i've had this guitar for twenty something years and decided last week to set it up and get it in working order.
the information i have on it:
Penco SG copy.
the company was doing knock-offs of tele's, strats, les pauls and SG's from '74-'78 until they got sued by Gibson and Fender and went out of business. it has "made in japan" stamped on the neck plate. have to say i'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of the guitar. i used the setup guide for the stratocaster for the neck, saddles, bridge height, etc.
the only trouble i'm having with it right now is the guitar staying in tune when the tremolo is used.
i saw in the setup guide a note about lubrication and was wondering if and what's a good product to use... and please, spare me the the comments on things that don't pertain to guitars
thanks,
FTK

_________________

Tiny amounts of graphite powder (sold in hardware stores) has worked for me before. Good luck with it.........Mike

_________________
The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

A lot of these 70s MIJ guitars were made in the same factory but under various brand names for different distributors and dealers The best copies came from the Fuji Gen factory and a lot of others came from the Tirada(spelling?) factory.You could try rubbing a pencil lead(which is graphite)in the nut slots and on the bridge contact points or use a product such as Big Bends Nut Sauce www.bigbends.com .

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

thanks a bunch guys.
i saw the 3-in-1 oil suggestion, but it sounded like a messy idea...
the only two links i found on the net were wikipedia and a forum i'm not familliar with, both had links referring to each other and not a lot of info.

what i noticed about the mechanics was that the bridge rocks when the tremolo moves... i wasn't sure if that's right or not. from what i can see happening, that may be good in that the saddles stay in the same spot so it should stay tuned. however, if the strings slide a little it'll knock it way out. you'd think the bound strings would stay put, but they're the ones that go out of whack. i put some silicone on it before i posted. seemed to help, but it still goes out, just not as drasticly.
i'll try the graphite.

thanks again!

_________________

I wouldn't try silicone anywhere near the guitar body or neck as it could be detrimental to the finish or the wood especially in a rosewood neck as it is unsealed.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

i used a q-tip and only dabbed the metal-on-metal pieces... believe me, i know about silicone.
the guitar has been banged, bumped, chipped, has lived and moved to 5 different houses that i know of, was neglected for a number of years until two weeks ago... if gibson is looking for a "road worn" model to copy, this might be it
now that it's up and running, i'll baby it for the rest of it's (or my) years.

_________________

Bigsby trems are known for tuning stability issues. So even with a good lube, you may still have issues. That being said, pursuing the excellent lubrication suggestions that have been provided is clearly the way to go ... but they likely will not fix all the issues you are having.

_________________
Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

thanks GT.
not that it matters much, but the tremolo's a knock-off too... not bigsby. i think the major part of the problem i was having after i set the guitar up was the new strings. now that they've had a few days to "settle in" the problem is minimal.
i think one of bigsby's problems was that some of their "hardware" was only fastened at the tail-stock and the whole mechanism could move depending on what sort of animal was playing the guitar ... alvin lee being one such animal who just might drive it hard enough to move it degree or two.

_________________

Another big Japanese company was Matsumoku.

Wiki says: "Penco was a brand of guitars manufactured circa 1974 to 1978 in the same factory in Japan as the Ibanez guitars and was distributed by the Philadelphia Music Exchange."

Terada is the factory you mentioned. I don't know how active (or if) they were in the early '70s when the copy era was in full swing.

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.