Is this a real deal, or is this person scamming people. I don't know enough about them to look at the pics and say.


http://richmond.craigslist.org/msg/2758481430.html

Yea, looks right to me. Right shape, right headstock, tuners, bars, trem.

It's had some work done, book looks pretty honest. It's easily worth $500. If anything, it's dirt cheap.

Marlin

And that headstock looks right? I am concerned about the refinishing, and what he means by electronics redone. I have an email out to him.

You know, last year there was a cash of NOS Gretsch solidbody bodies found in a warehouse, and sold through the GDP forum and I've seen a bunch on Ebay as well. They were Corvette and Astro Jet bodies. I wouldn't consider this a real one until the seller gives you the serial number. If it doesn't have one... it might not be real.

I didn't know that, Thanks. Where are the serial numbers on these?

The serial number should be stamped on the back of the headstock. One possibility is that the refinish (assuming it's a legit Corvette) removed the serial number. But even so... because of the large number of the do-it-yourself Corvettes resulting from the sale of so many NOS bodies, I would be very cautious.

I bought one of the corvette bodies that I'm doing a project on. I think some of them might have been seconds. The one I have is needing a lot of filling on some of the end grains and the compund curves. I had a neck made for it but rather than being a 2+4, it came out a 4+2.

I hadn't heard about the NOS bodies. Damn, would kill (well, not kill, maybe 'graze', or lightly 'bruise') for an Astro Jet.

Marlin

Got an email back. It doesn't have a bigsby, but he says it has some sought of original tremelo. Thought they all had bigsbys. The pickups are lindy fralin, with gretsch covers. He says the knobs and pick guard are stock, so its getting harder to tell how much is stock. He doesn't seem to be to far away to check out, but he wants a sg with p90 to trade, and i don't have that, that or a clear guitar. I am waiting another response, and will decide from there.

Apparantly these came with what is called a burns vibrato. I learn something every day.

I bought one of the corvette bodies that I'm doing a project on. I think some of them might have been seconds. The one I have is needing a lot of filling on some of the end grains and the compund curves. I had a neck made for it but rather than being a 2+4, it came out a 4+2.

The reason for this is that the vast majority of the Corvette and Astrojet bodies were primarily rough cuts with either no sanding or perhaps the first sanding/shaping done. None of the bodies were finished in any way. If you buy a pre-cut body from Warmoth or Stewart-McDonald, they've already been pretty much fully shaped, sanded 2-3 times, and grain-filled. That's because they're intended to be sold for individual kit projects.
This big lot of found Gretsch bodies was never intended to be sold as individual kit projects. Nevertheless, they weren't "seconds", they had just not been stored properly over the years.

The Gretsch bodies had been sitting in the un-air-conditioned loft of the old Sho-Bud Company on Broad Street in Nashville for roughly 10-15 years. After that, they sat stacked up in a 100-year-old free-ventilation corn crib for another 30 years. They were largely protected from direct rain and sun, but not from the middle Tennessee humidity or temperature changes.

I know all of this because I'm the one who "discovered" them-- or rather, I discovered the gentleman who had been sitting on them for the last 30 years. He didn't know what he had.

The reason for this is that the vast majority of the Corvette and Astrojet bodies were primarily rough cuts with either no sanding or perhaps the first sanding/shaping done. None of the bodies were finished in any way. If you buy a pre-cut body from Warmoth or Stewart-McDonald, they've already been pretty much fully shaped, sanded 2-3 times, and grain-filled. That's because they're intended to be sold for individual kit projects.
This big lot of found Gretsch bodies was never intended to be sold as individual kit projects. Nevertheless, they weren't "seconds", they had just not been stored properly over the years.

The Gretsch bodies had been sitting in the un-air-conditioned loft of the old Sho-Bud Company on Broad Street in Nashville for roughly 10-15 years. After that, they sat stacked up in a 100-year-old free-ventilation corn crib for another 30 years. They were largely protected from direct rain and sun, but not from the middle Tennessee humidity or temperature changes.

I know all of this because I'm the one who "discovered" them-- or rather, I discovered the gentleman who had been sitting on them for the last 30 years. He didn't know what he had.

How many were there? And when did this discovery happen? What became of them all?

I'm working on one of the Astro Jet bodies and neck I bought from another member here. Used some filler on the endgrain and on the face where there was some checking. After about ten sanding sealer/sandings it is smooth enough for paint. I am little worried about the neck. The joint is OK, but it is too small to blend with the body. I will be checking withe the local luthier before going any further.

How many were there? And when did this discovery happen? What became of them all?

There were approximately 500+ bodies, about 50/50 Corvettes and Astro-Jets. I first made contact with the owner in April 2010.

