In 1971, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Grand Funk Railroad and other major bands of the time toured Japan. The young people had to save more than 5 months of salary to buy the guitar of their dreams. The price of a new Stratocaster was 239,000 yen, more than US $ 660.00 (US $). The exchange rate at the time was around 360 yen for 1 US dollar the initial salary of a young Japanese was therefore 120.00 US dollars (US $). In 1970, the average salary of a young graduate from a university in Japan was 43,000 yen (JYE). It was at this time that Japanese youth discovered and wanted to acquire Gibson Les Paul Customs, SG’s, Fender Stratocasters, Telecasters and other guitar models. Guitarist Jimmy Page would greatly contribute to the commercial success of the famous Gibson Les Paul Standard with a Sunburst finish. Led Zeppelin launched 2 memorable albums (Led Zeppelin I and II). In 1969, the British band Led Zeppelin initiated a turning point in the production of Greco guitars. In 1966, the Beatles tour in Japan largely influenced Greco’s projects, which launched on the market a copy of Fender Telecaster with a solid body and a copy of the Hofner bass with a violin-bass design. There were many similarities with American guitars but it was still guitars with original design. In the beginning, Greco designed its guitars. The Greco brand was introduced on the market by Kanda Shokai in 1960. Kanda Shokai is a major distributor of musical instruments created in 1948. The first true copies were those of the Greco brand, produced by Kanda Shokai Corporation. Many of these instruments had a shape influenced by the guitars of big brands like Gibson, Fender, Mosrite, Burns, Vox, etc. Obviously, many Japanese guitar makers made instruments before the 70s, mostly with their own design.

When talking about Japanese vintage guitars, we are referring mainly to guitars made in the 70s and 80s or even 90s.

Greco acoustic guitars