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Request info on Greco Beatle Bass

#22
emblymouse said:
I bought this one from a Japanese seller. It was very high quality and had a pearl Greco inlay on the headstock. This is the only photo I can find:

IMG_3179.jpg
Click to expand...


This bass is a Greco VB65 that's missing its pickguard. Not to be confused with the Hofner made VB165.

TD
 
#25
Those are also absolutely gorgeous basses! And I am relieved to see at least one head logo that looks like mine.
This one is my first bass. Someone had converted this into a lefty and it did not look like a player in some major various ways. But I took a chance, and totally unexpectedly it now works fine.
 
#27
The neckplate signifies that it was made at the Matsumoku factory in Japan, as were my Realistic and Mjac's Grecos. And the top pickup is definitely a replacement. But who cares? Rock!
 
#28
I could be wrong,i used to own one of the Greco basses Thornton referred to,it had a set neck,just like a Hofner,not a bolt on like most Japanese beatle basses. (I never realised mine was actually of Hofner-made origin,but it was a great high quality instrument). I traded it off for a full scale 60's Epiphone Embassy,as i'm just not a short scale guy.
 
#29
woodyng said:
I could be wrong,i used to own one of the Greco basses Thornton referred to,it had a set neck,just like a Hofner,not a bolt on like most Japanese beatle basses. (I never realised mine was actually of Hofner-made origin,but it was a great high quality instrument). I traded it off for a full scale 60's Epiphone Embassy,as i'm just not a short scale guy.
Click to expand...

woodyng, the VB65 (pictured above) is not the Hofner made Greco. The violin bass that Hofner made for Greco was the VB165 and it definitely would have had a set neck. It would have also been equipped with Hofner's type 513 "Blade Pickup" where the Greco made VB65 were equipped with the pickups pictured in the photo above. If the Greco violin bass that you once owned had Blade pickups in it, then it was definitely the Hofner made VB165.

TD
 
#30
Well,it has been a few years,but mine definitely was the set neck,but i seem to remember it having pickups like the ones pictured above,and not the blade type Hofner pickups. It also had a center block,which i didn't know if Hofner does in their construction. Perhaps it was an anomalie? Anyhoo.....:cool:
 
#31
Some violin basses did have a center block, but not Hofners until the Contemporary series in the 90's. Woody, sounds like your Greco was based on the Gibson EB-1, eh? This is a Univox but same basic bass and look:

UnivoxLectraviolinbass.jpg


Here's the Gibson:

Link Removed
 
#34
Greetings to you...was the Matsumoku factory in Japan, the first or second place Greco's were made? I read the info, but I forgot now. I also see that some people think the first factory was the best, while others think it was the second...grin.
Very confusing info out there, but I have a feeling it is all good.
I have a feeling that some instruments of yesterday that were made for beginners, for example, today might be considered intermediate or even better. I am talking about various instruments that I have come across, even brass. But that might be a way understatement when talking about wooden instruments.
 

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