GRETSCH Chet Atkins NASHVILLE Model: 7660 1973. A True Gretsch Icon Relic.
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GRETSCH
Chet Atkins
NASHVILLE
Model: 7660
1973
SN: 8-3200
OHSC
Condition: Good. This guitar has been well played and shows wear but mostly on the back of the neck near the headstock in the “money chord” section. Finish is a bit faded but is still strong. All hardware is in good condition and all electronics work.
It plays and sounds great.
I’m the guy who likes all Gretsch guitars that were Made In the USA. Most certainly I disagree with those people who malign, unfairly I think, the quality of the Gretsch guitars that were built at the Baldwin plant in Booneville, Arkansas. The luthiers there were talented and hardworking and their work shows their pride.
My guitar here is a GRETSCH 7660. It is the former Model 6120 Chet Atkins NASHVILLE guitar but renamed by Baldwin.
At the end of this listing you can see more information about the history of Gretsch but also about this model guitar.
Our terms and conditions of this sale:
The guarantee (applicable to sales only-not trades).
1. The guitar is in GOOD cosmetic condition and is as described in this ad. Please take note of the “belt buckle” wear on the back of the guitar where the finish has been worn off.
2. The guitar is in fully operational condition.
3. Buyer has 48 hrs. to inspect the guitar or have it inspected. Any defects, damage, misrepresentations or other problems must be reported within that time period in writing to the Seller.
4. In the case of damage during shipment, Buyer shall immediately inform seller of such damage and will maintain all original packing materials and box for inspection by the transportation company.
5. If other problems are discovered, Seller will either arrange for repair etc. at a location near the Buyer or request that the Buyer return the guitar to the Seller (Seller will reimburse Buyer for cost of shipment of guitar back to Seller).
6. Seller will correct indicated problems and ship the guitar back to the Buyer within 7 days of receiving it.
7. In the event that the guitar cannot be repaired or replaced with a similar item from Seller’s inventory, the Seller will give the Buyer Credit toward current or future purchases from inventory of Seller.
8. No refunds or returns for Buyer Remorse or Buyer Mind Changing.
9. If there are any undisclosed physical attributes of this guitar that will prevent buyer from playing it successfully, e.g., neck to wide to be played with arthritic hands, guitar too heavy to be played due to back, shoulder, etc. problems, then we will, upon return of the guitar, issue a Credit Memo to Buyer in the amount paid for the guitar plus the cost of shipment paid by the Buyer against the future purchase of a guitar from us.
INFORMATION ABOUT GRETSCH GUITARS 6120 models
The Gretsch 6120 was an instant classic from the day it was introduced. To many players, it is the definitive Gretsch guitar.
At its 1955 introduction, the 6120 cost $385 and sported a wagon¬load of western decorations: cow’s heads and cactus etchings in the block markers, a big G brand on the top and more. It was the first in the “Chet Atkins” line of signature Gretsch guitars.
In ‘58, the half-¬moon or “neo¬classic” markers common to most Gretsches were introduced. The DeArmond pickups were discontinued in favor of Gretsch’s own “FilterTron” humbuckers. Chet Atkins is reported to have said the magnets on the DeArmond’s were too strong, “sucked the tone right out of the guitar”, and Duane Eddy was the only person he knew who got a good tone out of them.
The fake f-¬hole, thinline, double cutaway Electrotone body guitar of ‘62 was a completely different beast than previous 6120s. The price was up to $495, which bought you the all-new body, complete with a padded back, which conveniently hid the big access hole in the back. The signpost disappeared after ‘62, but a standby switch and muffler appeared, so if a guitarist got bored without anything to look at, he could always twiddle his knobs.
Some confusion exists over the difference between a Nashville and Chet Atkins 6120. In a nutshell, there isn’t much. The Nashville name was arbitrarily stuck on the 6120, beginning in 1966. There’s no difference between the guitars. It’s just a name, but it came in handy when Atkins pulled his endorsement.
Like most Gretsches, 6120s began changing dramatically after the Baldwin Piano and Organ company took over Gretsch in ‘67. By ‘70 the 6120 was wearing the squared-off pickguard common to the Baldwin era. In 1972, the model designation was changed to 7660.
6120 Chet Atkins Hollowbody/Nashville
Documented years: 1955 to 2009
The 6120 is the classic, iconic big orange Gretsch. From 1955-1966 it was the 6120 Chet Atkins Hollowbody, then it picked up the "Nashville" name. In 72, Baldwin changed the model number to 7660, but that was a relatively short-lived aberration. When Gretsch came back from the dead in 1989, . GRETSCH HISTORY. In many ways, the storied past of Gretsch guitars is a microcosmic reflection of the many twists and turns of the American guitar industry, from early immigrant success story to classic American guitars to big corporate buy-out to looking for cheaper labor to foreign imports, with some of the great names in guitar playing thrown in for extra spice. And while this 1972 Gretsch Chet Atkins Nashville 7660 doesn’t have every element on that list, it has its share!
