Guitar Info

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I've commented before that I particularly like some of Gretsch's solidbody designs, whereas of course that company is mainly known for its hollowbodies. This Gretsch Corvette Deluxe from 1976 is one such example of a solidbody that appeals to me so, from the all-access neck, the sculpted contoured body, the metal control panel, right up to the unusual 2+4 headstock design. It may not be a model coveted or even held in regard by Gretsch fanatics, but it's not one that I would overlook.

Alas, the eBay France auction has finished already, although seeing as it didn't sell with a starting price of €700, maybe it'll be re-listed.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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The Traveling Willburys were a supergroup of sorts comprising members Lucky (Bob Dylan), Otis (Jeff Lynne), Charlie T. Jr. (Tom Petty), Lefty (Roy Orbison) and Nelson (George Harrison).

The group spawned all sorts of memorabilia including these guitars which were marketed by Gretsch but actually built in Korea. They are loosely based on the classic singlecut Danelectro design. I hadn't previously realised that so many variations existed.

Here we have a whole Traveling Willburys collection for sale which includes five guitars, i.e. one TW500 (I think that's the twin pickup model), one TW300T (that'll be the one with the trem), two TW200s (the non-trem TWs with the humbucker pickup) and one TW100 (the single coil equipped guitar).

The collection also includes three Traveling Willburys guitar boxes, a framed Traveling Willburys poster, a Traveling Willburys canvas bag, and a pot of "Genuine Will-Berry Jam".

Currently listed on eBay with a starting price of £999.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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Do you think there's a theme going on here?

Although this 1970s Gretsch 7685 could not be called original with its replacement pickups (Seymour Duncans) and non-original gold Bigsby, the dice inlays on fingerboard and headstock are original to the guitar, this supposedly being a rare model.

I can't say that I like dice-shaped volume and control knobs and the dice inlays, but they are infinitely preferable to that other cliché we see all too often on guitars: skulls.

Anyway, this particulary dusty example pictured here (I guess it hadn't been played in a while) recently sold on eBay UK for £621.99.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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I can find out almost nothing about this 1979 Gretsch Model 7264 solidbody resplendent in transparent red finish. It has a bolt-on neck, and the eBay seller tells us that the build date is Jan 5, 1979.

It does look remarkably similar to the Gretsch TK-300 that we looked at in 2008; in fact from the photos alone I can't detect any differences. I'm wondering perhaps if I'd somehow come up with the wrong designation for that one. Are there any Gretsch enthusiasts out there who can enlighten us further?

Anyway, it's a beautiful guitar, and is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $999 with no bids as I write this and only a day and a half to go before the auction finishes.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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It's a Gretsch but it's not a large-sized hollowbody, not is it equipped with a Bigsby vibrato*. In fact on first sight this Gretsch Committee 7628 looks distinctly un-Gretsch-like other than the giveaway headstock and logo. It has a slab-body with a German carve around the top, and is of throughneck multi-laminate construction as was so popular in the 1980s (those stripey throughnecks!), but this is from the latter 1970s.

Currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,119.99, this is actually priced much more cheaply than some other examples I have seen.

[* OK, so before anyone comments, I know that many Gretsches are Bigsby-less and there are all the "Jet" series of solidbodies, but the hollowbody Bigsby-equipped Gretsch beloved of rockabilly and rock'n'roll artists is probably the popular image that most people conjure up when they hear the name Gretsch.]

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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We've looked at pirate-themed guitars before on Guitarz - see here and here - and here, pictured above, we see a Gretsch G6120S Nashville with Jolly Roger graphics courtesy of the Custom Shop. I'm not usually one for intricately decorated guitars, but this one I quite like. Somehow the graphics seem to be sympathetic to the design of the guitar. Still, with a Buy It Now price of $9,500 I think I'll leave this one to someone else to add to their collection.

Via Vince Gotera on our FaceBook page.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This is for a 1947 Gretsch Electromatic Hollow-body Spanish Electric Guitar. This terrific guitar looks great! The top and back of the body do not have any cracks or chips in them. The right side of the body has two screws driven into, one right next to the neck and the other right next to the top binding between the upper and lower bouts; the screw between the bouts appears to have a couple of very small cracks extending about 1/8" away from it kinda parallel to the binding, but the other screw does not have any cracks involved with it. The top, back, and sides all show a few dings and indentions in them as well as a few very light surface scratches - none of which is through the lacquer to the bare wood. The inside of the body appears to be a bit dirty and some of the wiring is not original. However, the pickup and potentiometers do appear to be original.

The output jack is loose and needs to be re-attached and the knobs are missing on the front. The neck and headstock both show similar surface scratches and indentions as those found on the body, but are also free of cracks and chips. The tuners on the headstock are also original. The fretboard has a some noticeable spots of what appears to be dried glue on it, plus the frets show some fairly heavy wear, but are still playable. The action on this guitar is about medium-high and it plays well and sounds wonderful. This amazing guitar features a scale of 25-1/2", a 1-11/16" nut width, a 19-fret (14-fret accessibility) rosewood fretboard, and a Gretsch tailpiece.

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Here a guitar that should be instantly recognizable, namely the Gretsch G5810 Bo Diddley. The mystery is, how can such a very basic shape be so very cool?

The design of Bo Diddley's original rectangular guitar (a.k.a. The Twang Machine) is said to be the result of him wanting a smaller more convenient body shape to allow him to jump around on stage following an incident when he been leaping around with a Gibson L5 and ended up hurting his groin.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

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Here is a limited issue Billy Zoom tribute edition of the classic Gretsch Silver Jet. Zoom was guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles band X. Zoom's own original guitar was put through a medical CAT scan by Gretsch and analysed so that this Tribute edition could be built in Gretsch's USA custom shop as closely as possible to the original. The G6129-BZT features a chambered body, pearloid banjo buttons on the Grover tuners, Bigsby B12 tailpiece, Seymour Duncan DynaSonic pickups, Synchro-Sonic bridge, and distressed finish and hardware.

This post is for Allison... Happy Birthday!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

guitarz.blogspot.com:
In the 1970s, Dorado was to Gretsch what Squier is to Fender and Epiphone to Gibson. That is to say, Dorado was Gretsch's budget brand. This example currently listed on eBay is, according to the catalogue from 1973, a Dorado 5985 in natural finish. The design is obviously inspired by the ubiquitous Fender Stratocaster, although with a slightly offset waist, a Jazzmaster-like tremolo, and a 3-on-each-side headstock shape. Pickups are two P90-like units, and the controls include a "Brilliant" switch, located near the bridge pickup. All in all, a very nice guitar and a welcome departure from the guitar it closely resembles. The 1973 cataloague illustrates that there was a bass sibling too.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

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There was a time when big name manufacturers such as Martin, Gibson, Epihone and Gretsch would produce tenor versions of their popular six-string guitars. Pictured above is a Gretsch George Gobel Model tenor guitar from 1963. By the 1970s most manufacturers had more or less abandoned production of niche instruments such as this.

I have to confess that I didn't know who George Gobel was, so I had to look him up. It seems bizarre to think that a large manufacturer such a Gretsch had a signature model for a comedian and TV presenter! These days that would be so uncool. Gibson also had a George Grobel model, the L-5CT archtop.

Thanks again to Doug Barker for drawing my attention to this eBay find.

G L Wilson

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I didn't like Gretsch's Bo Diddley rectangular guitar so much, until I saw it in snow white in the hands of graceful Alison Mosshart fronting the Dead Weather. I know that this all white Gretsch's guitars band is some kind of marketing hype, combined with Jack White's well applied obsession with colour, and that Mr White himself is evil since he made some fancy duo for a Hollywoodian movie, but they are still quite beautiful guitars (including of course the white Jupiter Thunderbird that White uses on other songs, and that stands ostentatiously next to the drums), and I do enjoy the music (though I prefer the rawer music of The Kills).

And it's so cool to have such a guitar to play just one note, uh!

There is a nice live video of the Dead Weather to watch on From the Basement.

Bertram

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