Talk:Gretsch

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Yes, they are expensive, even more so than that of a gibson. Got $5000 to spare? Good, because you'd probably get a cheap Gretsch.

Not really. The "Nashville" and "Tennesee Rose" guitars (which are superb quality instruments with wonderful craftmanship) can be bought for under $2000. The "Country Classic" can be bought for about $2000. That's less than what Gibson's hollow bodys cost, and Gibsons are far inferior.

If you pay $5k for a Gretsch you're a fool. They cost far less than that, and far less than comparable Gibsons.

[edit] Article Addition

I just read the article and noticed that there is some ambiguity over who bought back Gretsch. Just so you know it was Fred gretsch III who then struck a marketing deal with Fender. Hope this can clear some things up.

That in itself is ambiguous, leading to the assumption that Fred III is the son of Fred Jr., which is not true. -- Tim Baxter

[edit] Punk rock guitarists using Gretsch

Prior to the Living End, Billy Zoom of X had used a Gretsch Roc-Jet. Johnny Thunders occasionally used them as well. While it is debatable whether The White Stripes are a punk band, Jack White has used a Gretsch White Falcon on the most recent tour in addition to his usual National guitar. Punk-rockabilly band The Legendary Shack Shakers also employ Gretsch guitars.

[edit] best years

We can't call them the "best" years without qualifying it somehow. I've put them in quotes for now but if someone can more accurately determine why they are the best years, they should definitely tell us so we can replace that word. -Nietzscheanlie 01:00, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Gretsch fans typically refer to roughly 55-67 as the "best" years or the "golden years", as those were, frankly, Gretsch's best years. Sales were very high (rivalling and, at least in the 50s, often exceeding Fender), visibility was very high, with the guitars in the hands of many prominent artists, and the guitars themselves, particularly the 55-61 models, were just incredible (Arguably the '62 on double-cuts didn't sound as good as the single cuts). '67 is usually considered the turning point because of the sale to Baldwin AND shifting musical tastes. By '67-'68 it was getting harder to find a Gretsch in the hands of popular musicians, Stephen Stills notwithstanding. By any measure, the 70s were unkind to Gretsch, and they were basically out of business in the 80s.

With an influx of R&D money and marketing savvy from Fender, many people call today the "second Golden Age", but it's still pretty much universally acknowledged that the company's heyday was approximately '55-67. Tim Baxter - The Gretsch Pages.