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Gretsch
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{{Short description|American musical instrument manufacturer}} {{For|the surname|Gretsch (surname)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox company | name = Gretsch | logo = Gretsch company logo.png | logo_size = 200px | type = [[Privately held company|Private]] | industry = [[Musical instrument]]s | foundation = {{Start date and age|1883}} in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]] | founder = [[Friedrich Gretsch]] | location_city = [[Savannah, Georgia]] | location_country = [[United States]] | key_people = {{collapsible list| * Friedrich Gretsch (founder, d. 1885) drums.<ref name="135Years">{{cite web|url=https://www.savannahnow.com/story/business/2018/03/30/gretsch-company-pooler-company-celebrating-135-years-in-music-history/12840258007/ |title=The Gretsch Company making, changing music's history, future|website=[[Savannah Morning News]]|first=DeAnn|last=Komanecky|date=2018-03-30|access-date=2024-11-26}}</ref> * Fred Gretsch Sr. (Friedrich's successor)<ref name="135Years"></ref> * Fred Gretsch Jr.<ref name="135Years"></ref> * William Walter "Bill" Gretsch (former President)<ref name="135Years"></ref> * Fred W. Gretsch (President)<ref name="135Years"></ref> }} | products = {{plain list| * '''Current''': [[Electric guitar|Electric]] and [[steel-string acoustic guitar|acoustic]] guitars, [[bass guitar|basses]], [[ukulele]]s, [[drum kit]]s * '''Former''': [[Lap steel guitar]]s, [[banjo]]s, [[mandolin]]s, [[guitar amplifier|amplifiers]] }} |parent = | divisions = {{plainlist| * [[Gretsch Drums]] * Gretsch Guitars }} | homepage = [http://www.gretsch.com/ Gretsch.com] }} '''Gretsch''' is an American company that manufactures and markets [[musical instrument]]s. The company was founded in 1883 in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]] by [[Friedrich Gretsch]], a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured [[banjo]]s, [[tambourine]]s, and [[drum]]s until his death in 1895. In 1916, his son, Fred Gretsch Sr. moved operations to a larger facility where Gretsch went on to become a prominent manufacturer of American musical instruments. Through the years, Gretsch has manufactured a wide range of instruments, though they currently focus on [[electric guitar|electric]] and [[steel-string acoustic guitar|acoustic]] guitars and drums.<ref name="135Years"></ref> Gretsch instruments enjoyed market prominence by the 1950s. In 1954, Gretsch began a collaboration with guitarist [[Chet Atkins]] to manufacture a line of [[electric guitar]]s with Atkins' endorsement, resulting in the [[Gretsch 6120]] hollowbody guitar and other later models such as the Country Gentleman. Electric guitars before 1957 used single coil pickups that have significant hum problems as an inherent part of their design. Frustration with the hum of these pickups prompted Atkins to collaborate with American inventor and engineer [[Ray Butts]] on the development of a new "humbucking" pickup by connecting two single-coil pickups serially and out of phase. This resulted in what may have been the first [[humbucker]] pickup (a claim lost to [[Gibson Guitars]] because Gibson was able to file a patent for their humbucker design first). Butts' design became the Gretsch [[Filter'Tron]] and was used on Gretsch guitars beginning in 1957, and is highly regarded for its unique sound properties. The popularity of Gretsch guitars soared in the mid-1960s because of its association with [[Beatles]] guitarist [[George Harrison]], who played Gretsch guitars beginning in the band's early years.
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