Old School / New School Gretsch Guitars
This video was made to accompany an article in Nightflying Magazine printed July, 2015.
Old School & New School Gretsch Guitars (written by Steve Evans)
Gretsch orange is a stand-out color for vintage guitar enthusiasts, and the two guitars featured in this month's article happen to be in the famed transparent orange finish. Take a look at the accompanying photos showing the striking color and beautiful styling of these two guitars, each representing a different era of the Gretsch Guitar Company.
Both guitars were named for the country music guitarist, Chet Atkins, who helped design them. One is an old-school 1969 Chet Atkins “Nashville” and was made at the original factory in Brooklyn, New York, while the other is a new-school 1978 Atkins “Super Axe,” made in Booneville, Arkansas.
The Gretsch Company manufactured guitars in Brooklyn, New York, prior to 1970, then moved production to a facility in Booneville, Arkansas. The Arkansas-made Gretsch guitars were produced from 1970 through 1981.
In writing this article, I (Arkansas native, Steve Evans) feel proud that Gretsch guitars were once made in Arkansas and I dislike hearing negative comments about the Arkansas era.
For example, Jay Scott, of New York City, said (in his Gretsch history book, published in 1992) that the Arkansas-made models were a “de-evolution,” and a couple of models in particular were “abysmal” and even “awful!” Since Jay's sarcastic comments appeared in the first book ever dedicated to the story of Gretsch guitars, this has affected how vintage guitar enthusiasts value these guitars today.
The Arkansas guitars were not inferior, but were something of a departure from the old-style Gretsch guitars of the 60's. In the new Booneville factory and with a new work force, the Gretsch Company chose to make a fresh start, stepping away from the old-fashioned image of string mufflers and Bigsby tremolos, and adding some of the hot trends of the 70's, like Gibson-style humbucking pickups and Bad Ass brand tailpieces.
More than sixty-eight different Gretsch models were produced in Arkansas and they each had a model name and a four-digit model number. The Arkansas model numbers began with a “7” or “8,” while guitars with model numbers starting with a “6” were built in Brooklyn. Some of the new Gretsch guitars made over-seas also begin with a “6.” The model numbers are not always shown on the guitars, but the “serial” number is, and this can be helpful in dating the guitar.
Chet Atkins “Nashville” model #6120 with a serial number of #39392 was made in March of 1969, and an Atkins “Super Axe” model #7680 with a serial number of #3-8035 was made in March of 1978.
Specifications for the 1969 Gretsch Nashville
The double-cutaway body is hollow and has painted-on “f” holes. Having these non-cut-out “f” holes was a feature meant to reduce feedback when the guitar was played at loud volume. The maple body and neck are fully-bound, and the ebony fingerboard is inlaid with neo-classic thumbprint position markers.
The tuning keys, pickups and control knobs are 24-karat gold plated. The Bigsby tremolo (integral for playing Chet Atkins style music) is not gold-plated, probably because it was cost prohibitive to gold-plate such a large object. Adjacent to the bridge is a string muffler, operated by a manual adjuster knob which can raise the muffler to dampen the sound of the strings.
The peghead has a brass nameplate engraved with “CHET ATKINS NASHVILLE MODEL” and the gold-colored pickguard sports a likeness of Chet Atkins' signature.
In 1969 the Nashville retailed for $500.00. Adjust for inflation and that $500.00 would be the same as $3,239.85 in 2015.
Specifications for the 1978 Gretsch Super Axe
The maple body and neck are fully-bound, and the ebony fingerboard is inlaid with dice-shaped mother-of-pearl position markers. The guitar body is solid in the center with hollow wings on the sides, similar in construction to a Gibson ES-335.
Both a compressor and a phase shifter were built-into the guitar, which seemed like a revolutionary idea when this model was introduced in 1976. These effects work extremely well and are powered by a 9 Volt battery activated when the guitar cord is plugged-in.
Rock guitarists appreciated the combination of a stop tailpiece and a semi-solid body designed to give superior sustain. The Gibson-style humbucking pickups also aided with sustain and the hot output worked well when using a fuzz box.
The 24 1/2” string scale was slightly shorter than most other brands of guitars and made for easy string bending when playing lead guitar. The Super Axe was truly the Gretsch Company's all-out attempt at making the ultimate guitar for the rock musician.
In 1978 the Super Axe retailed for $895.00 (= $3,264.35 in 2015 dollars).
The snippets of Chet Atkins songs are "Teen Scene" and "Arkansaw Traveler."