Greco ES335-a-likes

AlbertC

Thinking about dipping a toe into the 335 world and was wondering if something like an 80s Greco might be a decent option?
What's the TFB consensus on these?

Flip

I know a couple of people who are happy with their Grecos but in your case I guess price is a factor.

My own preference would be to take the Epiphone route if that's not outside your budget. I bought a 339 for my grandson and although I changed to pickups for Warmans, the rest of the guitar is more than OK. 

Power_Freak

The best 335 type I ever played was a 1980s Tokai - that includes custom shops and vintage Gibsons...

(It was a natural finished one, if anybody here bought it kudos!)

Cookiemonster

Not a Greco but I have a Bonamassa Cherry Red 335 for sale. Gibson Pick ups, CTS pots, Hard case, Vibrola etc 

Neilybob

I’m lucky to own two examples.

First is a 70’s Greco ES330/335 copy. Looks like a 335 but is completely hollow. I believe the 80’s ones had a center block. Love playing this through my tweed amp. 

Secondly (and the one that gets played the most) is a 80’s Navigator (ESP custom shop).  This has a dish top (compared to Gibsons flat top) and a centre block and sounds amazing. 

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/237554/ngd-just-in-from-japan-navigator-content

Neilybob

Neilybob said:

I’m lucky to own two examples.

First is a 70’s Greco ES330/335 copy. Looks like a 335 but is completely hollow. I believe the 80’s ones had a center block. Love playing this through my tweed amp. 

Secondly (and the one that gets played the most) is a 80’s Navigator (ESP custom shop).  This has a dish top (compared to Gibsons flat top) and a centre block and sounds amazing. 

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/237554/ngd-just-in-from-japan-navigator-content

Photo upload didn’t work for the Greco so check it out half way down the page. 

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/2835/old-japanese-guitars-appreciation-thread/p12

Corvus

I've got a '77 SA900, 335-style centre block etc. Love it, the nearest thing to the mythical 'keeper' for me.
The SA700 (I think) is also centre-block, so is SA1200 and the pretty rare SA800 which is a 345-alike. I think the SA550 is hollow. Not sure if/how things changed over the years though.

I like the pickups on mine (Maxon PU-2), it's the only guitar I have left original bar treble bleed(pass), was lucky to find some NOS tuners. These ones with the dodgy tensioning setup can wear and go sloppy.

Pics. It's much more beaten up than these look like-

djspecialist

Power_Freak said:

The best 335 type I ever played was a 1980s Tokai - that includes custom shops and vintage Gibsons...

(It was a natural finished one, if anybody here bought it kudos!)

That sounds similar to my 1981 Tokai ES100-RN, which is indeed a lovely guitar!

DrJazzTap

I'm on my second tokai mij. I part exchanged a PRS DGT 10 top plus cash my way for this one.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52382598649_2bb47be55b_c_d.jpg

It has ox4 pickups and sounds immense. I don't miss the PRS, but I would miss this one. Every time I play it I smile. 

Boromedic

I've got a 2008 MIJ UES130, lacquer finish and a lovely flamed top. It was retrofitted with Mojo PAFs and a new loom before I got it, sounds great and looks great. Can be had for less than £1k normally which is half the going used rate for a Gibbo.

Power_Freak

djspecialist said:

Power_Freak said:

The best 335 type I ever played was a 1980s Tokai - that includes custom shops and vintage Gibsons...

(It was a natural finished one, if anybody here bought it kudos!)

That sounds similar to my 1981 Tokai ES100-RN, which is indeed a lovely guitar!

It was very similar to that - if you bought that in Guitar Village in the mid 2000s-ish could very well be the exact same!

Neilybob

Boromedic said:

I've got a 2008 MIJ UES130, lacquer finish and a lovely flamed top. It was retrofitted with Mojo PAFs and a new loom before I got it, sounds great and looks great. Can be had for less than £1k normally which is half the going used rate for a Gibbo.

What is the wire going from the F hole to the bridge? 

Boromedic

Neilybob said:

Boromedic said:

I've got a 2008 MIJ UES130, lacquer finish and a lovely flamed top. It was retrofitted with Mojo PAFs and a new loom before I got it, sounds great and looks great. Can be had for less than £1k normally which is half the going used rate for a Gibbo.

What is the wire going from the F hole to the bridge? 

Unfortunately, whoever did the rewire before I bought it broke the tailpiece ground. So it had an annoying intermittent buzz on receipt, this is my ghetto repair until I can be arsed trying to feed it into a tiny hole and pull it through.

I've already attempted it once and to say it's a massive ballache is an understatement! 

Neilybob

Boromedic said:

Neilybob said:

Boromedic said:

I've got a 2008 MIJ UES130, lacquer finish and a lovely flamed top. It was retrofitted with Mojo PAFs and a new loom before I got it, sounds great and looks great. Can be had for less than £1k normally which is half the going used rate for a Gibbo.

What is the wire going from the F hole to the bridge? 

Unfortunately, whoever did the rewire before I bought it broke the tailpiece ground. So it had an annoying intermittent buzz on receipt, this is my ghetto repair until I can be arsed trying to feed it into a tiny hole and pull it through.

I've already attempted it once and to say it's a massive ballache is an understatement! 

Yer I've heard that about working on semi and hollow bodied guitars. 

Good luck! 

Boromedic

Cheers mate, not sure when I'll tackle it!

Corvus

One thing with Grecos is nut width, they did skinny narrow probably as per the narrow Gibson era, ~43mm, and apparently some 44-45mm too. I've no idea what models & years they change from one to another but something to check maybe with any in your sights.

three_little_birds

There's still great 335 types being made in Japan now that can be bargains second hand if you import them.

VG Key to the Rock guitars by Terada, Archtop Tribute, and Japan made Seventy Seven Exrubato are worth looking in to.  I sold my 335 after buying a VG.

Petepassion

Corvus said:

I've got a '77 SA900, 335-style centre block etc. Love it, the nearest thing to the mythical 'keeper' for me.
The SA700 (I think) is also centre-block, so is SA1200 and the pretty rare SA800 which is a 345-alike. I think the SA550 is hollow. Not sure if/how things changed over the years though.

I like the pickups on mine (Maxon PU-2), it's the only guitar I have left original bar treble bleed(pass), was lucky to find some NOS tuners. These ones with the dodgy tensioning setup can wear and go sloppy.

Pics. It's much more beaten up than these look like-

Lovely guitar, I was lucky enough to have a go on this recently and was really taken by it…and that’s coming from a ‘62 335 owner.