By the early 1920s, the company had added guitars to its repertoire, in ’33 it began marketing instruments under its own name, and in ’39 it began making electric guitars.įollowing World War II, the brand moved forward on its own merit, and within a few years the golden age of Gretsch began: ’50s rockabilly guitars, two-handed tapping demos by Jimmy Webster and his White Falcon, endorsements by legendary fingerpicker, Chet Atkins, the introduction of highly regarded pickups designed by inventor (and tapper himself) Harry DeArmond (indeed, the DeArmond family claims Webster learned the technique from Harry since they were both from Ohio, this could be true). In 1883, he struck out on his own and started the Fred Gretsch Manufacturing Company to make drums, banjos, tambourines, and other instruments, mainly as a contractor. Son of a grocer, he took a job with Albert Houdlett & Son, a drum and banjo manufacturer. And while this 1972 Gretsch Chet Atkins Nashville 7660 doesn’t have every element on that list, it has its share!Ĭompany founder Friedrich Gretsch was 16 years old when he immigrated from Mannheim, Germany, to Brooklyn, New York, in 1872. In many ways, the storied past of Gretsch guitars is a microcosmic reflection of the many twists and turns of the American guitar industry, from early immigrant success story to classic American guitars to big corporate buy-out to looking for cheaper labor to foreign imports, with some of the great names in guitar playing thrown in for extra spice.
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