Company founder Friedrich Gretsch was 16 years old when he immigrated from Mannheim, Germany, to Brooklyn, New York, in 1872. Son of a grocer, he took a job with Albert Houdlett & Son, a drum and banjo manufacturer. In 1883, he struck out on his own and started the Fred Gretsch Manufacturing Company to make drums, banjos, tambourines, and other instruments, mainly as a contractor. By the early 1920s, the company had added guitars to its repertoire, in ’33 it began marketing instruments under its own name, and in ’39 it began making electric guitars.
Following World War II, the brand moved forward on its own merit, and within a few years the golden age of Gretsch began: ’50s rockabilly guitars, two-handed tapping demos by Jimmy Webster and his White Falcon, endorsements by legendary fingerpicker, Chet Atkins, the introduction of highly regarded pickups designed by inventor (and tapper himself) Harry DeArmond (indeed, the DeArmond family claims Webster learned the technique from Harry; since they were both from Ohio, this could be true).
The association with Atkins began circa 1954. He was playing at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and on a network radio show – he was a star clearly on the rise. It was Webster who spent considerable effort to convince Gretsch to pay a guitar player to use its guitars. Eventually, Atkins and Gretsch reached an accord, and the following year the single-cutaway Gretsch Chet Atkins Hollow Body debuted. The first Chet Atkins models had single-coil DeArmond pickups, replaced by humbucking Filter ‘Trons in 1958. Other Gretsch Chet Atkins models joined the line, including the Country Gentleman (1957) and the Tennessean (1958). The original Chet Atkins Hollow Body lasted until ’61.
Gretsch’s investment in Atkins essentially made the company’s fortune. The signature models bearing his name solidified its reputation – even influential guitarists such as Duane Eddy played Gretsch Chet Atkins guitars!
Guitars were big business in the 1960s, of course, with maturing post-war babyboomers eating up folk music, then the British Invasion and everything in its wake (not to mention a lot of illegal substances!). This seemingly endless demand for guitars inspired a corporate feeding frenzy as companies as diverse as network television and merchandise trading stamps stumbled over themselves to get a piece of the action. CBS purchased Fender in 1965. Seeburg (maker of juke boxes) bought Kay. King Korn (stamps) bought Westheimer (Teisco). Norlin (international conglomerate) bought Gibson.
Cincinnati-based Baldwin Pianos and Organs had competed with CBS for Fender, and settled on the English guitar company Burns. Baldwin had already moved its manufacturing facilities from Ohio to Arkansas in order to get cheaper, non-union labor, and imported Burns guitars were shipped to Baldwin’s Arkansas electronics factory where they were labeled with the new logo and distributed. The Baldwin Burns guitars met with limited success in the American market, so Baldwin looked around again and finally struck a deal for Gretsch in 1967.
The discontinued Chet Atkins Hollow Body was redesigned and brought back to life in 1967 as a double-cutaway guitar. In 1970, playing yet another labor card, Baldwin began to shift guitar production from Brooklyn to a new plant in Booneville, Arkansas, a process completed by the summer of 1972. With the move, Gretsch began to incorporate a number of Burns features, most notably the Burns heel “gear box” truss rod adjustment.
One of the guitars that got this makeover was the Atkins Hollow Body, which in ’67 was renamed the Chet Atkins Nashville 6120. In ’72, its model number became 7660. The one shown here has serial number 8-3200, dating it to August of ’73. The number is stamped into the back of the head, a practice that ended not long after, in favor of decals. Except for the use of the Burns gear box, this model is very similar to its predecessor. It was probably built in Booneville, although some or all of its components could have been made in Brooklyn and finished in Arkansas.
With a 21/2″ depth, this guitar is a medium-body hollowbody. The pickups are Filter ‘Trons, though they have HiLo ‘Tron covers. The electronics are typically Gretsch byzantine. One knob is a master Volume, while the other two are volume controls for each pickup. One mini-toggle is a standby offering on/off/on (go figure!?), while the other is a three-way tone toggle engaging three different capacitors. Like most Gretsch hollowbodies, this has the internal “sound post” joining the top and back under the pickups to decrease feedback. The tuners on this one are replacement Schallers. As long as you’re happy with the switching system, this is a swell rockabilly guitar.
In ’73, there were two bad fires at the Booneville factory, and Gretsch really never fully recovered. From 1973 to ’78, Gretsch jobbed out production to former manager Bill Hagner, pinning much of its hope on a series of bolt-neck flops. In ’78, Baldwin took over again and the following year bought Kustom from Bud Ross, moving Gretsch offices to Kansas. By 1980, the decision was made to end Gretsch guitar production and leftover stock was sold into ’81. In ’85. Fred Gretsch III purchased the company back and, after some false starts, introduced some reissue Gretsch classics made in Japan circa 1990. Imported Gretsch guitars continue to be available. This particular Nashville represents one of the last of the great American-made Gretsch guitars.
C. THE GRETSCH “BALDWIN” YEARS.
Every once in a while when exploring the Gretsch world, you’ll run across mention of the “Baldwin era” or the “Baldwin years.” What does this term refer to?
