1953 Gretsch 6030 Synchromatic Constellation Cutaway Archtop Guitar

Overview: This guitar is a beaut. I love everything about its design style and aesthetic. Gretsch boxes are always just so dang weird and wonderful. It has plenty of stage presence, for sure!

Folks spec these on the web with a little misleading info and just call the tops "spruce" and the back and sides "maple," but I want to be up-front in that this has an all-ply body (spruce in the top and figured maple in the back and sides) which, at the time, was seen as a huge advantage (stable!) and Gretsch used a lot of it throughout the '40s and '50s. It has a good, punchy, even sound and easily hangs in there in a jam situation.

Is it an L-5 or Epiphone Triumph? Well, nope! It's a great chord-chucking, band-leading archtop, though, and it has a quick neck and a comfortable feel. It's fun as an acoustic but it would also work nicely for conversion to plugged-in either with a K&K acoustic-style piezo pickup (we have them in stock most of the time) or with a magnetic pickup fit at the end of the fretboard.

Repairs included: I gave this one a neck reset, level/dress of the frets, some minor seam repairs, some stabilization to peeled-up/cracked-up binding here and there in the body, cleaning, and setup work. I also repaired a headstock "wing" that was spreading-apart. It's playing spot-on and is ready to roll.

• Weight: 5 lbs 8 oz
• Scale length: 25 1/4"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: slimmer-medium C/D
• Board radius: 12"
• Depth at first fret: 0.84"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.93"
• Body width: 17"
• Body depth: 3 3/8"
• Top wood: ply spruce
• Back & sides wood: ply figured maple
• Bracing type: tonebar
• Bridge: rosewood adjustable
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: 2-piece maple
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 50w-11 GHS
• Truss rod: adjustable (sort-of -- needs odd square-shaped key, really tight/creaky)
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: jumbo/medium height

Condition notes: It's in pretty good order. The finish appears all-original but does show plenty of small scratches, nicks, and dings here and there. The binding has crumpled/cracked here and there and I've patched it/cleaned it up where necessary with a bit of fill. The original celluloid pickguard has crackled-up a lot from outgassing and so I reinforced it with clear, sticky pickguard material fit to the back of it for support. It should hold-up decently for a good while, now. One of the headstock "wings" had come a little loose from the rest of the headstock but I reglued it and its all good to go, now. This happens sometimes when the tuner screws are mounted right along the seam for it -- one of the screws was, so I redrilled that tuner plate to have the bottom screws offset to either side of the "wing seam" so it won't happen again.

It comes with: It actually has its original, brown, hard case.

Consignor tag: PKLD