1939/40 Gretsch catalog

Sunday, August 11, 2013


This is an extremely rare example of early Gretsch ephemera. It’s a hard-bound catalog containing all the instruments that the Gretsch company marketed, including drums, banjos, brass instrument, accessories, and of course guitars. These hard-bound books were provided to instrument dealers to keep as a house-copy. They were published every few years. Most have not survived. For Gretsch guitar enthusiasts, the attraction to this catalog is that it announces the stylish Synchromatic acoustic archtop pre-war product line. Interestingly, it also lists (but does not depict) the first Gretsch branded electric guitar offering, the “Electromatic Spanish”.

labels: Ebay