Brand

Used Gretsch guitars

Friedrich Gretsch, a young German immigrant, opened his Brooklyn shop in 1883 making banjos, tambourines and drums, and the company stayed mostly a drum maker for decades. That changed after it signed Chet Atkins in 1954. Atkins's name, Jimmie Webster's showmanship and Ray Butts's Filter'Tron humbucker gave the world the 6120, the White Falcon, the Country Gentleman and the Jet family, and George Harrison's Gretsches on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 sent demand through the roof. Baldwin bought the company in July 1967, moved production from Brooklyn to Booneville, Arkansas in 1970, and stopped making guitars by 1981. Fred Gretsch III bought the family firm back in 1985, Japanese-made reissues followed around 1990, and Fender has run production and distribution since the early 2000s. Today the Professional Collection is built in Japan and the cheaper lines in Korea, China and Indonesia. In a listing, check the serial against Gretsch's own dating tables, then match the pickups, inlays and hardware to the claimed year, because Gretsch changed specs almost constantly.

6 guitars we cover.