Any vintage Gretsch New Yorker owners?

[rollypolly]

Today I stumbled across a 57 Gretsch New Yorker at my local Guitar Center. I wasn’t familiar with them so I was curious and quite pleased when it played and sounded great. I hesitate to say blown away but I was borderline there. I’ve been wanting a vintage archtop, mainly a Gibson, but they’re getting out of reach in price, so I picked this one up.

I have 3 days to decide whether to keep it. I already wrote a song on it as its tone is very inspiring. Very clear and natural sounding with lots of bite.

Anyone else have one of these vintage New Yorkers?

[Steve DeRosa]

Don't own one, played a couple, and you've described the tone perfectly; FWIW they were Gretsch's answer to the (also all-laminated) Gibson L-48/Guild A-50 as well as the better Harmony/Kay 16" beginner archtops, but as with all Brooklyn Gretsch instruments built lighter and more resonant than their erstwhile competitors - interestingly enough the discontinued Godin 5th Avenue acoustic is closer in both construction and tone than the current New Yorker (the solid top of the latter does little for tone). If you've already been inspired to write a song on it, I say keep it - Gretsch acoustic archtops are rare birds as a whole, and you could easily pay more and get less at this end of the spectrum...

[cliff_the_stiff]

I got really excited when I read the thread title- I don’t see many people mentioning the old discontinued mandolins from Gretsch.
Alas you are talking about the guitar…

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by cliff_the_stiff

I got really excited when I read the thread title - I don’t see many people mentioning the old discontinued mandolins from Gretsch.
Alas you are talking about the guitar…

The "New Yorker" label was Gretsch's catch-all designation for their postwar entry-level archtop instruments, and if you're lucky enough to have a Gretsch mando IME they're even scarcer than their acoustic guitars...

[rollypolly]

I'm spending some time today playing the guitar some more. Still really loving the tone. The sound shoots out of the F holes in very pleasing way. Really good volume and very "vintage" sounding. Hard to describe that other than after playing the New Yorker, my L-00 sounds muffled and muted. It took a while for my ears to adjust. But going back to the NY my ears liked the tone right away. It's definitely "honky" as archtop are oft described.

I can't help in my head wonder if a Gibson L-37 or something would be better, but from what I understand I would be gambling on getting a good one and it'd probably be twice the price of the NY.

I also looked closer and can tell that this guitar has probably had a neck reset, judging by the open finish seam at the neck joint, and possible has had the fingerboard planed and some frets leveled out to help playability. It would be hard to believe no work has been done since it plays very well up and down the board.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by rollypolly

...I also looked closer and can tell that this guitar has probably had a neck reset, judging by the open finish seam at the neck joint, and possibly has had the fingerboard planed and some frets leveled out to help playability. It would be hard to believe no work has been done since it plays very well up and down the board.

Old Gretsch guy here: although once in a while you do find a good one, the neck joints on the Brooklyn-built stuff could be iffy - so I dare say yours has indeed had a reset - and given that they were the only archtop model that didn't go over to an adjustable truss rod circa 1953, a fingerboard planing/fret leveling would also have been in order. Don't know what strings you're using, but a set of Martin Retro Monel MM13's will give your tone a real period vibe...

[rollypolly]

Thanks for the info Steve. It has flat wounds on it from the store and they play and sound pretty good. Do you think monels would sound even better ?

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by rollypolly

Thanks for the info Steve. It has flat wounds on it from the store and they play and sound pretty good. Do you think monels would sound even better?

Flatwounds were designed by LaBella circa 1940, as the first dedicated electric-guitar strings, and they serve admirably in that regard - I use them almost exclusively on all my electric instruments - but they're less than optimum for acoustic performance...

Monels were introduced after WW I as acoustic strings, initially on mandolins and later on banjos and guitars; thanks to their magnetic properties they also did double-duty as electric strings for the first generation of electric players in the mid-1930's, and many die-hard acoustic archtop players used them until they went off the market in the mid-1960's...

I use Martin Monel MM13's on my Godin 5th Avenue acoustic archtop, replacing the phosphor-bronze 14's I had been using on my archtops for 30+ years...

If you want metallic edge and razor-like cut on a guitar like yours, stick with bronze or 80/20 brass...

If you want "that sound" - projective but with a sweet midrange and lower register, like the Big Band-era compers - monels are your ticket, period...

[rollypolly]

Wow, if I can get even more tone out of this New Yorker, I'll definitely be keeping it. I really have enjoyed it as it is. The flat wounds are easy to play , I'll give them that. I wish I had a set of monels with me but alas I am out. I might try nickel bronze or some regular nickel wound electric strings.

[rollypolly]

Well I strung up some nickel bronze 12s and wasn't feeling it. The tone was still there , maybe a bit better, but it was a bit harsher and definitely rendered the guitar harder to play , which is a big deal since it's got a bit of a curve sans truss rod. So anyways, back on went the flat wounds. They seem to fit this guitar, for my ear at least. I'd love to try monels if perhaps they can split the difference and bring some better tone.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by rollypolly

Well, I strung up some nickel bronze 12s and wasn't feeling it...I'd love to try monels if perhaps they can split the difference and bring some better tone.

IME they can, just remember to give them a couple weeks' play-in time before you draw any final conclusions - FYI they break in differently from copper-based/hybrid-wrap strings, but once they do they have an exceptionally long life and a richer. woodier tone in the wrapped strings...

[rollypolly]

I had some credits with musicians friend so I just ordered a set of monels. I have them on a few guitars and agree they can take a while to settle in. On some guitars they sound fine from the first strum but on some it’s taken weeks to settle. So weird.