Generally speaking, people use it to refer to Gretsch in the 1970s. More specifically, however, it refers to the period when the Baldwin Piano Company owned Gretsch, which was substantially longer—from summer 1967 to early 1985.
The Baldwin era is a much-maligned period in Gretsch history. The term is often used in an unflattering light to denote generally neglectful Baldwin rule that resulted in a decline in quality, unpopular new instruments, corporate upheaval and dwindling sales that ultimately led to Gretsch guitar production being shut down altogether in 1981.
Gretsch had been a family-run company ever since Friedrich Gretsch founded it in New York in 1883. But in the mid 1960s, then-president Fred Gretsch Jr. purportedly found himself with no heir interested in running the company and decided to sell. Baldwin, riding high at the time and spurred by its 1965 acquisition of U.K. guitar maker Burns, sought to acquire an established U.S. guitar maker and duly turned its attention to Gretsch. The sale was completed on July 31, 1967.
Long successful in building and marketing pianos and organs, Baldwin seemed to assume that its existing production and marketing methods would work equally well for guitars. They didn’t. The company quickly introduced sweeping design changes and in 1970 moved production from Gretsch’s original home in Brooklyn 1,000 miles away to existing Baldwin facilities in Booneville, Ark. Little if any of this endeared Baldwin to Gretsch staffers, and, as noted in author Tony Bacon’s 50 Years of Gretsch Electrics, “very few made the move southwest in September 1970.” As if all that wasn’t bad enough, not one but two major factory fires in Booneville in 1973 dealt painful blows to production.
Wider developments in popular music didn’t exactly help. Big hollow-body guitars had largely fallen from favor in rock music by the early 1970s, as less delicate solid-body guitars that produced greater sustain and didn’t feed back ruled the day. Gretsch’s most popular guitars—darlings of original rock ‘n’ roll and of the British Invasion only a decade earlier—seemed to vanish from the concert stage and the charts throughout the 1970s (but you could find a few if you looked). A few stalwarts hung on, but there was no mistaking a definite decline.
For these and other reasons, Baldwin never achieved great success with Gretsch guitars throughout the 1970s.
PAYPAL.
SHIPPING CHARGES. The charges listed in this ad are for the continental US only. Shipment outside that area is at actual cost and Buyer must pay all tariffs, duties, and other charges that may be levied on the item when it is imported into its final destination. And for foreign buyers, please request a quote for shipping cost before you bid. No surprises are always good. And please do not ask that we use a lower value for an export shipment. NOTE: WE WILL NOT SHIP TO ANY THIRD PARTY AND WE WILL NOT DO SHIP TO ANY FIRM, SUCH AS Shop Airlines America or sekaimon WHO RESHIPS THE ITEM OUTSIDE THE USA. SHIPPING DAMAGE. Any external, or internal, shipping damage MUST BE REPORTED to Seller and to Carrier within 24 hours of receipt of delivery. IT IS THE BUYER?S RESPONSIBILITY TO NOTIFY SELLER IMMEDIATELY IF THE INSTRUMENT HAS INCURRED ANY DAMAGE DURING SHIPMENT. IN THE EVENT OF SUCH DAMAGE, PLEASE RETAIN ALL SHIPPING MATERIALS FOR INSPECTION.NO EXCEPTION.
1. Payment must be received within five days of the end of the auction. 2. NO REFUNDS. Please ask your questions before you bid. As noted under "Shipping", we will repair any defective item. This does not apply to shipping damage or to damage after receipt. Please note that every guitar we sell has been fully audited, tested, set up,inspected, and photograph prior to shipment.
ABOUT TUNEYOURSOUND. Tune Your Sound Sound Your Tune Guitars make Sounds ! Guitar players make Tunes. But which guitar makes your Tune best?The beginning point in making a tune is You. The music in your head goes to your hands which form chords and notes. The end point is the Tune heard by those listening created by the Sounds of the instruments in between. Our job at TuneYourSound.com (TYS) is to fill in the middle. Or, in other words, "complete the chain". We are guitar players and collectors at TuneYourSound.com. Collectively we have personally owned and played over 1800 guitars. And we have seen guitar players play-from Jimi using his teeth to Jimmy using his bow. And now, we want to tell you what we have learned over the years and under the stages. First: There should be two primary guitars in your life. The one you start with (by choice or coincidence) and the one you finish with (once you find it, you'll know it and keep it). But of course, humans are acquisitive by nature, so we are prone to own more than we need-but a guitar player must have what he really needs. Two: Sometimes it's better for a guitar to be heard than seen and other times it's better for a guitar to be seen than heard. So, play it both ways. Buy a guitar that does both. Three: Avoid the hype. Especially now with the Internet overloading us with data. Buy a guitar that you trust from someone you trust. Four: Make it personal. Establish a relationship with your seller. That way you will never be disappointed-nor abandoned. After all, it is still about money-your money. And you deserve to get more than you give. At TuneYourSound.com, we have the answer!
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