Model ranges expand and quality improves even further, with standard models produced in Japan and budget models produced in China, Korea or Indonesia. Fender buys Gretsch with complete control. Production begins in Japan's Terada plant, mostly re-creating classic models.įender Era: 2002 - present. Gretsch (great grandson of the founder) buys back the company. Quality and worker morale drop in the wake of new management and two factory fires. Production moved to Baldwin/Burns factory in Arkansas. Gretsch is bought by Baldwin as a second choice after failing to buy Fender. This was the original Golden Age for Gretsch, particularly the late '50 and early '60s, when they enjoyed the endorsement of Chet Atkins and George Harrison.īaldwin Era: 1967 - 1981. Gretsch is family owned, growing to major distribution. It's also one more piece of evidence to pair with the serial number to corroborate the actual year. This will give you an approximate idea of the era during which your guitar was manufactured.
If you have absolutely no idea whether your Gretsch is old or new, a good place to start is the model number. The guide for that is much simpler: be nice, ask questions, offer whiskey. Getting the correct year is one thing, but getting the story behind a guitar is the fun part. The best approach is to cross-reference the serial number with known features for the model during different eras and the personal account of previous owners. Just make sure it's not modified or a partscaster before screaming from the Gretsch-pert mountaintops. And there's always the possibility of discovering a specimen that completely upends common knowledge about what was produced when. In some cases a serial number may leave you with a fuzzy span of several years, and in others you will know which number your guitar was within a batch during a specific month and year. While the situation isn't quite as bad as say, Gibson or Guild, this guide should be viewed as the best available consensus, not gospel. Like the other Giants of Original American Guitars (save Martin), Gretsch had its share of corporate hand-offs and resulting serial number inconsistencies over the years.
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