THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY
gretsch way out west cowboy guitar
AND MEETING FRED GRETSCH IV
STORY NUMBER ONE:
In the midst of a lot of recent change in my life, one thing that has happened is I've sold a fair amount of gear lately. Not much in the way of guitars, but plenty of other stuff...digital recorder, monitors, etc. Friends of mine have actually been using Garage Band to record with, and I was really hesitant to admit that it sounded darn good. I wanted to justify my stand-alone Korg digital recorder that I have come to know and love...a Korg D16XD. However, when times are tough you start to decide what is expendable. After visiting a recording session at my friends' house and seeing how well Garage Band was working, I decided to give it a go. I'll let you know how it goes.
I think I posted something previously about attending a Gretsch Guitars night at Buffalo Brothers guitars in Carlsbad, CA. (SEE STORY TWO BELOW) Fred Gretsch IV was there in person and spoke eloquently about his rebirth of the family business. Although I once owned a Gretsch Sparkle Jet from just about the time Fred took over the company, it is now long gone (Hey, there's another story I can write) and the only Gretsch I owned was one of the really cool Gretsch Cowboy guitars from a year or two ago.
I took it with me in hopes of getting Fred's signature on it...which I did. He was semi-gracious enough to sign the back of the headstock for me. These guitars are super cool and bring back memories of some of the old stencil westerns from the '40s and '50s. However, what I liked best about them was that they were definitely updated in theme. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek tributes to the old guitars. The one I got was the "Way Out West" model, which featured artwork of aliens coming down and capturing cows straight off the plains to take back with them to, I'm assuming, probe and prod...or maybe they just wanted a good hamburger.
The boxes that came with the guitars were equally as well done, paying tribute to old line cut advertising complete with retro-style graphics. There were four different models and I'm sure many collectors bought one of each...they were seriously affordable. I believe I paid $150 for mine brand new, tax included out the door. Thanks Bob!
So, fast forward to a month or so ago and I see an ad on Craigslist asking if anyone has one of these to sell. I was looking for a few extra bucks at the exact moment and decided to take the guy up on his offer. I sold it for $80, which is one of the few times I've lost money on a guitar. I have to admit I've done well in that department. But this is not a guitar that is going to be super valuable I don't think, so I didn't feel all that bad about it. A cool guitar that played surprisingly well, but not one to necessarily feel bad about losing. Anyway, it's in the home of someone who really wants it and that's a good thing. Collect 'em all, trade 'em with your friends!
STORY NUMBER TWO:
Last night I got to do something very cool. I got to meet Fred Gretsch IV, the man who single-handedly resurrected Gretsch Guitars and returned them to their full glory. I am very fortunate to live near Buffalo Brothers guitars, one of the finest guitar stores in the country. Last night they had a presentation by Gretsch to honor their 125th anniversary. Their marketing director and local sales crew were in town for the event and there was a very cool slide show of the history of Gretsch, which is an interesting history for sure. I had no idea that in the late '60s Gretsch was sold by Fred's uncle to the Baldwin piano company and eventually just completely stopped making guitars.
Fred Gretsch IV, who is the great grandson of the company's founder, hounded Baldwin until they finally sold him the company back, but really only because Baldwin was in foreclosure. Baldwin not only sold pianos but also had become a huge financial company due to the piano financing business. Their failure was basically the Enron of the '80s. Whole different interesting story, but the bright side is that Fred got the company back and, over the course of the next 4-5 years, was able to start manufacturing Gretsch guitars once again and do it in a high quality way. Mr. Gretsch was an interesting fellow to be sure and was kind enough to meet with people afterwards and sign photos and posters. I just happen to own a Gretsch Way Out West cowboy guitar (these are very cool, and cheap too), so I asked Mr. Gretsch to sign my guitar. He was very gracious, though when I asked him not to personalize it to me, he wouldn't really go along with that. I guess he thinks it would end up on eBay or something. So, forced to have it personalized, I chose to have him sign it to my part-time side band, the Small Pox Mountain Boys. In addition to the history lesson, they also had a performance by guitarist extrordinaire, Bob Gibson (ironic name, huh?) who plays in the Chet Atkins style. They also had some of their upcoming limited edition guitars on display, the coolest of which is a Billy Zoom relic Gretsch Silver Jet. At about $7,000 street price, it's just a tad out of my reach, but MAN, I want one of THOSE! All in all, what a great night! They gave out some collectible string pouches with limited edition picks and strings, as well as catalogs and a few T-shirts. If by any chance you have an opportunity in your area to see the Gretsch crew, by all means set the evening aside.