Gretsch is an American company that manufactures

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s. The company was founded in 1883 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old

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immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, tho ...

s, and

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s until his death in 1895. In 1916, his son, Fred Gretsch Sr. moved operations to a larger facility where Gretsch went on to become a prominent manufacturer of American musical instruments. Through the years, Gretsch has manufactured a wide range of instruments, though they currently focus on electric, acoustic and resonator guitars,

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

s, and drums. Gretsch instruments enjoyed market prominence by the 1950s. In 1954, Gretsch began a collaboration with guitarist Chet Atkins to manufacture a line of

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s with Atkins' endorsement, resulting in the Gretsch 6120 hollowbody guitar and other later models such as the Country Gentleman. Electric guitars before 1957 used single coil pickups that have significant hum problems as an inherent part of their design. Frustration with the hum of these pickups prompted Atkins to collaborate with American inventor and engineer

Ray Butts Joseph Raymond Butts (September 22, 1919 – April 20, 2003) was an American inventor and engineer best known for designing several devices that influenced the evolution of electrified music, in particular those used with the electric guitar. Mos ...

on the development of a new "humbucking" pickup by connecting two single-coil pickups serially and out of phase. This resulted in what may have been the first

humbucker A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in ...

pickup (a claim lost to

Gibson Guitars Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * G ...

because Gibson was able to file a patent for their humbucker design first). Butts' design became the Gretsch Filter'Tron and was used on Gretsch guitars beginning in 1957, and is highly regarded for its unique sound properties. The popularity of Gretsch guitars soared in the mid-1960s because of its association with

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

guitarist

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

, who played Gretsch guitars beginning in the band's early years. In 2002, Gretsch entered a business agreement with

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer of instruments and amplifiers An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude ...

(FMIC). Under the terms of the agreement Fred W. Gretsch retains ownership while FMIC has the exclusive rights to develop, produce, market and distribute Gretsch guitars worldwide.

History

Beginnings

Gretsch was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a young German immigrant who opened his own musical instrument shop on 128 Middleton Street in Brooklyn, New York that year. His shop was designed for the manufacture of

s and

s. The operation moved to South 4th Street in 1894. In 1895, Gretsch died at the age of 39 and the company was taken over by his wife and fifteen-year-old son Fred. Fred Gretsch expanded the business, adding Gretsch Building #1 at 109 South 5th Street in 1903, Gretsch Building #2 at 104-114 South 4th Street in 1910, and a new ten-story Gretsch Building #4 at 60 Broadway in 1916. The company ultimately owned or operated six properties in the immediate area, including a warehouse on Dunham Place. Gretsch Building #4 was owned by the Gretsch family until 1999. Guitar production by the Gretsch Company began in the early 1930s, and Gretsch guitars became highly sought after, most notably in the 1950s and 1960s.

1950s, 1960s, 1970s

Fred Gretsch Sr. handed over the family business to his son, Fred Gretsch Jr., after retiring in 1942. Soon after taking over, Fred Jr. left to serve in

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a Navy commander, leaving the business in the hands of his younger brother, William Walter "Bill" Gretsch. Bill Gretsch died in 1948 and the company was again run by Fred Jr. By the mid-1950s the company introduced several models, including the 6120 "Nashville," and the Duo Jet chambered "solid body", which was played by Bo Diddley. Two other models were introduced - the Country Club, and the White Falcon. During this time, Chet Atkins became an endorser of Gretsch and they sold guitars with Atkins' name on the pickguard.