Ultimately, he sold a lot of them individually after I put the word out, and I acted as a proxy for some other folks, hand-picking their bodies for them, to get the "good ones". I suggested to Mike (the original owner/seller) that he might contact Gretsch to see if they might consider buying some to do a limited Custom Shop run. He did contact them, but the FMIC marketing department shot the idea down. He also sold a few on Ebay, but Mike ended up selling most of the remaining bodies in bulk to a few people, most of whom are members of gretschpages.com. Some of these folks have in turn re-sold them on Ebay from time to time.

I'm not sure if Mike still has any bodies remaining, I haven't talked to him in about a year now.

Here are some pics from the first day that I hunted them down-- these pics were taken at Mike's home, about 50 miles from my house.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/rwc63/100_3871.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/rwc63/100_1129sm.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/rwc63/100_1128sm.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh248/rwc63/100_1146sm.jpg

I need to get me to an Astro Jettery....

Marlin

Those are some neat photos, thanks for sharing.

After emailing a bit back and forth, I passed. he wasn't going to budge, he says thats how much he spent on it from a Guitar Center in Richmond just a month ago, and they assured him it was worth twice that. Hard to swallow that they would allow it to get away at half price. Anyway, I have nothing he wants, nor do I have cash. If push came to shove i could have sold other items off quickly to secure his, but at that price, i thought i would rather go new, with warranty. The search continues......

I have contacted the guy of the 'vette . All that i can say , it s a cool guy, really. Think we can trust in him , what do you think of a trade between my sg std 93 and his gretsch ( bad points: no gretsch logo, no serial numbers)?

I have contacted the guy of the 'vette . All that i can say , it s a cool guy, really. Think we can trust in him , what do you think of a trade between my sg std 93 and his gretsch ( bad points: no gretsch logo, no serial numbers)?


Well, he is in Richmond Va, USa, and you are in Europe, is the cost of shipping worth it?

I'm not convinced it's even a Gretsch. Cool guy or not. Ask him what the pot codes are. If it's a vintage Corvette (and only refinished) the pots will prove it.

Tartan,

What was the relationship between Sho-Bud and Gretsch? When I was in high school in the late 60'sl, my Dad had a friend find a mid 60's Gretsch Tennessean as a surprise for me and he bought it through Sho-Bud. A note in the case said that Chet Atkins had played that guitar on the Grand Ole Opry. I think it was just my Dad's friend that typed it out and stuck it in the case, but I still have the note. Anyway, I'm gonna finish out the Corvette body that I have and see how it ends up. I just got bored with the filling and sanding and put it up for awhile.

Sho-Bud was distributed by Baldwin in the early-mid-60's. The Sho-Bud store on Lower Broadway in Nashville sold more than just steel guitars-- it was a full-line music shop, Also selling Gretsch and even Baldwin/Burns guitars, among other things. The Sho-Bud manufacturing facility was actually in a different location in Nashville, and was re-located several times. In 1967 Baldwin had bought Gretsch-- at this time Shot Jackson (the "Sho" of Sho-Bud) had been heading up Sho-Bud pretty much by himself, since Buddy Emmons (the "Bud" of Sho-Bud) had left the company around 1964 to form Emmons Guitar Company.

Baldwin/Gretsch purchased the Sho-Bud company in June of 1979. Baldwin closed the factory in 1980, but the store remained open until 1983.

Here's a picture of the Sho-Bud storefront in the late 1970's:

http://www.contusion.com/ShoBudAcoustic/pageparts/guitarshop.jpg

And here's a picture of it today, as Robert's Western World (opened in the early 1990's)

http://www.eventvenueschattanooga.com/RobertsWesternWorld.jpg

The story I got from Mike Armistead (the owner of the surplus Gretsch bodies) was that they were located in a storage area on the 2nd floor of the building.

tartarphantom - as a relatively very new member to this world, it is extremely :cool: to read / hear these stories, love the history; brings a lot of life and "specialness" to it all. Thanks.

tartarphantom - as a relatively very new member to this world, it is extremely :cool: to read / hear these stories, love the history; brings a lot of life and "specialness" to it all. Thanks.

One of the big mysteries is exactly how the Gretsch bodies ended up in the Sho-Bud facility. Just an educated guess based on events in the Gretsch timeline, Baldwin closed the Brooklyn factory in 1970, which was also the last year of original Corvette production (the Corvette Deluxe was made through 1977, but none of the bodies in the Nashville find were "Deluxe" bodies). The Astro-Jet faded out even before that. I can only assume that when Baldwin relocated Gretsch production to Booneville, Arkansas, They stored the unused parts from discontinued models somewhere in the area. When Baldwin bought Sho-Bud in 1979, they must have relocated the bodies to the upper floor of the Sho-Bud facility. That's the most logical guess, but it is just a guess nonetheless.