A rare and very interesting guitar from Gretsch. Stamped "Gretsch American" on the back of its peg head, with a serial stamped 1120 - this guitar is likely from post 1946 where their serial number goes to about 1100. This post war era is lost to some level of obscurity, but it stands to reason that Gretsch had produced this unmarked model of guitar in response to the successes of Martins base line models, with this particular example mirroring that of a single 0 with 18 style build appointments.
A nice and robust little guitar with a well opened tone, this guitar is a nice finger style player with even low action and a unique voice (with good volume). A very chunky neck profile further identifies this guitar as a 40's build, but very little is available from this era of Gretsch, aside from models like the 6001 Hauser. Martin-esque 18 style appointments with binding, it has an all solid Spruce top and mahogany back and sides, with x bracing. This guitar is cosmetically and structurally in great condition free of cracks. It has a 13.5" lower bout (small single 0 style) with a 24.75" scale length, and a wide 1 27/32" nut width (a hair wider than a 13/16"). The neck is hefty, measuring about 1" thick at the open position, with no taper really until the heel (another typical 40's aspect). The neck is nice and straight and yields low action in every register. The original bar frets (yes it has bar frets too), are present and show very mild wear. Newer reproduction slot head tuners are present, which look and work great. All in all, a great vintage instrument that won't break the bank!
An old chipboard case, presumably the original, is included in the sale.