1981 Greco EGF-850 — Super Real Series

Until the late 1970s, Greco had been producing copies of Gibson Les Pauls from the so-called Norlin–ECL era (roughly 1968 onward) — what we might conveniently call the “modern Les Paul.”
But in 1979, Greco shifted its focus to recreating the original 1958–60 Les Paul Standards, the legendary “Bursts.”
The Super Real Series was born for that very purpose.

The company that likely pushed Greco (and also Fernandes) in this direction was Tokai Gakki.
Tokai’s LS Series helped cement among Japanese guitarists the idea that the Burst was the original and the highest-quality Les Paul ever made.
As a result, the reputation of the later “modern Les Pauls” suffered by comparison — and the pendulum of praise swung decisively back toward the Bursts.
That shift was only natural; the quality gap between the two eras of Gibson production was simply too obvious to ignore.

However, I should emphasize that this rule applied only to Gibson.
Japanese-made “modern Les Pauls” of the 1970s and early 1980s were a different story altogether: they often surpassed the originals.
Unlike Gibson, whose corporate decisions led to deliberate cost-cutting, Japanese makers were genuinely striving to build better instruments.
It’s precisely because of that effort that these guitars earned the nickname “lawsuit models.”
Yes, being sued was unfortunate — but it was also the clearest proof that Gibson recognized just how good these Japanese guitars had become.

Les Pauls from this transitional Greco period often show mixed specifications, even within the same model tier.
Materials and construction details varied from one production batch to another.
One reliable way to confirm the grade is to check the fingerboard inlays — if they’re mother-of-pearl, the guitar is an EGF-850 or higher.

The EGF-850 appeared with two different pickup configurations.
Early examples were fitted with PU-2s, while later ones came with Screamin’ pickups.
From 1982 onward, Screamin’ pickups carried a gold “Screamin’ 1982” decal on the baseplate, but earlier units did not.
Fortunately, PU-2s are stamped, making it easy to tell them apart.

For reference, I measured their DC resistance:

• Neck: 7.81 kΩ

• Bridge: 7.62 kΩ
  By comparison, my decal-marked Screamin’ pickups read 7.70 kΩ (neck) and 7.55 kΩ (bridge) — essentially identical values.

The top on this guitar is beautiful, though unfortunately it’s a laminated (veneered) top, not solid-carved, as one might hope for at this class.

Weight: 4.22 kg (including strings)
(Updated August 24, 2016)