1985 Greco Black Beauty Custom EGC68-60 Mint Collection Japan Fujigen w/ Screamin PAFs

Up for sale, a 1985 Greco EGC68-60 "Black Beauty" LP Custom electric guitar in 100% original condition and in perfect working order. Crafted in Japan's famed Fujigen factory as part of Greco's Mint Collection offered in the '80s, this lawsuit-era LP truly delivers the goods, with incredible attention to vintage Gibson spec. And while no legal action was taken against Greco for these guitars, Gibson did commission the same factory to make their "Orville" line of instruments which were exclusively sold within Japan.

Clearly a direct response to the '68 Les Paul Custom, this model features a carved two-piece maple top, long neck tenon, "Screamin" PAF pickups, braided wire, full size pots, and a hand carved bone nut. It's an extremely lively and powerful sounding instrument, and the craftsmanship is evident in the great playability and classic range of Les Paul tones. The bridge pickup has a complex and detailed sound, with a touch of growl, sweet, subtle mids, and focused bass response. The neck position humbucker delivers more girth and fullness while still being clear and present, and it's an ideal sound for saturated lead lines. Weighing 9lbs 7oz, this moderate weight Greco balances well on a strap and has a solid, non-weight relieved body with a big, ringing acoustic tone. We've had this guitar professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with low action, solid intonation, and 10-46 strings.

The neck has a C shape with decent chuck and moderate shoulder, measuring .885” at the 1st fret and filling out to an impressively hefty 1.025” at the 12th. The neck features a bound rosewood fretboard, pearl block inlay, and original medium jumbo fretwire. These frets are very similar to what Gibson used in the late '60s, with identical width and a bit more height and crown. The frets show only light wear beneath the plain strings on frets 1-6, with virtually no wear further up the fretboard. The guitar plays cleanly in all positions with no buzzing or dead spots, and the truss rod is responsive and ideally adjusted. The hand carved bone nut is original, measuring 1 11/16" in width. On the headstock, the guitar features a small volute, multi-ply binding, Greco-branded gold tulip button tuners, and clean pearl inlays that vaguely mimic Gibson's split diamond look.

All of the electronics work as they should, with original pots and tone caps, as well as the same high quality braided pickup leads seen on any Gibson. The gold hardware shows notable surface patina through the plating, and the hardware includes the original Tune-o-Matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece. All of the original plastic parts are present too including a quartet of witch hat knobs, multi-ply black pickguard, pickup rings, and switch surround. The top has a nice deep dish carve in the maple, highlighted by the original gloss black finish. Cosmetic wear includes one spot of finish checking on the back of the neck extending diagonally behind frets 1-3 on the bass side of the profile, but purely cosmetic and not in the wood. There is buckle rash on the back, along with a few other stray nicks and scuffs, and the neck profile has some shallow horizontal nicks mostly clustered behind frets 7-12, ostensibly from leaning the guitar against an amp. This LP Custom is 100% original and a great example from Greco's highly regarded Mint Collection era.