Sale to Baldwin, Gretsch family regains interest

Fred Gretsch never found a suitable successor, and in 1967 Gretsch was sold to Baldwin Pianos, becoming a subsidiary of that firm. Mid-1969, Baldwin moved Gretsch instrument manufacturing operations from Brooklyn to a plant in DeQueen, Arkansas. In 1983, Baldwin's holding company and several of its subsidiaries were forced into bankruptcy. At the time it was the largest bankruptcy ever, with a total debt of over $9 billion. In 1984, former Baldwin CEO Richard Harrison bought the Baldwin music divisions and brought back former Gretsch employee, Duke Kramer, to run the Gretsch division. In 1985, the Gretsch company once again came under the leadership of the Gretsch family when Fred W. Gretsch, great grandson of Friedrich and nephew of Fred Gretsch Jr, assumed presidency of the company. The first Gretsch guitars after Fred W Gretsch became president were released in 1988. They were a series of Traveling Wilburys commemorative guitars, which bore little resemblance to prior Gretsch models. In 1989, Gretsch restarted large-scale production of new guitars based on classic Gretsch models.

FMIC control

In late 2002, Gretsch and the

reached an agreement giving Fender control over marketing, production, and distribution of guitars, with the Gretsch family retaining ownership of the company.

Guitars

Models

*Gretsch 6075, 6076, "Gretsch 12-String" (Sunburst, Natural) *Gretsch 6104, 6105, Gretsch "Rally" (Cadillac/Rally Green, Bamboo Yellow/Copper). *Gretsch 6119, Chet Atkins "Tennessean" * Gretsch 6120 *Gretsch 6122, Chet Atkins "Country Gentleman" *Gretsch 6123, Gretsch "Monkees Rock 'n' Roll Model" * Gretsch G1627 Synchromatic Sparkle Jet *

Gretsch 6128 The Gretsch 6128 (Duo Jet) is a chambered solid body electric guitar manufactured by Gretsch since the mid-1950s. Origins The Duo Jet was first introduced in 1953, after the success of the Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. A key difference between the ...

Duo Jet *Gretsch 6129 Silver Jet *Gretsch 6187, 6188, 6189, "Viking" (Sunburst, Natural, Cadillac Green) *Gretsch G6128, G6129, G6229 Players Edition Jet *

Gretsch G6131 The Gretsch G6131, popularly known as the Gretsch Jet Firebird, is an electric guitar made by Gretsch. The most popular use of this guitar is by late AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young and Crowded House lead singer and Split Enz co-frontman ...

Jet Firebird * Gretsch G6131MY Signature Jet (Malcolm Young Edition) *Gretsch 6134 White Penguin * Gretsch 6136 White Falcon * Gretsch 6199 Jupiter Thunderbird *Gretsch G2420, G2622, and G2655 Streamliner *Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy Flat Top Acoustic *Gretsch G9520E Gin Rickey Acoustic/Electric * Gretsch BST 1000 * Gretsch Triple Jet

Notable players

1950s * Chet Atkins *

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* Duane Eddy * Cliff Gallup 1960s * Bo Diddley *

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* Brian Jones *

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* Michael Nesmith *

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1970s *

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* Mike Campbell *

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1980s * Matthew Ashman *

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* Billy Duffy *

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* The Reverend Horton Heat * Poison Ivy *

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* Brian Setzer * Robert Smith *

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* Billy Zoom * Manu Chao 1990s *

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* Chris Cornell * Jack White *

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* John Frusciante 2000s * Billie Joe Armstrong * Richard Fortus *

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* G. Love *

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2010s * Tim Armstrong *

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* Henri Cash *

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* Alex Turner

Drums

Bibliography

* Bacon, T. (2005). (Ed.). 50 Years of Gretsch Electrics. Backbeat Books. San Francisco. . * Bacon, T. (2000). (Ed.). Fuzz & Feedback: Classic Guitar Music of the 60's. Miller Freeman Books. San Francisco. . * Bacon, T. (2015). The Gretsch Electric Guitar Book: 60 Years of White Falcons, 6120s, Jets, Gents, and More. Backbeat Books. Milwaukee. * Howe, Z. (2014). (Ed.). Barbed Wire Kisses: The Jesus and Mary Chain Story. Polygon. Edinburgh. .

References

External links

*
Interview with Fred Gretsch - NAMM Oral History Library (2006)

Interview with Dinah Gretsch - NAMM Oral History Library (2006)
{{Authority control Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States Percussion instrument manufacturing companies Manufacturing companies based in New York City American companies established in 1883 Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1883 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation