This is Gretsch’s take on a tune-o-matic bridge, although here one screw has been inserted backwards However, there can be no confusion here, because it’s clear this guitar has spent more time on display than on stage and since it’s in near-mint condition, no allowances are necessary. Writing regularly about vintage equipment, we are able to distinguish between finish flaws and the inevitable wear and tear that goes with the territory. The back is padded for comfort and you’ll also need a padded strap for this 10-pounder We’ll discuss the playability in detail later, but suffice to say, the neck is arrow straight, action is low and the guitar plays perfectly. Considering Booneville’s reputation for flimsy neck joints, that’s quite something. Weighing in at over 10lbs, it’s heavier than many 1970s Les Paul Customs and the neck joint is as solid today as when it left the factory. We have no concerns about this guitar’s solidity, because it’s built like a tank. So what can we say about this Gretsch, which was made in the year before Baldwin decided to cease guitar production? Build quality is a tough thing to quantify and it might be helpful to approach it from two different angles – structural integrity/playability and standard of finish. By the late 70s, Baldwin utilised metallised plastic control knobs Baldwin Gretsches have always been somewhat stigmatised, although some Gretsch fans argue that it’s not entirely justified. Baldwin already had piano factories in the area and labour was cheaper, but few of the New York workforce – the folks familiar with the process of building Gretsch instruments – made the move.Ĭonsequently, build quality suffered and even the company’s main endorser Chet Atkins declared: “They just couldn’t build Gretsch guitars at Booneville.” By the early 1980s, he had shifted his allegiance to Gibson. By 1970, the new owners were in the process of shifting Gretsch production 1,000 miles away from Brooklyn to Booneville, Arkansas. During the late Baldwin era, White Falcons were fitted with B12 Bigsbys and the pickguards acquired a more angular shapeįred Gretsch took the decision to sell his company to piano manufacturer Baldwin in 1967. Yes, this is a Baldwin-era Gretsch and as such, it’s quite different from the guitars made in the original Brooklyn factory. To upstage a White Falcon is no small achievement, but fear not – this is still a guitar that will get you noticed.Īt 40 years of age, it’s indisputably a vintage instrument, but if it can be said that Gretsch had a ‘golden era’, this White Falcon was made some time afterwards. When we first open it up, the most striking thing isn’t the Gretsch inside, but the furry dayglo-green lining. If you think this guitar is flashy, it really has nothing on its case.
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