This is a rare Greco copy of an ES-345 finished in walnut lacquer and made in February of 1979.
In 1979 Greco introduced the SA 800, which is a highly appointed copy of an ES-345 built to the same specifications as Gibson at the time. It includes a maple body, maple center block sandwiched between spruce, a three-piece maple neck, striped ebony fingerboard and split parallelogram inlays.

As a 345 all its hardware is gold plated, including it's PU-2 humbuckers. It also features a Greco version of the Varitone switch, which alters the tone substantially using a range of capacitors. Tone can go from a bypass, to a very thick heavy bluesy sound, to progressively thinner sounds as the knob is rotated. The PU-2 pickups work exceptionally well with the Varitone, making this a serious and versatile blues machine. PU-2 are an excellent Maxon made pickup.

The SA800 in 1979 was offered in Sunburst SA800S, Wine Red SA800WR and Walnut SA800W. The standard tail piece was a trapeze style, but a stop tail piece could be ordered by adding the letter 'STP' at the end of the model number, which makes this guitar an SA800WA-STP.

I found an original magazine ad (see pics) from October 1978. The last catalog that shows this model is from 1981, while it is missing from 1980 catalogs, so this model may have only been offered for a few years. All examples I have seen, have been made in 1978, except for this one made in 1979 which I recently acquired.

Condition overall is excellent, with a few chips and aging of the hardware as can be expected given it is over 40 years old. Fret markers at the 5th and 7th fret are a bit yellowed compared to the other markers. This guitar is all original except for the three way pickup selector switch which was unreliable and needed replacement. The original switch will be included with the guitar. Pickups are a matched set dated February 3rd, 1978 and original to the guitar. Vintage Japanese made 345's are a rarity, with very few production models offered across all manufacturers.

This guitar has been gone through completely, with a full setup and it sounds amazing through a good amp. Plays great, needs nothing. The varitone on these is monotone, so no special cables or multiple amps are needed, which makes it much easier to simply play. This is one of my favorite Greco models.

The guitar will come with a non-original hard case. If you would like one of the optional original aluminum frame hard cases or a brand new case, I can provide one at additional cost.
This guitar is located in the US