Gretsch New Yorker Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1955)
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Item # 11124
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Gretsch New Yorker Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1955), made in Brooklyn, NY, serial # 16262, sunburst lacquer finish, laminated maple body, laminated spruce top; maple neck with rosewood fingerboard.
The New Yorker was Gretsch's most basic archtop guitar in the 1940s and '50s, designed to be a student or semi-pro instrument at a reasonable price. It features a laminated spruce top and maple body with simple appointments, just single white binding on the edges. The dot-inlaid unbound rosewood fingerboard caps a fairly chunky round-backed maple neck.
This late 1955 example features a rounded-top headstock with an incised plastic headpiece reading "GRETSCH" horizontally and "NEW YORKER" vertically with a sort of electronic-themed squiggle underneath. The openback Waverly plastic-button tuners, adjustable wooden bridge and chrome tailpiece are standard fare. While obviously no challenger to its D'Angelico namesake (made just across the Williamsburg bridge in Little Italy), the Gretsch New Yorker is still a nice playing and sounding 1950s period entry-level archtop, just as intended.
Overall length is 41 1/4 in. (104.8 cm.), 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/16 in. (8.7 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This guitar shows some general wear overall but remains in good playable condition. All hardware is original and intact except the pickguard is long gone. The unaltered original finish shows dings, dents and scratches overall, with some long lines of flaking on the back, noticeable dings in the back of the neck and wear off the rear headstock edge. The original binding is fully intact with hardly any shrinkage, and no distress or crumbling areas. The neck heel is solid and the angle is good. It appears to have been refretted some time back and these frets show some wear in the lower positions, but not enough to affect playability. While obviously not a high-end archtop this is a better playing and sounding guitar than some would give it credit for. Overall Very Good + Condition.
The New Yorker was Gretsch's most basic archtop guitar in the 1940s and '50s, designed to be a student or semi-pro instrument at a reasonable price. It features a laminated spruce top and maple body with simple appointments, just single white binding on the edges. The dot-inlaid unbound rosewood fingerboard caps a fairly chunky round-backed maple neck.
This late 1955 example features a rounded-top headstock with an incised plastic headpiece reading "GRETSCH" horizontally and "NEW YORKER" vertically with a sort of electronic-themed squiggle underneath. The openback Waverly plastic-button tuners, adjustable wooden bridge and chrome tailpiece are standard fare. While obviously no challenger to its D'Angelico namesake (made just across the Williamsburg bridge in Little Italy), the Gretsch New Yorker is still a nice playing and sounding 1950s period entry-level archtop, just as intended.
Overall length is 41 1/4 in. (104.8 cm.), 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/16 in. (8.7 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This guitar shows some general wear overall but remains in good playable condition. All hardware is original and intact except the pickguard is long gone. The unaltered original finish shows dings, dents and scratches overall, with some long lines of flaking on the back, noticeable dings in the back of the neck and wear off the rear headstock edge. The original binding is fully intact with hardly any shrinkage, and no distress or crumbling areas. The neck heel is solid and the angle is good. It appears to have been refretted some time back and these frets show some wear in the lower positions, but not enough to affect playability. While obviously not a high-end archtop this is a better playing and sounding guitar than some would give it credit for. Overall Very Good + Condition.