Marchis Guitars, Part II

Well I've got something to show you this week, rather than a long discussion.  Here's the Marchis that's from Flat Eric's Blogger page:

This looks almost exactly like East Bay Ray's Marchis from the Dead Kennedys.  Natural finish, natural neck. Did they really come from the factory this way?

Now here's a Marchis from Carl, another owner.

This Marchis is obviously a much earlier Les Paul example.  What's striking is the simple black neck.  Carl says that the original scratchplate was black, too.  Notice that the later version has an applied badge plate screwed on, while the earlier version appears to have been attached as simple label.  But the script is identical.

So here are two examples of this rare guitar.  Do you have one?  Is it similar or different than these examples?  Let me know!

Marchis guitars

A reader begins his message to me with "I understand you have a great knowledge of guitars..."

Oh gosh.  I wish.

Then he asks me about Marchis guitars.  This is a badge I've never even heard of.  Nor seen.  There doesn't seem to be many of them, from a quick glance at the internet.  I did find a fellow blogger with a page on it.  My reader said he has a Les Paul Gold version of the Marchis and Flat Eric's photos show a Telecaster thinline guitar that just about matches one in a 1974 Greco catalog.  Greco utilized Dyna, Fujigen and Matsumoku in manufacturing their guitars, so it's conceivable that Marchis was a badge made by one of these three manufacturers.  Both Matsumoku and Fujigen are the most productive of the timeframe in which Marchis would have been made, however, Dyna made quality guitars as well (they were used by Fender, which is pretty darn selective).  Is it possible that Marchis is a lost Dyna badge?

And much to my surprise guitarist East Bay Ray (Dead Kennedys) owns a Marchis....which is shown in a January 2006 Guitar World on page 33.  So it can't be that horrible of a guitar.

So does anyone else own one of these lost guitars?  Tell me!