Like a last roll of the dice, the Super Chet, along with its other brethren was Baldwin era gretsch making the most of its connection to Chet Atkins. 

17 inch wide and 2 deep, the guitar was the result of a collaboration between Atkins, Dean Porter and Clyde Edwards incorporating inalys influenced by a guitar from 1800 that Atkins was gifted by an old lady

This guitar has been very well cared for. In fact the previous owner had known the guitar for many years as it used to belong to his former guitar teacher who’d had it from new.

The body is in great shape and there is no sign of any fade to the walnut finish. This is the rarer of the shades available on this model. More commonly they were available in Autumn red. There is the obligatory checking but no signs of the binding being affected by the passage of time. The guitar would have originally come with the ornate tailpiece that you see though a bigsby has been fitted at some stage.

The neck too is in great shape. Binding, frets and fretboard show no real signs of excessive wear. The ornate mother of pearl inlays really set this off. The headstock has checked quite a bit but lacquer is still intact.

The gold plated hardware shows signs of use and has worn in places. Plastics too are in good shape apart from one of the knobs that is unfortunately missing.

Electrically everything is correct.

The guitar comes with its correct hardshell case and catalogue.

 Though maybe not your first choice of Gretsch, this guitar certainly lives up to the name on the headstock with a wide range of tones, from the smooth to twangy. The missing control knob does slow things down a little but can still be operated.

A rare sighting anywhere, and as with any major manufacturer of the 70’s, there are some gems amongst the Friday guitars. Grab this one before it gets away.