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Gretsch Guitar Shops
Gretsch can trace their lineage back to 1883 when Friedrich Gretsch set up a Brooklyn shop that sold banjos, tambourines and drums. In 1895, at the age of 39, Gretsch died, and the successful company was
taken over by his son Fred. By 1916, Fred had moved the company into a
larger 10-story building in the Williamsburg district, becoming one of the most prominent American musical instrument makers. The single biggest contribution to Gretsch's success was the addition of Chet Atkins as an endorser. Atkins was one of the pre-eminent guitarists of his day, and it gave Gretsch a fighting chance against Fender's TelecasterStratocaster, and the Gibson Les Paul. Gretsch ultimately
sold thousands of guitars with Chet's name on the pickguard, most
notably the 6120 Chet Atkins model, one of which was purchased in 1957
by a young guitar player named Duane Eddy.
The worldwide success of Duane's "twangy" instrumental records,
television appearances, and extensive touring helped expose the Gretsch
guitar to a huge new market, that of the teenage rock and roll fan. George Harrison, years later, was to refer to this model as "the Eddie Cochran/Duane Eddy guitar". Other Chet Atkins models were the Country Gentleman (named after an instrumental hit for Chet) and the Tennessean, a lower cost version of the Country Gent.
In recent years Gretsch have seen something of a revival; in 1997, punk band The Living End rose to popularity, with guitarist Chris Cheney using a number of Gretschs, including a White Falcon and a Duo Jet. In the 1990s, Chris Cornell of
Soundgarden used a Gretsch Duo Jet, and could be seen in the video for "Black Hole Sun". In the music video for "Malibu" by Hole, lead singer Courtney Love can be seen playing a Gretsch. Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong consistently uses a Country Club, which has been customized with various coats of black spray paint, at live performances. Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, John Frusciante played a vintage 1955 Gretsch White Falcon for two songs on the Californication album. Frusciante played his White Falcon on songs Otherside and Californication,
he also used to use this guitar when these songs were played live, but
has since used a Stratocaster. John's White Falcon can be seen on the Californication
music video, Off The Map DVD and Slane Castle DVD. Being a big fan of
the group Bow Wow Wow at the time of Californication since Mathew
Ashman played a Falcon, he thought it fit to buy one. Dave Grohl Uses a white falcon with the Foo Fighters in the video for Monkey Wrench and also uses a red Gretsch Fire Bird. Although Gretsch has no modern celebrity endorsements with so many fine musicians choosing to play their instruments it is easy to see why the brand is so widely acknowledged as being some of the finest instruments in existence.
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