When first posted, this page was as much a request for help ID-ing this axe as it was a display. I have finally made my "judgement call" on its ID, and I am now thoroughly convinced it is a late sixties/early seventies Double Anniversary Model, build during Gretsch's "Baldwin Era." It has the zero fret and bound f-holes of that era, and my decision was clinched when I saw another one (verifiably dated) with the same model Bigsby (B7) as this one, which was unusal in as much as it features the tension bar usually found on thinlines.

I picked this one up after an eBay auction where nobody hit the seller's reserve. It was going cheap, because the seller honestly volunteered the information that it was literally rebuild from a carcass heading to the toothpick factory, probably will need a neck reset... Almost everything that would have given this guitar any "collectable" value has been lost... But I like it! I contacted the seller after the auction's unsuccessfull end and we struck a bargain.

The, uh, 'silhouette' of this beauty seems very much like the Tenneseans that I had in the seventies (which I traded away like an idiot)- except, of course, that it is 2.5" thick. The control layout is also identical to the Tennesean, save that it has no standby switch. It has a pair of Hilotrons which are missing the 'insert' covers - you know, the little black top-piece that sez "Gretsch" on it, with a diagonal arrow...? I cut a couple of replacements out of some thin brass, and I think they will do for now. I replaced the broken pup rings, and added some purple "dice" control knobs - hot-rod city!

Why I LOVE this guitar (for the curious):

Amazingly (to some of you, I'm sure), it was exactly what I was looking for - a beater Gretsch to 'renew' and perhaps throw some TV Jones pups in. I had been considering a Clipper (or, horrors, even a Harmony Rocket!) for that transformation when this guitar came to me. Yes, UNFORTUNATELY, the refinishing job has completely obliterated any serial number or manufacture information on the headstock, and the inside label is completely missing - the interior of the guitar looks as if it was "primer coated" as well... So, yes, it has issues that render it TOTALLY VALULESS as a collector's piece, but then again, I don't collect guitars, I PLAY 'EM! HEY! It looks like a Gretsch, feels like a Gretsch, and sounds like a Gretsch, and actually sez Gretsch on the headstock - and that's MORE than I had hoped for!

And now I may not even do the TV Jones upgrade - after a little adjustment, I find I really like the sound of that beat-up pair of Hilotrons. And the fretwork/trussrod adjustments I did have much improved the playability of this guy, so much that I think it plays fine WITHOUT a neck reset, for now - I love it!