The mere existence Synchromatic line may be one of the more baffling Gretsch mysteries of recent years — maybe decades. They're the duck-billed platypus of guitars — you know they're real, but you rarely see them, and can't quite figure out what that's all about anyway.
The revered Synchromatic name, traditionally reserved for high-end acoustic archtops, was plastered across a dizzying array of Korean-made guitars which were themselves near-clones of the Electromatic line offered at the same time.
Like the Electromatics and Historics, they debuted in 1999. Nobody could keep track of all the models, not even Gretsch, and all three lines of budget guitars were merged into a single (and much-improved) Electromatic line-up in 2003.
The Synchromatic Junior Jets all used bolt-on maple necks and one or two small chrome-covered humbuckers.
Single pickup G112x models included the tobacco-burst G1121 from 1999-2003 and, for 2003, the G1122 (Black), G1125 (Red), G1125 (Blue) and G1128 (Purple).
The G1212 Junior Jet Bass and G1222 Junior Jet Bass II (with two pickups) were also offered from 1999-2003, and an unusual Bigsby-equipped six-string G1255 Jet Baritone Bass was offered from mid-2002 through 2003.
The two-pickup G1315 Junior Jet was also offered from 1990 through 2003.
— Jul 22, 2007 12:22 p.m.
— Jul 27, 2007 6:14 p.m.