# 74 Greco SG copy Please Help!



## CAMARO68 (Feb 24, 2006)

Hi I am wondering if any body can shed some light on this guitar, I am able to purchase a 1974 Greco SG for 300 Bucks.

Doe any one have or know the quality of these guitars in the 70's compared to real gibsons. I only have a epip-g400 at the moment. Is is worth it for vintage as I can't really afford a vintage gibson yet.

Any information on theses guitars will help alot


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Go for it! I've had my eye on that one as well. Just make sure you take a good look at that crack on the neck joint. Otherwise, Grecos are solid guitars and the Dimarzios in it (look like Super Distortions to me) will make it a real rock machine.


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## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

If it's in good shape I would take it. Any decent guitar is worth that. Those 70's MIJ guitars are very good. You hear more about the LP copies than anything else but you should be able to get your money out of it anytime if you decide to sell.

Just make sure it's in good shape, no neck warping, joint cracks, etc. Make sure there's enough meat left on the frets if they need to be dressed and re-crowned. A good fret re-placement will run you about $300.00 so the that's the price of the guitar again. Make sure the truss rod works as well. Electronics issues are an easy fix and you'll likely want to upgrade them anyways.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Just adding my support & agreement for the above comments--depending on the condition and the quality of the model, it could be anywhere from a decent price to a great deal.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

look carefully, sometimes Greco disguised single coils as humbuckers at that time, they made pancake bodies as well, tuners and hardware can be a weak point on early Grecos, is it Greco or Gneco...according to the info I`ve seen the change to Greco came about mid `70s...I had an early `70s Gneco hollow body that was very nice, plastic saddles just like some Gibsons at the time but I sold it, had the star tuners. I see pics of custom made Grecos from that time so they were building guitars for customers as well as their standard guitar line up. Check the inlays...I`ve seen some that were popping out of the fretboard before. But the way things are going you could probably sell it for at least the same amount if you don`t like it with so many people after older MIJs. In my experience not all MIJs from that time were great guitars, I`ve left my share on shop floors, there was a lot of crap too, but if you find a good one they can be very good. Reliable info on a lot of MIJ stuff from the 70s and 80s is hard to come by, no shortage of self declared experts out there who fill the web with things but theres a lot of info that is contrary to the guitars I see and own, I don`t claim to be an expert nor have I ever met any in person nor on line that can say with 100% certainty that they have all the answers. Evidently nobody does. Look around to see if you can find old catalogs to have a look at then compare those to the guitar in question, but even then companies built guitars that were not listed.


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## worn (Dec 4, 2008)

I've seen the ad for the one you're thinking of, and I wouldn't touch it. I have bought 2 Gibsons with headstock repairs, they don't scare me off if done right, but that neck joint would make me nervous. Save a little longer, for $600, you can find a good used Gibson Faded SG.


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## weener (Apr 9, 2009)

:smile:I saw that ad too,the crack in the neck looks like a deal breaker for me,otherwise a pretty cool guitar.


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

LOL

Been eyeing it too. Thing is, that neck joint looks nasty. Though I've been tempted, I've refrained from even contacting the seller.

I love SGs but...

Anyway, good luck if you decide to go for it. That crack may simply have been a sloppy repair that looks worse than it really is.


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

Man, this ad sure got around... I saw it, too.


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## CAMARO68 (Feb 24, 2006)

Yeah I am definitely iffi about it and was gonna purchase a gibson soon anyways but maybe if I can get the price lower. Anyways thanks everyone for the info


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

There's a gibson faded SG in TO for $695 - get that one if you want a solid SG


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

sneakypete said:


> look carefully, sometimes Greco disguised single coils as humbuckers at that time, they made pancake bodies as well, tuners and hardware can be a weak point on early Grecos, is it Greco or Gneco...according to the info I`ve seen the change to Greco came about mid `70s...I had an early `70s Gneco hollow body that was very nice, plastic saddles just like some Gibsons at the time but I sold it, had the star tuners. I see pics of custom made Grecos from that time so they were building guitars for customers as well as their standard guitar line up. Check the inlays...I`ve seen some that were popping out of the fretboard before. But the way things are going you could probably sell it for at least the same amount if you don`t like it with so many people after older MIJs. In my experience not all MIJs from that time were great guitars, I`ve left my share on shop floors, there was a lot of crap too, but if you find a good one they can be very good. Reliable info on a lot of MIJ stuff from the 70s and 80s is hard to come by, no shortage of self declared experts out there who fill the web with things but theres a lot of info that is contrary to the guitars I see and own, I don`t claim to be an expert nor have I ever met any in person nor on line that can say with 100% certainty that they have all the answers. Evidently nobody does. Look around to see if you can find old catalogs to have a look at then compare those to the guitar in question, but even then companies built guitars that were not listed.


