The Gretsch guitars have a long and wonderful history dating back to more than one hundred years. The story starts in 1883 when as a young man; Friedrich Gretsch established a small musical instruments store in Brooklyn, New York. In the shop, they sold tambourines, drums and banjos. Unfortunately, Gretsch did not get a chance to see his company rise to the peak of its accomplishment as he died only twelve years later at the age of 39.
Fred, his teenage son, took over the company and ended up building it to be one of top manufacturers and importers of musical instruments in America. In 1916, a larger facility was required and the younger Gretsch moved the company's operations to a spacious ten story building. While in the new building, the popularity and demand for guitars began to rapidly grow. Consequently, Gretsch began to make acoustic arch-top guitars to attract the jazz musicians as well as acoustic flat-tops for country musicians.
In 1935, an individual known as Charles Duke Kramer joined this company and became one of the most resourceful personnel till his demise at a much older age of 88. Popularly referred to as "Mr. Guitar Man", Duke played a significant role for the Gretsch guitars to be where they are today. Gretsch named one model of guitar after him known as the "Silver Duke" albeit he could not play a single note but rather to demonstrate how much Duke meant to this company.
In 1942, after amazing accomplishments, Fred Gretsch Sr. settled for retirement and left his two sons William and Fred Jr. to manage the company. William and Fred Jr. had been involved in the operations of the company from 1927, thus they had the necessary experience for the promotion. However, Fred run it for a short time till he joined the Navy as a commander and then his brother, William, became the president of the company. Fred Jr. rejoined the company once again in 1948, when his brother passed away.
The fifties were good for the Gretsch guitars due to the popularity of the rock music. Gretsch Company was the first one in the industry to incorporate custom-color finishes to their collections and became one of the best guitar makers in the world. Their product even attracted some famous guitar players to use and endorse the Gretsch guitars like Duane Eddy, Eddy Cochran and Chet Atkins.
In the sixties, Fred Gretsch Jr. retired and sold off the company to the Baldwin manufacturing company. However, Baldwin shutdown production in the eighties and ultimately sold the company back to the Gretsch family in 1985. Fred Gretsch III moved it to Savannah where he embarked on reviving the company. Gretsch released a number of new models and classic Gretsch drums which put them on the right track once again.
In 2002, there was a deal with Fender where they would take over manufacturing and distribution of the Gretsch guitars. Gretsch company involvement with Fender enabled them to continue growing in terms of popularity. Some of the popular artists who have endorsed Gretsch guitars include Stephen Stills, Malcolm Young, Jimmie Vaughan, Bo Diddley, and Brian Setzer among others.
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