1972 Gretsch Country Club Hollowbody Electric Guitar

While the Country Club is advertised as a "hollowbody" guitar, it does have some pretty hefty "under-bridge" soundposts installed that let it effectively operate as a semihollow but with less weight. It's pretty feedback-resistant and very stable. It's also a ridiculously-stylish guitar with its fancy gold trim, heavy-duty tuners, bright and snappy-sounding FilterTron humbucking pickups, bound f-holes, and reverse-painted pickguard. It just looks lush and it feels lush to play it.

This '72 model is on the latter-end of what we might call "original" Gretsch production, but it's quite the guitar, I think. I've worked on a lot of '50s and '60s Gretsches over the years and I do have to say that the early '70s models are surprisingly-good because many of the flaws of the '60s models have been corrected in construction. This guitar is old now and has seen no service before my hands touched it but has had no need for the kind of neck reset, binding repair, bridge work, and other nonsense that Gretsch guitars built just a few years prior to its build generally need. It's stable.

That said, it did need a light level/dress of the frets, some minor wiring work, and setup adjustments. The wiring had gotten scratchy and loose so I sprayed it all out and tightened it up. It was all working fine except for the 3-way "tone" switch (ie, the "mud switch"), which was getting "stuck on" now and then. Because I had to yank it to fix the switching tabs, I "de-mudded" the switch when I fixed its operation by fitting lower-value tone capacitors to it. Now it has useful "tone-rolled-off" sounds rather than "mud" and "even more mud." The originals are, of course, in the case pocket.

So, the gist of it: it's ready to go, plays like a champ, and has the classic countrified "Gretsch twang" that we all want from these.

Repairs included: fret level dress, minor wiring work, setup.

Body wood: ply maple (lightly figured)

Bridge: adjustable ABR-style

Fretboard: ebony

Neck wood: maple

Pickups: 2x FilterTron humbuckers

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 50w-11 I believe

Neck shape: slim C

Board radius: 14-16"

Truss rod: adjustable (original adjuster tool in case pocket)

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-wider

Scale length: 24 3/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

Body width: 17"

Body depth: 2 3/4" + arching

Weight: 9 lbs 7 oz (it's big!)

Condition notes: it's completely original save minor modifications to the wiring. The finish is in great shape throughout with yellowing to the clearcoat and minor scuffs, nicks, dings, and scratches here and there but overall it looks excellent. The hardware plating shows wear and tear and oxidation where fingers and hands have touched it -- the pickup covers and tailpiece "flat" in particular. The G-string tuner knob-shaft is bent slightly but works fine.

It comes with: an original hard case in excellent shape and the original truss rod wrench.