Gretsch Owns Gretsch, their headquarters are near Savannah , Georgia. They have an agreement with Fender for distribution and warranty. They also have the Gretsch USA custom guitars are housed with Fender at their California Facility. Gretsch guitars are made in Japan, China, Indonesia and Korea. It is a great set up for Gretsch. Gretsch drums and percussion are made in Ridgeland, SC with their lower line made by DW Drums in Taiwan.
Re the 'Boradkaster', to be fair, back in the 60's a few guitars escaped with the brand on the headstock spelled Gertsch (you'll find two examples on Google Images, and there was one for sale a while ago on Reverb), and back in the days when the Electromatic range had that written down the middle of the headstock, a few escaped where it was spelled Electrowatic! There are threads on Harmony Central and Gretsch Talk about that. I'd certainly buy a Gertsch Boradkaster if it was part of the affordable Electrowatic range. Or a Dyslexocaster.
I really like Cooper but I’d love to hear some different playing styles from him. He always plays the same licks and doesn’t really show other genres like rock.
That Duo Jet is absolutely stunning. I come here to hear Cooper play, but I need one of those. Question for Gretsch aficionados; have the guitars suffered/improved since Fender bought them?
Ha - I've got one! To be fair, I wanted one even longer than you; back in the 70's I was in a band with a fella who had an original 1959 one (he bought it from a music shop for £140 - Gretsch were very unfashionable then). I loved it, and told him if he ever wanted to sell it to offer it to me first. Eventually he did, and at the price he'd paid for it, but I'd recently got another guitar and didn't have the money. I finally got mine, made in 2013, a couple of years ago. That tone switch is really useful, by the way, a lot more so than a rotary control, as the two capacitors are doing just one job, rather than trying to cover everything. And when it's in the middle position it effectively isn't in the circuit, so there's a bit more of everything going down that lead into the amp!
I've got a Broadkaster identical to the one you demoed. I put D'Addario Half Rounds, 11-49, on it, and play it fingerstyle. It produces very lush, fat jazz tones. Probably not what Gretsch had in mind for it, but it works for me.
All just a bit too bling for my tastes, but obviously quality guitars. The BroadKaster (you wrote BORADKASTER in your overlaid titles, btw. Yakshemash!) is my favourite, but I do like the striking headstocks of the Penguins. The pickups of the BroadKaster sounded just great -- so clear, but backed up with a little bit of growl.
I love the look of Gretsch guitars and in fact own 2 Electromatic models and a 6120 MIJ model. But here’s the kicker…I just can’t get into the Filtertron pickups. They always seem lacking in mids and are cold sounding to my ears. I want to change them out to the DeArmond eventually. Not sure if I’ll need to modify the pickup rings to accommodate the change though. I don’t want to sell them because they play beautiful and look beautiful. I’m with Cooper regarding my favourite sound here and that’s the DeArmond model. Once I change out the pickups it will be complete.
Going from the Duo Jet to those other Gretches is only part of the story, though. We are talking about someone who had access to whatever guitar he wanted and who showed a desire to explore and change. The Duo Jet was his first "decent" guitar; I don't find it that surprising that he moved on. His journey took him beyond Gretsch to an Epihone Casino,the Sitar, a Les Paul, and various Strats. I think it's telling that, after all that, he eventually went back to his original Duo Jet.
I think the Duo Jet suited the chunkier 'poppy' rhythm stuff but it always blew me away that he had that ' Carl Perkins / Chet Atkins thing', country style cross-picking, and the Country Gent seemed 'right' for those brief 'fast finger lickin' pickin' solo breaks in some of the earlier stuff. Either way, our George! 😀(And Cooper sure has that thang down - amazing playing!) 😀I stumbled across a 2018 MIJ Red Duo Jet just recently and absolutely love it!
I bought an Electromatic a few years back and really liked it. Since then got a Penguin and Falcon, and they are just incredible. After years of playing basically Fender and Reverend (which I still love), I can’t believe how long I slept on Gretsch. Great playing as usual!
I once had a ‘70s Japanese made Ventura Country Gentleman. It was dark brown with the correctly spec’ed fake f-holes and imitation Filtertron pickups. The only bad thing was the cheap Bigsby. Love Gretsch aesthetics - the banjo armrest on the Penguin! Cool.
Nice Gretschs man! I have a Japanese '55 6150 with TV Jones single coils and it's the most beautiful and best sounding electric guitar I own. I baby it though and it doesn't leave the house.
What a perfect marriage of guitar design and branding with the "Alamo" block inlays and the name of your store. Always enjoy your videos, especially liked the tones you were getting on the orange artist model, very distinct.
