Baldwin Era Gretsch Guitars Were Pretty Bad

[Bbreaker]

From page 76 of 50 Years Of Gretsch Electrics by Tony Bacon..."Chet Atkins, who switched to a deal with the Gibson company in the 80's, offered me a concise recollection of the Gretsch/Baldwin set up. "They just couldn't build Gretsch guitars at Boonville. I complained, and they hired a man called Dean Porter. He moved to Arkansas and got the guitars so they would play. But the quality never was like it was in Brooklyn."

[RothnRoll]

They basically ran the company into the ground....

 

When they moved factories almost ALL the skilled workers did not move them so basically they were a new guitar brand.

People rag on CBS for messing up Fender, but what Baldwin did to Gretsch was criminal

[guitarcapo]

There's a reason those old Gretsch guitars sell cheap compared to modern Asian ones

[Bbreaker]

 

There's a reason those old Gretsch guitars sell cheap compared to modern Asian ones

 

 

One thing is certain, the Asian Gretsches are made with better glue.

[Jim_Soloway]

All true, but even before Baldwin took over, there were a lot of quality control issues. Gretsch knew how to make a great sounding guitar, but they didn't always know how to make a well built guitar. An awful lot of their 1950's guitars need a neck reset. On the other hand, the best sounding archtop I've ever played was a 1950's Country Club. I've tried a few of the modern Japanese 6120's and they seem to be the best of both worlds: well built and great sounding.

[brunog]

Those ones are considered to be dogs, but some real Gretsch snobs will tell everything made after 1960 is no good.

 

You can find a decent one but not all are that good.

 

I really like the Japanese models coming out and I can't imagine that a new Gretsch was ever that nice. But I'm comparing a 41 year old guitar to a 6 year old guitar.