I thought this was a cool thing to post since many people would be interested; well, at least I hope a few. As many would agree, Gretsch guitar’s are probably one of the most well-known and respected instruments in the World. Nearly every musician I know has always mentioned that owning one would be the sole “prized possesion” of their collection. Whether you play Rockabilly, Punk, or Jazz, Gretsch guitars are the “holy-grail” of the hollow-body guitar World and the sound they create many would say is impossible to replicate. Regardless of how well they sound they are also visually striking curves and colors, not to mention that they use top end materials and the attention to detail truly make a Gretsch guitars highly collectible. As result hey are also priced accordingly; often a base models selling for around $2,000 or more.
Cool artists like Chet Atkins, Brian Setzer (ex-Stray Cats), Jim Heath (Reverend Horton Heat), Eddie Cochran, and even Tim Armstrong (Rancid) all play Gretsch guitars (and even have their own personal models, how cool!); it would be fair to say that many of them owe their sound and ability to play with ease thanks the Gretsch instruments. This month Gretsch has decided to pay dubious homage to Beatle great George Harrison and create a model in his memory, for a mere $20,000! Doesn’t leave you much left to afford lessons, eh? Perhaps the price is due to you getting one of George’s personal guitar picks with the guitar, hmmmm, still seems like a rip of a thrown in for $20,000. Perhaps, say, it included one of his personal guitar cases it might be somewhat better, but a guitar pick?
Oh, and you also get an original 1987 7-inch pressing of his hit “I Got My Mind Set On You”, uh, I think I can get this at a used record store for about $1.00??????????????? C’mon Gretsch, you can do sooooo much better than that, no?
Perhaps the real reason is the amount of time and attention that was put into re-creating the model he actually played to exact specifications, and I guess it would be important to add that on 60 are being made.
Well, for most of us average blue collar, tight budgeted folks, the best we can hope to demo a Gretsch in our lifetime would be at Guitar Center under the watchful eye of management giving us about 10 seconds. Luckily, the company has created an open contest to win one of these incredible Harrison creations. Regardless whether you know how to play or not doesn’t matter, the thought of owning this righteous guitar more than makes up for my ability to play a note.
If you are interested in entering the contest click here, and hey, if you win you’ve got let us know!
Hi Fi and Low Expectations 