1940s Gretsch New Yorker Electrified Archtop Guitar

Overview: This guitar is so cool that I just had to trade for it, despite its being in a pretty beat state when it arrived here. It's refinished (decently), but started life as a sunburst, all-ply, acoustic-only, Gretsch New Yorker model from the '40s (judging by those original Kluson tuners at the headstock). It has an alright acoustic sound but I knew it would be much more of a contender if I jazzboxed it, so that's just what I did after all the structural work was complete. I fit a Gibson 490R humbucker in the neck position and a fresh wiring harness with 500k pots and a Switchcraft jack.

In its new, electrified capacity, it definitely gets you a lot of that "single pickup ES-175" thing going but with the body presence of an ES-125 and slick, Gretsch "harp" tailpiece and big-block-inlay neck. It sounds decent as an acoustic, too, so one could definitely write, practice, or jam on it unplugged and then jack it in for the real show.

Repairs included: I repaired a loose neckblock, gave it a neck reset, dealt with funky fretboard extension wonk (it had been sort-of repaired at some point), leveled and dressed the frets, fit a new bridge (it's a vintage Harmony bridge base with vintage Gibson topper), fit the pickup and wiring harness, cleaned it up, and set it up. Because I knew I would be fitting a pickup and weakening the braces a little to do so, I also fit an internal rod that runs from the neckblock to the endblock which helps stabilize the body even more. It plays spot-on and is ready to go.

• Weight: ss
• Scale length: xx
• Nut width: xx
• Neck shape: xx
• Board radius: xx
• Depth at first fret: xx
• Depth at seventh fret: xx
• Body width: xx
• Body depth: xx
• Body wood: ply spruce top/ply maple back+sides
• Bridge: Brazilian rosewood (compensated for wound G)
• Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood
• Neck wood: maple 2-piece
• Pickups: Gibson 490R humbucker (2000s)
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 49w-11 flatwounds w/wound G
• Truss rod: non-adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: wider/lower

Condition notes: It has a repair label from 1978 in there. I'm assuming that's when the whole thing was refinished and "repaired" in the past. The refinish job is pretty nice, though, and is a satin/semigloss sort-of look and thin. The binding has all shrunken/distorted over time and come away from its side-edges a little but it's not too dramatic. I've trimmed it with a scraper a bit where it was worst (at the waist). There's some fill around the fretboard extension seams that does not match the wood. The bridge is non-original (but old) and the pickguard is missing. The strap buttons are non-original. I've, of course, modified it to be an electric and the under-ring cut for the bucker is definitely not the tidiest as I was trying a couple new tools. I've also added an aluminum rod/dowel that runs from the neckblock to endblock for extra rigidity. There are three dowel-ends at the back of the heel from where the block/joint got reinforced. 

It comes with: It has a chip case.

Consignor tag: JW