![]() ![]() ![]() These were Matsumoku Gakki in the early years and Fujigen Gakki from 1974-75 to the present. The original EG-360 series was quite different from the Les Paul due to such things as the neck scale being calculated from Gibson’s catalog and completely different body construction but it was still close enough to be the first chapter in the “lawsuit guitar” story.Īs mentioned, Kanda Shokai was primarily involved in marketing and distribution and used two main subcontractors for the actual manufacturing. GRECO wanted to introduce a Les Paul Standard replica (their EG series) and scaled drawings from Gibson’s catalog and rock musicians’ photos. This further fueled the young generation to buy their dream guitar and play rock’n roll like their hero’s did and this did not escape GRECO’s attention.ĭue to the high price of Gibson guitars in Japan, only a few jazz musicians had them and GRECO didn’t have one on hand. In 1971, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Grand Funk Railroad and other famous bands toured Japan. It was a determined generation that saved over five months salary to buy their dream guitar. The price for a new Stratocaster was 239,000 JYE over $660.00 US dollars. With the currency exchange rate being about 360 Japanese yen to 1 US dollar at the time this starting salary was about $120.00 in US dollars. In 1970, the average monthly starting salary of a college graduate was 43,000 Japanese yen (JYE). Suddenly, the Japanese younger generation was clamoring for Gibson Les Paul Customs, SG’s, Fender Stratocasters, Telecasters and others. Their guitarist, Jimmy Page, made famous the Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar with a sunburst finish. In 1969, the British rock band Led Zeppelin released two memorable albums(Led Zeppelin I and II). GRECO introduced a new solid body influenced by the Fender Telecaster shape and a Hofner type violin base guitar. In 1966, the Beatles concert tour of Japan influenced GRECO designs. The design had many similarities to American guitars but they were largely original. In the beginning, GRECO manufactured guitars of their own design. The GRECO brand was first introduced by Kanda Shokai in 1960. ![]() Kanda Shokai was established as a distributor and trading company for musical instruments in 1948. ![]() The first true replicas were the GRECO brand produced by Kanda Shokai Corporation. Many were influenced by the designs of Gibson, Fender, Mosrite, Burns, Vox etc. Of course, many Japanese guitar manufacturers were producing guitars of their own design prior to this period. What we refer to as the Japanese Vintage Guitar was produced between 19. ![]()
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