Here’s a beautiful sounding, great playing Gretsch Country Club from 1960. The heavy trestle bracing (only used by Gretsch from ’58 to ’60), 17” body, 25,5” scale length and maple/ebony construction make for a clear and defined sound with excellent low end. You might not expect such a long sustain from an archtop guitar.
It appears this guitar was upgraded in the mid/late ‘60s with a Bigsby with Chet Atkins arm, Grover Kidney button tuners and a (ca. ‘64/’65) SuperTron neck pickup. Maybe a previous owner was a Chet Atkins fan and wanted to upgrade his Country Club towards a Country Gentleman? We’ll never know but we’ve left these original ‘60s parts in place. They are part of the history of this guitar and enhance the playing feel/experience.
Recently a very talented luthier put a lot of effort into restoring it, resolving all playability and stability issues common for many vintage Gretsches. He reset the neck, repaired the broken/split neck block and the internal bracing under the neck pickup. He replaced the old, worn frets with original spec vintage fretwire (Dunlop 6230). He was able to fully remove a few added, unoriginal position markers without a trace by inlaying ebony veneer patches over them.
Because the bridge pickup died and the bridge wasn’t original anyway, we’ve fitted a TV Jones Ray Butts bridge and Gretsch 12” bar bridge. Also, the Bigsby wire arm is new as a previous owner decided to shorten it. We left the shortened original arm in the much used original case. The pickup routs were enlarged and show some added screw holes, suggesting maybe Gibson style humbuckers and surrounds were fitted at some time. However, the (original ‘60) Gretsch pickup surrounds hide this completely from the outside.
The finish is in great shape for a 1960 Gretsch with no binding rot whatsoever. Like almost any ‘60s guitar there are some dings and the finish shows crazing/craquele but this guitar wasn’t abused or banged around. Both pickups have foam placed underneath them so they’re height adjustable.
The neck is quite slim, typically for vintage Gretsches. Setup with Thomastik .011s it plays fantastic with low action and almost no neck relief necessary. While the wiring harness is original with late ‘50s potentiometers, we’ve replaced the capacitors of the tone switch and uses the more sensible values Gretsch currently uses.
All in all, this is an excellent playing and sounding vintage Gretsch that will last for decades to come!
Specifications (summary):
- ‘60s replacement parts: SuperTron neck pickup, Bigsby B6G vibrato, Grover large button tuners
- New parts: TV Jones Ray Butts bridge pickup, Gretsch bar bridge, tone switch caps, Bigsby arm
- Restoration/repairs: neck reset, neck block reglued, refret Dunlop 6230, bracing repair, added position dots removed