Paul Kossoff’s 1960s Eko 500

This was Paul’s first electric guitar ever, purchased around when he was 16 years old. The exact model of the guitar is unfortunately unknown, but from the following quote from Paul we can take somewhat of a safe guess:

I was about 16, and my first guitar was an Eko or something like with a lame gold finish and a billion knobs.

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Figuring out the Model

Guessing this was the year 1966, the models which fit Paul’s description the best are the 500 models and the 700 models. The 500 models were produced until 1965 and featured a Jaguar-style body, and the 700 models were made during the same time period but featured a very unique triple-cutaway design. Both of the models were available in a gold finish, and they were pretty much the same guitar in regard to the pickups and electronics used.

As far as which of the two Paul actually owned – that’s very hard to say. But due to the fact that the 700 model had a very unique body shape, it is likely that Paul would’ve mentioned it, so that’s somewhat of a pointer towards the 500 being the one.