Greco Crystal Strat - All Acrylic!

This is a pretty amazing Greco from 1978 and remains the only example I am aware of.

Built by Fujigen in 1978, the guitar is a Greco SE Strat constructed around a completely transparent solid acrylic body made by Fujigen. The rest of the guitar is correct for a 1978 Greco including Maxon Excel pickups and original electronics.

Pickguard is mirrored and its speed knobs are transparent.  The mirrored pickguard

works really well with the clear body. Depending on the angle, portions of the guitar seem to disappear while the hardware, pickups and neck appear suspended inside the outline of a Strat.  The acrylic body is thinner than a standard SE body, presumably to keep the weight down. The complete guitar weighs 9.4 lbs. 

Why this guitar was made remains unknown.  It could have been a limited run for a store or produced for a trade show or other promotional purpose.  I have yet to find a reference to the acrylic Strat or another example. There is no way to know whether this was one of a handful produced, or the only one made. 

The obvious comparison is the Ampeg Dan Armstrong, introduced in 1969. Its transparent acrylic body made it one of the most distinctive electric guitars of its era, popularized by Keith Richards.  What Greco created is visually very different from the Armstrong. It’s clearly a Strat reduced almost entirely to its hardware and outline. The mirrored pickguard makes the effect even more dramatic.

Whether this was a special order or an exhibition guitar, almost fifty years later it remains an extraordinary object and one of the most unusual Grecos I’ve encountered. There are more pictures and details on the guitar itself here: 1978 Greco Crystal Strat