One thing I do find, even with some of the less desirable MIJ copies is that I seem to find they have nice necks. I posted a cheap no-name MIJ SG copy I picked up awhile back in another thread. It has the pancake body etc. But it also has fantastic sounding pickups, and a beautiful neck. And it sounds great. I have a couple of bases I'd describe the same way (cheap bodies, fantastic necks, great sound).

But....I paid $100 for that SG copy. When you get a deal like that it's almost always worth it. The guitar in question with the neck repair just isn't worth what they were asking IMO. Not when you can get a perfectly good budget SG for the same price.

If you want a budget SG, there are plenty of other options. Check out the thread I posted on the new one I picked up recently. Or as others mentioned you can save up for a Gibson. I personally picked the Epi SG I got over a Gibson Faded, but that is personal preference. I don't like the necks or frets on the Faded series, and I prefer the Epi's style faded finish to the Gibson style faded finish. Faded are one of those lines where I don't think they are a better guitar because they are a Gibson. The good ones are great, but I find them to across the board quality wise. Epi's are too of course, but they can be had for half the price. A Gibson Standard or Special weren't in my price range.

But, the point is there are a whole lot of options for an under $400 SG out there.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Hmm, I didn't see the ad--so I didn't know about the neck repair.

The assessment of the necks holds for my MIJ EB-3 copy bass.
Great neck on it.
The bridge pickup is weak, but the neck one & both together have provided enough in any situation I've been in in the past.

But $100 for an old MIJ SG--is a good deal.

this one with a neck repair--not so much--which is why I added the "warning/condition" in my earlier post.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

yeah I own my share of MIJs too, in my opinion Yamahas have some of the nicest necks regardless of price, and I`m not saying old MIJs can`t be nice, I am saying the ones I`ve come across over here aren`t all great and like I also said if the guitar somehow doesn`t fit selling it probably wouldn`t be too hard since so many people seem to be after any old MIJ, just watch Yahoo Japan, doesn`t take too long to figure out which bidders are overseas since they post pics of the guitars at other sites once they get em and I`m not passing judgement on what people buy, completely none of my business but I have noticed the effect on prices for many models that used to be so cheap. Aw well, thats how it goes eh, still I`m very happy with what I have, wouldn`t change a thing...except the current prices.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

sneakypete said:


> yeah I own my share of MIJs too, in my opinion Yamahas have some of the nicest necks regardless of price, and I`m not saying old MIJs can`t be nice, I am saying the ones I`ve come across over here aren`t all great and like I also said if the guitar somehow doesn`t fit selling it probably wouldn`t be too hard since so many people seem to be after any old MIJ, just watch Yahoo Japan, doesn`t take too long to figure out which bidders are overseas since they post pics of the guitars at other sites once they get em and I`m not passing judgement on what people buy, completely none of my business but I have noticed the effect on prices for many models that used to be so cheap. Aw well, thats how it goes eh, still I`m very happy with what I have, wouldn`t change a thing...except the current prices.


I totally get what you mean. A guitar being older and 'MIJ' has somehow automatically become synonymous with quality, which isn't always the case. That's translated into anything MIJ raising in price. Just like with any other guitar purchase, you should really just be going by the guitar itself.

I end up buying a lot of MIJ stuff because I just like how oddball a lot of it is. But that definitely doesn't mean everything I have bought is fantastic lol.

Sneaky, do you know anything about "Saga II" brand? There has been a really nice SG listed on Toronto Kijiji forever now. The guy is asking too much for it, which is the reason it's sat there forever. It looks beautiful though. Set neck, MIJ. We can't link Kijiji ads, but it's pretty easy to find. It's in the frist page of results if you do an SG search in Kijiji Toronto.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

torndownunit said:


> Sneaky, do you know anything about "Saga II" brand? There has been a really nice SG listed on Toronto Kijiji forever now. The guy is asking too much for it, which is the reason it's sat there forever. It looks beautiful though. Set neck, MIJ. We can't link Kijiji ads, but it's pretty easy to find. It's in the frist page of results if you do an SG search in Kijiji Toronto.


Yeah, I've seen that one too and she sure is a beaut! I don't know anything about the brand either.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> Yeah, I've seen that one too and she sure is a beaut! I don't know anything about the brand either.


Ya, he posted an updated ad for it recently, but it's been up there for quite awhile. Hasn't affected what he is asking for it though.


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