Woohoo! My first Gretsch!

[Kid Klash]

I was going through my local CL and saw an ad for two Gretsches... one was a ruby red Electromatic Sparkle Jet G-1619, the other was a silver Eectromatic Sparkle Jet G-2626 with F hole... I bought both of them for $310, sold the red one to my buddy for $155, and I kept the silver one (also $155) for myself. They're both in excellent condition... the pickups and the control covers still had the plastic on them! These were made between 1999 and 2003 in Korea, and are about the same size as a Les Paul. I took the G2626 to the studio today and between tracking vocals i had a chance to fire it up through my Marshall JCM 900 2500 half stack. Wow - it's definately a Gretsch!

[dhb2000usa]

Nice looking guitars. I wonder what the quality of the current Gretsches are compared to the older USA versions..

[Kid Klash]

Originally Posted by dhb2000usa

Nice looking guitars. I wonder what the quality of the current Gretsches are compared to the older USA versions..

Thanks! I'm tickled with it.

Your quality question is hard to say. I believe there will always be a desire to own a U.S.-made Gretsch (I'd love to own one, but they're way too expensive for my humble means), as with other brand names that started in the U.S. and are now being built in other countries. With that said, I'm really impressed with the quality of these Korean Gretsches. I guess the same thing holds true regardless of the brand... the expectations of today's consumers is higher than ever, and that is what has driven the ever increasing quality level of all consumer goods, including musical instruments. An example of this is the quality level of the current Squier Bullet Strats... just a few years back, I wouldn't have given a $120 Squier Bullet Strat a second thought. Today, I own (and have modded) several of them, and they now easily compete with my MIA and MIM Strats.

[Rambler]

I think you will continue to be suprised at the quality of the new Gretsch guitars. I have a 1957, made in America, Gretsch Rambler an absolutely love it. Since buying it I have joined gretsch-talk.com and followed the discussion of old vs new gretschs. The concensus seems to be that since Fender took over the production the new guitars are great. Of course, there are some models that have poor quality control so there is variability in quality from one to the other guitar. But, for the most part everyone seems pretty happy with their guitar.

I am looking closely at the Gretsch Corvette myself. New they sell from $499 to $699 which is much more affordable for me than an original.

I am over here on the squier-talk site because the Gretsch guys have convinced me that these little squiers are great guitars. I recently purchased a cool squier tele standard. Pics are coming later today for it.
Hope you keep enjoying that Gretsch!! What a great buy for you.

[Kid Klash]

Thanks Rambler! The more I learn about these Sparkle Jets, the more encouraged I'm getting. I've PM'ed a fellow Gretsch-Talk forum member about making me a transparent pickguard for my G-2626.

[kevinpaul]

I found a real odd guitar on an English web site made by Epiphone from 1976 to 1979. I
think the nane is Aberdeen. Also called the curl. I read about it on Harmony and seems to be a winner. I could only find one photo. Selling for 400.00 pounds or 965.00 us $.

[S. Rock]

Congratultions !!! I've been playing a Gretsch since 1966. it's a 1959 Gretsch Anniversary model. it's the guitar that I learned to play on and I still have it. I also have 2001 "New" Jet.

the quality of Gretsch guitars went down when Baldwin Music had control of Gretsch. in recent years, Fred Gretsch, a greatgrandson of the original Gretsch, along with FMIC, is trying to get the quality back up to top notch. so, since 2003 there have been alot of good things happening. most of your professional line guitars are made in Japan. FMIC is bringing back some of the old standards back as reissues.
enjoy your Sparkle Jet. on gretsch-talk, you'd be told that it's the first of many more.

[edandis]

I wish Rickenbacker would follow suit and build guitars offshore and bring the prices down, sheeesh!

[tombo]

Originally Posted by edandis

I wish Rickenbacker would follow suit and build guitars offshore and bring the prices down, sheeesh!

I agree. They could sell them under their old budget brand of Electro.

[tjnugent]

Agile sells the Harm Series and that is just like a Ricky on the cheap. Check out rondomusic.com and look for the Agile Harm... it may be Harm III by now....

TJ