Gretsch Guitars

Restored 1958 Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman Guitar!!!

Up for auction is an original 1958 Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman model guitar, serial # 264xx, which has been cosmetically restored to overall excellent condition.  This guitar is all original and has NO reissue parts, it has the pair of original PAF Fitertrons pickups, ebony fretboard, brass nut, black plastic blocked-out “f-holes”, ebony bridge mount, half moon inlays, open back Grover tuners, original bridge mount and Bigsby vibrato. The bar bridge may be original to the guitar but looks like it is from ‘59 or later.  The strap pin at the top bout has sharper edges than the tailpiece pin and I think the top bout pin is probably from a ‘60’s Gretsch.  That's how I obtained the guitar years ago.

The neck and headstock is 5-piece with 2 mahogany stringers and beautifully flamed maple sections, no separation noted. The binding is intact all over the guitar and is in sound condition, no major issues but you can see at the cutaway that there are some small stress cracks in the outer white layer of the binding and some wear into the black layer of the binding on the neck heel, it is minor but noticeable.  These are pretty clear in the pix.  It looks like some deterioration set in prior to my owning the guitar but these appear stable and I think they will not worsen if the guitar is maintained properly.

The pickguard is original, no cracks or missing gold paint. The neck and fretboard are straight as an arrow and the neck angle is fine, the action is really low and it plays like a dream. It does not appear that a neck reset was performed, and does not appear that one will be needed anytime soon.  There are some small longitudinal cracks or splits in the ebony fretboard after the 12th fret but these do not affect playability or the frets stability or height, these cracks are stable and we have left them alone.  The frets look to be original but I cannot absolutely certify for sure, they have been recrowned and resurfaced many times but still have life in them, although the first fret has a slight buzz and you might want to refret that one area if it bothers you.

The  pickups are strong and sound great, the polepieces are original and can be moved up and down with a screwdriver.  All electronics are original and there are no major issues with the jack or switches, the pots sound a bit scratchy but work fine. The body wood is in great shape, no splits, cracks, or extra holes. 

The case is original, has outer wear and some splitting/separation of the tolex covering, the handle is frayed, the latches and hinges are tarnished and work OK.  The inner case lining is in overall very good to excellent condition.

This is a restoration piece.  When I received the guitar, all of the hardware was tarnished or corroded and the finish was worn off the back of the neck. The original finish was still present on the body but was badly finish checked and in danger of coming off.  There was a finish dent on the side of the guitar (not into the wood).  Some minor wear of the staining existed on the back of the guitar near the tailpiece, it was bare wood, probably due to case wear over the years.  I decided to protect the guitar and had the following restoration work done:  

(A)  Cleaned, restored, and replated (24 karat gold) all knobs, strap buttons, output jack, headstock name plaque, pickup covers, switch tips, tuner buttons, tuner bodies, pickguard bracket, bar bridge to near new condition.  

(B)  Carefully stripped, cleaned, and restained the back of the neck and headstock to match the body walnut stain, then refinished with nitrocellulose lacquer with amber tint to match the aging of the finish on the body; 

(C)  Buffed then oversprayed the original finish on the front, back, and sides of the body.  You can still see some finish imperfections (i.e., checking, etc.) in the original finish under the clearcoat, along with some finish dents, but these are minor.  Note that we left the edge wear on the back alone and did not restain this. Overall, a very nice restoration job.

When we assembled all the parts back on, one of the input jack washers fell into the guitar and we cannot coax it out.  So if you shake the guitar you can hear it rattle around.  I guess if I were patient enough I would keep shaking until it dropped out but I'll leave that for the next buyer to wrestle with, the little washer doesn't affect the tone at all!

This is not a collector's piece, not a perfect guitar, but a solid player's version of the 1958 and is priced accordingly.  Original 1958 Country Gents are getting harder to find and this one is in great condition for being +50 years old!!!

BEFORE BIDDING, PLEASE NOTE OUR AUCTION POLICIES:

A) ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ITEM BEFORE YOU BID. FAILURE TO ASK QUESTIONS WILL VOID OUR RETURN POLICY.

B) Winning bidder must contact us within 3 calendar days of the close of auction.

C) We use FEDEX GROUND for all domestic shipments and provide tracking info. If you want quicker shipping, we are happy to use Fedex overnight, 2 day, or express saver, but you must pay the upcharge for these services.  Outside the US, we will have to use Fedex or UPS since the size of the box (length, width, height) exceed what the USPS will allow.  Sorry about that!

All bidders outside the US are responsible for paying customs and all import duties into your country, I cannot devalue for customs, it will lead to problems with insurance if the item gets lost, stolen, or damaged in transit.  Sorry!

D) Payment must be received within 3 calendar days of close of auction.

E) Failure to contact or arrange payment within specified periods will result in relisting of item and unpaid strike against the bidder.

F) PAYPAL ONLY, NO OTHER PAYMENT FORMS ACCEPTED.

G) OUR RETURN POLICY:  ONCE THE ITEM IS DELIVERED, BUYER HAS 24 HR APPROVAL PERIOD AND MUST CONTACT US BEFORE END OF 24 HR PERIOD IF HE/SHE WISHES TO RETURN THE ITEM.  WE WILL ONLY ACCEPT RETURNS IF THE ITEM IS NOT AS DESCRIBED, NO EXCEPTIONS.  BUYER MUST PAY ALL RETURN SHIPPING COSTS AND THE ITEM MUST BE RETURNED IN THE SAME CONDITION AS IT WAS RECEIVED BEFORE WE WILL ISSUE A FULL REFUND (ITEM COST + INITIAL SHIPPING/INSURANCE CHARGES)

H) ONLY BID IF YOU INTEND TO FOLLOW THROUGH! THANKS!!!