I'm sure that most people are drawn to gretsch not only for sound, but aesthetically, to that peculiar look.
let's see pics of your non-gretsch guitars, which have been "gretschified" (if that makes sense) - your les gretsches, gretschacasters, frankengretsches, whatever.
I'm looking for some ideas as to which hardware to use, etc.
Thanks.
Sorry to the people who've seen this 20 times!
This guitar is a 1962 Liberty MT-280 (I haven't heard of Liberty either), and I got it on eBay over 2 years ago. In the first year, I completely stripped it of all its original parts, down to the wood. At this moment (and for the last 6 months actually), it's getting the neck rebuilt - ebony fretboard, big frets, new truss rod, new heel pocket, etc. So it'll be a whole new guitar whenever I get it back.
Regardless, I've got a 1955 Melita on there and a 1958 Bigsby. Both the neck and bridge pickups are Jones' Super'Trons, although in these pictures I hadn't changed the neck pickup yet (that's the original).
I've been very careful - I don't want anything on this to say Gretsch or be branded Gretsch, because it's not a Gretsch. But the knobs I most want are Arrow knobs from the 50s (the Gretsch knobs before they embossed a 'G' on top). A set of four will run me about $150 probably.
It's worth it!
Interestingly enough, by the way, I've been carrying around the new pickup switch in my pocket ever since Setzer sent it to me. One of the badass old Carling switches. Thanks Setzer! Can't wait to install her.
Sitting here at work - figured I'd pull her out for the helluvit:
That guitar is something else Al - I like it, but it's funny someone would copy what must have been one of Martin's least succesful guitar models!
Also funny in a sense you put Filtertrons on it to "Gretschify it" - if you'd had brought it closer to the Martin electric it's a copy of, you would have needed these :
(Martin's Dynasonic - same thing in a different cover)
I put jewel-arrow knobs and a Gretsch switch tip on my Epiphone Wildkat; i wound up taking them off and going back to the original parts, because i felt like i was trying to make the guitar be something it wasn't.
lol Thanks Walter! Yeah it's a trip, huh? You're right, and I'm amazed you know it, it is a copy of that Martin. But by all accounts, it's a better quality version. I had never even considered Dynas when I was fixing it up. I always liked Filters, and the Super'Trons just seemed 'right' for this one.
It's a cool looking guitar (mine), but it's always played like complete crap and never sounded great (due to the sloppy nut and impossibility to play). But the 'new' neck should fix that. I've taken it into various guitar shops when I was searching for a case, and all three owners were completely perplexed by it, and they all loved it. Not only that, one dude offered me $2,000 on the spot for it! I was blown away.
It's funky cool - but I would have taken the $2000 and ran, no offense!!
No offense taken! A lot of people have said that, but long story short it's got a little too much sentimental value. If I had to sell everything, including my car and the 1938 Gretsch and the '58 Annie, etc, this would be the last to go. And I'm not sure I'd sell it then.
keep 'em coming!
I like the various flavors of that Great Gretsch Sound. Visual aesthetics were not really a part of it, with the exception of Bo Diddley's wild rides.
As a past (decades ago) and current owner of Gretsch proper, my Best Gretsches (That Never Were but are now) are these:
Standard strat body specs, agathis body, this particular guitar the result of a fairly extensive local search for the proper platform.
It has been star-grounded and shielded.
The pickups are first generation GFS Nashvilles. They are rigged for coil switching that allows access to the four singles, Outer Coils/Humbuckers/Inner Coils.
Next up, an Ibanez AG85-TRD. It is the only Artcore, before I tried this one, and after, that sounded excellent to my ears off the shelf. It was a gift; someone bought it for me on the spot.
The wood showing is bubinga. I've appreciated it for years and this is a really nice example. This beaut shifts like a fine piece of polished cat's eye quartz does with differing views.
The pickups are first generation GFS New Yorks. They actually lived up to the advertising seeming-hyperbole; they really do come down somewhere between a dynasonic and a hilotron in this guitar, with adjustable pole pieces. These are not to be confused with the current New York single coil pickup (NYII), which is a different critter.
They were taped to the body for testing.
The guitar/pickup fit is hand in glove.
Using 9x12 black foam sheet from a hobby and crafts store, pads were cut for the bottoms.
Wood was glued for mounting. You can see the sound post I had previously installed, a piece of 5/8" Mystery Hardwood dowel from Home Depot.
For vacuuming the inside of box guitars, I put together the rig shown.
The f-hole plugs are something I shared on this board years ago, the (in-)famous flip-flop technology.
The whammy is the aluminum version, to keep the weight down.
The blue guitar is my favorite of all time. It is the guitar I would have liked Fender/Gretsch to come up with for me. They didn't, so I did it myself. The range of tones, the extent of the sonic palette, the playability and comfort, superb. I thought about painting it a different color, but it is so perfect as a musical tool for my needs, I wouldn't want to take a chance on altering that.
The Ibanez is my favorite hollow body; it is compact, making it my ergonomic favorite box hands down (and on). The tones out of this little chopper make it my second favorite guitar for my ears to listen to. This guitar, too, can't really be compared to anything Gretsch makes, with regard to materials, construction. It is its own entity, with the sounds being definitively within the Gretsch camp.
Added the pic of the Jag thing as an afterthought (Walter, the inclusion of your former tele below prompted this red bird to flash in my mind, to edit into the mix). It is not really a gretschified gitfiddle, but was an experimental stop on the way to the call-shot realized Blue Guitar.
The body and neck did not originally come together.
The pickguard is a piece of countertop veneer.
