Sound,” and “Super Real” Stratocasters from 1977-1981.

Greco still retained the business of selling great Gibson clones and other brand knockoffs of extraordinary high quality up until 1989. After that, the pressure to “cease and desist” production of copyright-infringing designs took its toll on Greco and they decided to change their headstocks and logos to avoid a confrontation with the American manufacturers. No longer will “lawsuit” models of exact Gibson and Fender clones be made by Greco.

Greco copies are becoming extremely rare and demand gets higher as time passes for these vintage collectibles. The best series of Greco by far are the “Super Real” (made in 1980 only) and “Mint Collection” (made from 1981-1990) models, which were made to amazing likeness to original Fenders and Gibson’s. Greco’s 1977-1979 clones are very nice, too, but many have hardware and specs that don’t match up with the Gibson and Fender classic designs.

Greco guitars are fairly easy to date. The letter that (may) begin the serial number corresponds with the month of production, and the next 2 digits tell the year. For example: E804235 would be a May, 1980 “Super Real” model, production number 4,235. Sometimes, Greco didn’t use letters and only numbers, and even separated the first digit from the rest on occasion. When the first digit is separated, it is likely a 1980’s model; the separated digit corresponding to the year of the 1980’s in which it was made.

Mosrite was an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the mid 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists such as Kurt Cobain, Joe Maphis, Larry Collins, Buck Trent, The Ventures, the MC5, and The Ramones. Mosrite guitars were known for innovative design, beautiful engineering, very thin, low-fretted and narrow necks, and extremely hot (high output) pickups.

Moseley’s design for the Ventures, known as the “Ventures Model” (later known as the “Mark I”) was generally considered to be the flagship of the line, but all of his guitars bore his unmistakeable touch. Mosrite also produced an unusual double-necked guitar, which was the type favored by Collins and Maphis; this design was also used by Nick Nastos, lead guitar player for Bill Haley & His Comets, during 1968.

The company fell on hard times in the late 60s, but continued to produce Mosrite guitars until 1993 in North Carolina and Arkansas. Most of them were exported to Japan, where their popularity remained very strong. The quality of the instruments always remained very respectable.

Semie Moseley died in 1992. His wife Loretta continued to produce Mosrites a year or so after his death. There have been a few attempts at reviving the line, but with little success. Kurt Cobain’s Mosrite Gospel Guitar (one of only two ‘Mark IV gospels’) was recently featured in an online auction by Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, TX, fetching $131,450.00

I was poking around Wikipedia this afternoon and came across the entry for the famed Gibson Explorer. It made it’s debut way back in 1958 when it was originally dubbed the “Futura”. It offered a radical, “futuristic” body design, much like its sibling, the Flying V. Its initial run was unsuccessful and it was discontinued in 1959. In 1975, Gibson began reissuing the Explorer after other guitar companies had success selling similar designs.

Although this design was a little ahead of it’s time in 1958, it has gone on to become one of the most recognizable designs for electric guitars. In addition, it’s been popular with major artists including Eric Clapton, Paul Stanley (Kiss), Allen Collins (Lynyrd Skynyrd), The Edge (U2) and Bob Mould.

Beyond Gibson original model, redubbed the X-plorer in 2002, several other companies have jumped in with their own version of this legendary style. One of the first models to copy the Explorer style was Hamer’s Z Standard model, unveiled in 1974. When the Jackson company offered up their version, called the Jackson Kelly, it resulted in a lawsuit with Gibson. Similar models were also offered by Ibanez (Destroyer), ESP(EX Series) and Gibson own subsidary, Epiphone (Explorer).

One of the most famous pictures of an Explorer-style guitar is on the cover of Van Halen’s “Women And Children First” which features an Ibanez Destroyer made from Korina wood and has no tremelo. Eddie loved the sound of this guitar and used it on several non-tremelo tracks from the first three albums including “You Really Got Me” and “Jamie’s Cryin’”.

I recently moved to Greensboro, NC from Philadelphia and I was thrilled to be living within a short drive of Fat Sound Guitars.  If you’ve never been on the Fat Sound Guitar website, be prepared to be blown away by a music store that has few equals in cyber space or anywhere else.  The owner, Stu Carter, has put together a business that caters to the player who shares his passion for tone - and he has definitely succeeded.   Unlike most retailers, Fat Sound carries some of the best amps, guitars and effects available along with a knowledgable staff that really knows what there talking about.

Ironically, my first visit to Fat Sound had nothing to do with trying out a new amp or guitar, but to see if there onsite luthier, Mike Kane, could help remedy a nasty pickup corrosion problem on my prized ‘79 Ibanez AS200.  It took me about 90 minutes to drive to Cary, NC from Greensboro, but the drive was well worth it.  As I walked in, I was a bit awe struck at the wide selection of Dr Z amps, Top Hat amps, Germino amps, Bogner amps as well as the huge selection of dream guitars - PRS, Don Grosh, Fender and Taylor acoustics.

To my benefit, Mike was busy with another customer, so I had some time to look around and soak up the “candy”.  One instrument that caught my eye was a beautiful cherry finish PRS McCarty Soapbar - I’ve been thinking about a nice P90 guitar for a while and this one was really sweet.  But first things first, I had to get my Ibanez taken care of before I got to far ahead of myself with a new guitar - they get jealous you know…

I met Mark Kane in his shop at the back of the store and gave him a look at the pickup corrosion on my Ibanez AS200.  It was pretty bad, and Mark was upfront that little could be done to restore the original finish - something I had already suspected.  Since I was thrilled with the sound of the Gibson humbuckers that were in there, I asked him for some replacement recommendation.  I was open to anything, but it would be great if I get a pickup that I could tap in the rhythm position.

Mark started telling me about the Lindy Fralin Unbuckers and they sounded like the perfect match for what I wanted.  Along with the new pickups, we also agreed that my 26 year old Ibanez was probably in need of her first fret job, so we put that on the list as well.  It’s gonna take a few weeks to get it all done - Mark is a busy guy - but I know the end result will be worth it.

Who knows? After I get my Ibanez back I might forget about that cherry PRS McCarty… well, honestly, I doubt it!  Be sure to check out Fat Sound Guitars at www.fatsoundguitars.com - it’s a guitar players dream.