This is the matching bass to the Greco GO700 guitar we recently got in and, well, they really are amazing quality builds from the Fujigen factory in the late seventies.
These GO series were introduced in 1977 and took obvious influences from Alembic in the US. The Ibanez Musician series (MC-800 and 900) and Studio series (ST-800 and 900) was introduced in '79 which was essentially the same bass as the slightly later spec'd GOB series made for overseas markets.
The GOB basses were originally made in 700, 900 and 1200 with essentially the same construction of laminated solid timber bodies with laminated solid timber through necks. The '78 Greco catalogue shows this version with the cream Greco 3B pickups and separate bridge and tailpiece.
Sometime in '79 Greco went to the (cheaper and less desirable) more Fender style one piece bridge that was used on the Ibanez versions. These earlier versions are wonderful pieces of engineering with four solid tubes for the strings to feed through and exit to the bridge like a stoptail while still being essentially a through body style set up. The bridge is a heavy duty Tune-o-Matic style fully adjustable bridge.
While the 1200 had active electronics and a more carved body and better refinements, the 700 had passive electronics with a master volume and separate tone control for each pickup with a three way toggle. The 3B humbucker pickups, like the guitar versions are powerful and wide range and have a great response to pick attack and effects.
The body and neck construction on these is a work of art and very complex for a mass produced guitar. Greco introduced the GOB II (750 and 950) in '78 with similar construction with a 24 fret neck with four a side headstock and single pickup.
The original design GOB series didn't really do well on the domestic Japanese market in the late seventies when copies of big US manufacturers were really taking off and the '81 catalogue is the last to feature the whole GOB line up and the first to feature the new GO and GOB series WITH synth controllers in the G33 and G88 (bass) and G808 and G303 (guitar) for use with the GR synth controller unit.
These are heavy guitars but the quality is amazing, especially for the price. Construction, design and materials in these late seventies Fujigen made guitars was absolutely top notch and above nearly anything being factory made in other countries at the time. Forty years later these instruments are still playing and sounding great in all original condition which shows the quality and forethought put into them.