The pickups are DeArmond 2ks, which for the uninitiated are not to be confused with DeArmond 2000s. The 2ks were designed to be much more a P-90 in a dynasonic type housing, which they were.
The guitar featured dual concentric pots.
It was a real player, as in an absolute delight.
It had its very own niche.
Its particular sonic neighborhood, with its own brand of clarity, definition, rendered it excellent for country chicken pickin'. 
It's not really Gretschiefied, but I used to have this :
Partscaster with MIM "50's" body, Allparts neck, and a 2K neck pickup. A very good friend of mine liked it more than I did, so I traded it to him for a bunch of speakers.
wow, 2 sets of "early" GFS retrotrons. We're getting off-track here, but can you mention their tones some more? I don't "need" them, but it's too bad they don't have those anymore. I think Jay mentions that they were getting expensive, defeating their "credo".
anywho, interesting pics.
Dean Stylist w/ Bass Filtertrons:
And this thing has been in various stages of completion for a few years:
Like Big Al, I drag these pictures out often:
Scott French SF3, mostly hollow with TV Jones pickups. It's like a long-scale Duo Jet in many ways.
Warmoth Gretsch-O-Caster.
that 1962 Liberty MT-280 is pretty pretty
Well i dont know where the search function is on this board anymore but there are a couple of posts with my Ibanez AS83 Artcore lefty out there.It has filtertrons and a bigsby and just sounds great.
yeah,too bad about the first generation new yorks. the one i have is nothing short of amazing! guess i should have posted more reviews on other forms,oh..well their& everyone elses loss would have been worth the money if he had charged more.i don't forsee that pick-up leaving the bird any time soon if ever....just the perfect blend of rasp&chime/clean i've ever heard from any single coil pup (((((((IMHO)))))
Those early GFS New Yorks are interesting beasts - I can't think of anyone else making a Ric-style clone pickup. Had one in the neck of a Washburn HB15, it really was great.
Here's one of my oldest frieds, my old Epi Sherraton II. After 15 years as my main guitar, everything on it was very worn out.
When I was done modding my 5120 and ProJet, I had a bunch of left over parts, so I did this.... 
I rewired it hotrod style with just a "gearshift and gas pedal", and plopped my G-buckers in it with some Gretsch surrounds. The Bigsby is the licensed unit that came off of my 5120 as well. The bridge also came off of my 5120, however it is now 1/2 the height (both the wood base and tuna-matic have been shaved down quite a bit). The tension roller was made out of the outer roller part I took off of my ProJet's B50. It plays great, however, I now realize why I took the G-buckers out of my 5120 (yuck!!) I think some GFS Liverpools are in order (wired for coil splitting, of course)
I have re-christened it "The Country Jerk-off"
"GearJunky: can you mention their tones some more?"
On a solo pickup first generation New York, I concur with the assessment of some contributors to this thread, "amazing!," "perfect blend of rasp&chime/clean," "great." With a set, the middle position, combined with guitar tone/volume control variations, amp variations, effects variants, offers Ooh-la-la (land).
The first generation Nashvilles are very choice. Coil switching to offer access to all four singles makes the most of the tones these babies have to offer. The difference between what has come to be known as coil splitting/tapping in the general vernacular for most people (one single only, neglecting to access the other) vs. switching to get 'em all, can best be illustrated thusly:
This is a loose apple to orange analogy. Allowing access to all singles is as having both a Strat and a Tele in the Fender spectrum. The coil tap/split of only one side mindset would limit to one or the other, and that's it. Translate that into Gretsch tones and you get the idea.
My own ears know well the differences, but I've taken good care of them and do have an attention to details across a number of disciplines I notice some others do not. So, an individual's assessment, take. I have a set of GFS fat alnico pafs, rigged the same, in another strat, and the same holds true there as well.
"Gear Junky: I'm looking for some ideas as to which hardware to use, etc."
In gretschifying a guitar (and by doing so I speak primarily of achieving That Great Gretsch Sound) with a stop tailpiece that needs a whammy, I would go Les Trem.
That shown is the second I've had over the years.
The action reminds me much of a bigsby.
The unit is more versatile.
The swing on the arm goes wherever you need it.
The arm length is adjustable, offering an arm nearer to the neck pickup if you are a fingerpicker jazzer (an alter-ego of mine is that).
I understand that many would deem a bigsby a must in gretschification. If one chooses to put a bigsby on a stop tailpiece guitar and is thinking about removing the bushings to plug and paint or render some other cosmetic improvement on the situation, could drop 40 bucks on this.
Or, could go to the tool box or hardware store and put together something to do the job for less than the shipping on that 40 buck thing-a-ma-jig.
I got so used to having a bigsby on my Gretsches that I feel it necessary for all my guitars to be equipped with one. Maybe not as "Gretschized" as others, but definitely inspired by a Gretsch.
When I built this Tele copy back in 1986, I finished it in a cross between "Gretsch orange" and "Gretsch Firebird red". One shot of Jack Daniels was mixed in the lacquer, and the final clear-coats were wet-sanded with JD. The Gretschy stain was made with dry powders from Stew-Mac. Also included is my Gretschy '66 Martin GT-75 that I bought back in 1980 to hold me over until I could get a Gretsch.
It's not mine but it's very cool and very Gretschy.
It should be law that every Gretsch-head should have a Koll!
I have little to offer on this thread but I did modify a Tele to have Gretsch style tone presets. It was inspired by my first Gretsch way back in '72.
Oh, he meant "Gretsch-looking." Sorry for all the bandwidth-hogging pictures. See ya,
FG
