Gassing for Gretsch

[genesis3]

not electric...their triangle holed acoustics...played one in a pawn shop a few months back that was unlike any acoustic I've tried save maybe for a Gibson...had binding on the neck, unusual inlays, wide and flat fretboard...nice rich tone, including the bass which is harder for acoustics to get...most good acoustics excel and the higher end notes but's it harder to find one with good bass on an under $1k budget...the biggest draw though, was that it fretted effortlessly, almost like an electric. It didn't feel like you had to fight it as was the case with a a couple others I sold off...Taylor and Takamine. ...Believe it was the model below.....

 

[mrbrown49]

I had the same experience with one of those. Easily the nicest playing acoustic I ever picked up.

[Muddslide]

My only acoustic at this time is a Gretsch that I picked up for $70 at a pawn shop about 10-12 years ago.

 

It's not even a nicer model--it's a MIK "Synchromatic."

 

But man, the thing sings. It is solid as a rock (it's been literally all up and down and across the USA, into Canada and Mexico as well) and it just keeps giving and giving.

 

Mine happens to be kind of a mystery. It only appeared in the catalogs for a year--two identical models but in two color options--natural spruce or the reddish/brown finish which mine is. The odd thing is they were apparently never sold in the US and were intended solely for the Euro market so I don't know what mine was doing in the middle of Oklahoma. The other even more odd thing is that I purchased mine--used--before they were listed in any catalogs. Weird, huh?

 

I would LOVE to find its mate with the natural spuce top.

 

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but since acquiring this, I've decided that when I buy my next acoustic (this year, hopefully) I will definitely be looking at Gretsch. I have yet to play a Gretsch acoustic--budget model or high-end specimen--that wasn't a darn nice instrument.

 

This is the only pic I have of mine, and it's crappy. The color is really beautiful in person...very natural reddish brown like a transparent redwood kind of finish.

 

[mrbrown49]

That is gorgoes muddslide! It looks a bit smaller bodied than the typical deadnaught which is great. My go too acoustic these days is a little parlor guitar, actually one of those cheap little gretsch americanas. It needed some fret work, a new nut and a full set up but it plays and sounds great. I like the bite smaller bodied acoustics have.

 

Still I'd love a big bassy gretsch like in the OP.

[Muddslide]

That is gorgoes muddslide! It looks a bit smaller bodied than the typical deadnaught which is great. My go too acoustic these days is a little parlor guitar, actually one of those cheap little gretsch americanas. It needed some fret work, a new nut and a full set up but it plays and sounds great. I like the bite smaller bodied acoustics have. Still I'd love a big bassy gretsch like in the OP.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, I neglected to mention it's basically parlor-sized. Bigger than a lot of parlors, maybe more like an 00 or something.

 

I'm no expert on acoustic body styles, although I've never been a big drednaught fan for some reason.

 

I've played and owned a lot of larger-bodied acoustics that I really enjoyed--jumbos and such--but I prefer the feel and, typically, the sound/projection from smalle bodies.

 

Years back I read some scientific paper of acoustic guitar-related phenomena that was inclusive of some pretty serious aural testing between sizes, wood types, etc. of guitars and the findings essentially showed that smaller bodied acoustics in general were louder, more sonically balanced (between lows-mid-highs) and projected better than larger sizes.

 

This was attributed to larger sized acoustics having the sound vibrations remain inside the body of the instrument knocking around longer and losing some of the intrinsic tonal qualities, etc. whereas in smaller guitars the sound was pushed out of the soundhole quicker.

 

I certainly don't claim this couldn't be found to be bull{censored}, but in my experience it does seem pretty accurate an assessment.