Gretsch Guitar News

Chet Atkins Returns to the Gretsch Family!

Welcome Home, Chet! It is with great pleasure that Gretsch Guitars announces the return of the legendary Chet Atkins name to the iconic guitars he created and popularized throughout his storied multi-decade musical career.

Through a special agreement with the Chet Atkins trust, beginning in January 2007, Chet’s signature will once again grace the pickguards and headstocks of the newly renamed Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body, the 6122 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman®, and the 6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose™ guitar lines.

“Few partnerships in the guitar world have been as celebrated as the one between Chet Atkins and Gretsch,” said VP of Product Martketing Mike Lewis. “Some of the most powerful and popular music of the last 50 years has been played and recorded on these guitars… from Eddie Cochran and the birth of rock and roll, to The Beatles, The Who, and Neil Young. The body of work that exists on these instruments is just undeniable.”

Dating back to a historic meeting with a Gretsch sales rep in 1955 at the Grand Ol’ Opry—when Chet was first offered his own Gretsch-designed guitar—the classic 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body guitar helped put Chet’s influential sound and style on the map. The premium 6122 Country Gentleman and affordable 6119 Tennessean models soon followed suit in 1958, furthering Chet's legacy and becoming the favored guitars of countless players.

Chet Atkins’ name appeared on these instruments up until the late 1970’s when Gretsch Founder Fred Gretsch passed away. Now, more than 25 years later, Chet’s name returns to the guitars to which he is so indelibly linked.

“Everyone has known all along that these instruments were really ‘Chet’s guitars,’ but without his name on them, something just wasn’t right,” added Lewis. “Now that Chet’s name has returned to the guitars, it’s like the circle is complete, and all is right with the world.’

As Chet himself noted in his 2001 biography Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars, “Getting the endorsement deal with Gretsch back in the ’50s was a major step in my career … and I felt a strong loyalty to Mr. Gretsch and the company because of that.”

In total, there will be 28 different models of Gretsch guitars bearing the Chet Atkins name. Stay tuned for further information.

Dallas Crane release Curiosity and take Factory Girls on the road

Who's the best rock'n'roll band in the country? Dallas Crane, people, and if you're not already converted, you'd better believe it and start spreading the gospel.

Since scoring three ARIA award nominations (including Best Rock Album) in 2004 for their incredible album Dallas Crane, the guys have shown that they are back and cracking the whip this month with Curiosity, the eagerly-anticipated first single from their new album Factory Girls.

Produced by Jonathan Burnside, Curiosity is an explosive little scorcher that delves deep into the forbidden fruits of desire, bloodstained stilletos and all that surrounds it — it's decidedly DC delicious and one the guys say is "about having fun with the deep, dark recesses of the human soul."

Curious? You should be, and making for an even better reason to get this single is the inclusion of three exclusive B-sides: Lovers and Sinners, Mine Mine Mine and Come See Me.

And to celebrate the release of Factory Girls, Dallas Crane hits the road in September and October 2006 to play songs from their new album as well as all of your past favourites. Renowned for their live performances, these are must-see shows for any self-respecting lover of rock'n'roll! Support will be by The Exploders and Devil Rock Four on all dates.

Come be seduced and take a bite out of the rock'n'roll apple that is Dallas Crane...

Tickets on sale now.

TOUR DATES: www.dallascrane.com/newsEvents/home.do?artistId=107552

SINGLE: CURIOSITY OUT NOW
ALBUM: FACTORY GIRLS OUT NOW
www.dallascrane.com | www.albertmusic.com | www.myspace.com/dallascrane

Gretsch Legend Duke Kramer Passes at 88.

Duke Kramer was just 19, playing sax in Chicago clubs when Bill Gretsch offered him a job in 1935. Within a couple of years Duke gave up nighttime gigs and his "inside job" in the Gretsch Purchasing Department and hit the road selling Gretsch instruments in the South and Midwest. Publicity from that era reports that Duke was "the youngest salesman on the road". During those years, much of his time was spent talking to instrument dealers, and to players in clubs and back rooms where he gave ear to what musicians were looking for in their guitars. Because he spoke their language, the information he gathered was translated to refinements and innovations and eventually gave birth to the Great Gretsch Sound. Once achieved, it was the sound that made Gretsch the choice of guitarists like George Van Epps, Django Reinhardt, and Jimmie Webster.

After World War II and a stint in the Army, Duke was placed in charge of the Fred Gretsch Manufacturing Company of Chicago. Under his management, the Chicago operation grew and nourished for the next twenty years.

When the Gretsch Manufacturing Company was sold to Baldwin in 1967, Duke was part of the package. Baldwin hired him to run the Gretsch Division from corporate headquarters in Cincinnati. In the late 1970's Baldwin decided to stop making guitars and banjos and Duke retired to start his own business, selling Gretsch guitar and banjo parts to instrument owners and luthiers. He bought from Baldwin their inventory of Gretsch parts used in making the instruments. That acquisition was to become the cornerstone of the reintroduction of vintage Gretsch guitars.

More than 10 years later, Fred Gretsch, great grandson of the company founder placed a call to Duke and described his plans for buying back the Gretsch Guitar Company and bringing back that "Great Gretsch Sound".

50 years and four generations later, Duke Kramer "hit the road" again, talking to musicians and instrument dealers, collecting information and spreading the word of the return of that "Great Gretsch Sound", much as he had done as a part-time sax player from the Chicago area in the 1930's.

Duke's contributions to Gretsch far exceeded credit he has been given for bottom-line profit. More, his half-century devotion to the Gretsch family, to the product and to the sound, have been the constant that has inextricably woven the Gretsch name into the history of the guitar in America.

-From Jay Scott's "The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Company"

White Falcon Wins Guitar Player Magazine Editors' Pick Award! In the November issue of Guitar Player Magazine, Art Thompson reviews the White Falcon and Jet Firebird. He gave the Falcon the Editor's Pick award! "Though you might expect the White Falcon to sound more like a jazz box, it rocks hard. This guitar delivers a massive sound with a bright top-end, punchy mids, and a powerful bottom. The all-maple construction certainly enhances the guitar's biting response, and when played wide-open through a reissue Fender Bassman, the White Falcon sounds relentlessly tough. Armed with a twangy edge that works as well for hard country as it does for hard rock, the guitar lives up to its bird-of-prey name..." —Art Thompson, Guitar Player Magazine Click here for the full review of both guitars.

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