History of the Gretsch Guitar

The Gretsch Guitar has a long and wonderful history going back more than 100 years. The Gretsch story begins in 1883 when Friedrich Gretsch started up a small musical instrument shop in Brooklyn New York, where they made banjos, drums and tambourines. Unfortunately Frederich wouldn't get to see his company reach the peak of its success because he passed away only 12 years later at the young age of 39.

The company was taken over by his teenage son Fred who ended up building the company into one of America's top importers and manufacturers of musical instruments. So in 1916, a bigger facility was needed and Fred moved the operations to a huge ten-story building. While in this new building, the demand for guitars started to grow, so Gretsch started offering acoustic arch top guitars to target the Jazz musicians and acoustic flat tops for the Country musicians.

In 1935, a man by the name of Duke Kramer joined the Gretsch Company and remained a valued counsel up until his death at the age of 88. Charles "Duke" Kramer was known as "Mr. Guitar Man" and was a big reason why Gretsch guitars are where they are today. To show Duke how much he meant to the company, Gretsch named a guitar after him called "The Silver Duke" even though he couldn't play a note.

In 1942, Fred Gretsch Sr. retired and left his sons Fred Jr. and William, to run the company. Fred Jr. and William had been working in the company since 1927 so they were prepared for the promotion. Fred managed for a short while until he left to be a commander in the Navy and then William became president. Fred Jr. took over once again a few years later in 1948, when William passed away.

The 50's were great for Gretsch guitars mainly because of the popularity of Rock music. They were the first guitar company to introduce custom color finishes to their lineup and ended up being one of the top guitar makers in the decade. They even attracted popular guitar players to endorse their guitars such as Chet Atkins, Eddie Cochran and Duane Eddy.

Popularity and success continued for Gretsch in the early 60's when George Harrison, who was with The Beatles at the time, started using Gretsch guitars.

The end of the 60's on the other hand was not that great. Fred Gretsch Jr. decided to retire and sold the company to Baldwin Manufacturing. Baldwin didn't seem to understand Gretsch's position in the market and times were dreadful for the company for the rest of the 60's and 70's. Baldwin also moved the guitar production to Arkansas where the factory went through two terrible fires.

Baldwin decided to shut down production in the early 80's and eventually sold it back to the Gretsch family when Fred Gretsch III bought it in 1985. Fred then moved operations to Savannah, GA where he began the process of reviving the company.

Fred got Gretsch back on the right track when he released a series of vintage re-issues, new models and some classic Gretsch drums as well. These releases caused an immediate impact and Gretsch instruments were back in demand.

In 2002, a deal was made with Fender where Fender would take control of the manufacturing and distribution of Gretsch. This joining of forces enabled the Gretsch Company to continue to grow without sacrificing their ideals.

Being involved with Fender has made the popularity of the Gretsch guitar even bigger today. Some of the artists who endorse Gretsch guitars are Chet Atkins, Brian Setzer, Bo Diddley, Jimmie Vaughan, Malcolm Young and Stephen Stills.