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SDOTD - The Gretsch that could have been
$399 gets you this beauty: the stillborn Gretsch Mary Ford Standard, with a set of honest-to-Chet blacktop Filter'trons - and if you've ever had a hankering for true-Gretsch twang/chime/visuals but couldn't handle the price of admission, you almost can't afford not to own one of these (FYI priced below most of the Streamliner models, and well below the rest of the E-Matic lineup):
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...74922000001000 Some highly apocryphal Gretsch lore and trivia: After her divorce from Les Paul in 1963 (I was fortunate enough to see their last TV appearance as a kid, in 1962) Mary Ford was quietly attempting to jumpstart both a solo career and an endorsement deal of her own with Gretsch. It has been rumored that the short-lived (and now uber-rare) "Princess" pastel-colored solidbodies based on the '63 Corvette platform (vaguely resembling the contemporary - and strong-selling - single-pickup SG/Les Paul Junior, and sold as an outfit with the matching white case and amplifier) were in fact intended to be the first "Mary Ford" instruments, to be joined by similarly-colored Duo-Jet-based "Standards" and a double-cutaway White Penguin-based "Custom" model. Production of the Princess ceased by 1964 when the deal fell through - no instruments of this type were ever produced under the Mary Ford designation - and while similarly-colored double-cut Duo-Jet "Standard" prototypes are said to exist (possibly as a single example, almost certainly no more than four or five) as well as her personal double-cut Penguin that was to be the platform for the "Custom," only the Corvette-based Princess "Junior" model saw the light of day. FWIW the above MF/GC-exclusive G5237 Electromatic, in Surf Green with white back/pickguard/trussrod cover and Filter'trons, is probably a 90% accurate representation of what the Mary Ford Standard might have looked like (right down to the period-correct 16th-fret neck joint) - under Les' tutelage Mary became a formidable guitarist in her own right, and had the Standard made it to production status it undoubtedly would have been equipped with some proprietary cutting-edge electronic gadgetry garnered from their time together (which Les himself was extremely reluctant to license for mass production until circa 1970, with the Les Paul Professional/Personal guitar and Triumph Bass models)... To add some fuel to the fire - and credibility to the story - Ken Achard's History and Development of the American Guitar shows a documented prototype of a double-cutaway Les Paul Standard produced circa 1962 by Epiphone, when they were under Gibson management and using the same methods/materials. For those who might not be aware Les Paul - who had complained long and loud about the SG version that would bear his name until mid-'63 (when he suspended his endorsement deal amid his divorce proceedings) - performed many of his earliest experiments with solidbody design on New York-era Epiphone guitars, and this may have been an attempt to appease him with a more "modern" appearing instrument while still keeping him in the Kalamazoo corporate camp; suffice it to say that the prototype's body shape is nearly indistinguishable from the post-1962 double-cutaway Duo-Jet - the same one that would have been used for the Mary Ford Standard/Custom - and if push came to shove it could have been a very interesting state of affairs...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#2
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I don't know, Steve. That color is too "Mary Ford" for me, I'm afraid...
- Glenn
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#3
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And this looks a lot like what you’re describing re the Epihone Mary Ford, Steve. I understand this is based on Gibson design drawings from 1957:
https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Electri...Standard/Ebony |
#4
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That thing is so cool!
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Windcheetah Carbon Rotovelo Cervelo P3SL Softride Rocket Trek Y-Foil |
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Very cool guitar! Love the color.
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Alvarez AP-70 Squire Contemporary Jaguar Kustom Amp (acoustic) Gamma G-25 Amp (electric) |
#6
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Back again as today's SDOTD:
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...74922000001000 Quote:
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) Last edited by Steve DeRosa; 04-08-2024 at 07:45 PM. |
#7
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..........
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) Last edited by Steve DeRosa; 04-08-2024 at 07:45 PM. |
#8
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In my experience the cheapest of Gretsch are Amazon $99 dollar guitar level hot garbage. I had a center block Electromatic in tasty Gretsch orange that was of decent quality. Even there you're swapping out humbuckers for authentic pickups if you want the sound to go with the look. A person would be a little over $1000 all in for a new one with upgraded pickups but definitely worth it.
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Music, to do it well, is a hard and worthy endeavor.Make music you believe in. Play to please yourself. Make art and if you are sincere others may follow. |
#9
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Quote:
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |