Gretsch 400F Synchromatic

[duojet55]

This beautiful thing is my 1953 6042 400F Synchromatic. It is basically the flattop version of the 400 Synchromatic archtop. Jim Danz at Island Guitars in Honolulu tracked this one down for me back in August, '85 when I was stationed in Hawaii. It belonged to an old Local who played Luaus with it. He called it his "Chunka-Chunka Guitar". The guitar is on page 28 of Jay Scott's Gretsch book. It actually has a cool, full-bodied midrange sound, rather than being a "boomy, bassy monster" as Jay described it. The pickguard was gone when I got it, so I made one originally out of tortoise shell laminate pickguard material. Also, the soundhole binding was rotted partly and missing a big chunk, so I removed it and rebound it with whatever I could find back then. I still have the original section of the binding and will eventually rebind it properly. Also, the pickguard it now sports was made by me to replace the ersatz one I did in Hawaii. It is proper nitrocellulose that I cut out and bound with StewMac banding strips. The original case is brown-colored with a deteriorated part on the lid where the original nc pickguard off-gassed. It has the large "G" inside the lid, as well as the "Gretsch" ribbon banner. I also had to replace the Grover's stairstep buttons with '50s period ones, as the originals had been filed down for some reason. The originals were probably the fancier grooved, notched stairsteps, but the vintage replacements look quite nice.

 

[duojet55]

Here's a closeup of the pickguard. As the original was long gone when I first got the guitar, I had to make a tracing of the shadow pattern left in the finish. I also used the guard from my '56 Rancher for some of the styling details. Because of the 400F's 18" lower bout size, the guard was a little broader than a standard 17" wide Rancher's.
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[duojet55]

The back is made from two beautiful pieces of curly maple, nicely sunbursted.

 

[duojet55]

The exquisite script-logo headstock, featuring the catseye and stairstep Synchromatic inlay.

 

[duojet55]

Here is the original piece of soundhole binding. I plan on rebinding the hole properly, using this as a pattern.

 

[duojet55]

These were the original stairstep buttons, which had been ground down. They were the fancier grooved style, but I unfortunately haven't been able to locate any. The '50s-period stairstep buttons look fine, so it really isn't a big problem.

 

[Wayne Gretschzky]

Interestingly... just this morning Jim Hilmar posted on FB that the Synchro 400F (flat-top) was such a rare bird that he had only seen one or two in all his decades as a Gretsch enthusiast. I dove into my records and found 2 or 3 that I have documented, but he's right... the flat-top 400's are pretty dang rare. So the fact that duojet55 decided to post about his gorgeous specimen today is just more evidence that the universe connects all of us Gretsch nerds!

 

[duojet55]

Actually Ed, I had just talked to Dave, who said you told him about my guitar. I basically sent him the above post.

 

[afire]

These were the original stairstep buttons, which had been ground down. They were the fancier grooved style, but I unfortunately haven't been able to locate any. The '50s-period stairstep buttons look fine, so it really isn't a big problem. View attachment 200664

The weirdest thing is that I once had a '61 Country Gent and one of the buttons was replaced with an older grooved one, and it was in exactly the same state as yours. No definition whatsoever but you could tell it was the older style by the notches in the edges. I thought it was extremely odd at the time, but wondered if maybe it was an issue with softer metal or something. Now I'm really wondering what the deal is.

Check out this set:

Those grooved look pretty darned shallow. It appears that the one on the upper right is getting fairly worn and the middle groove is starting to fade away. I'm starting to think that the grooves on neither mine nor yours were intentionally ground off, but simply wore off with extensive use. It sounds like the original owner of yours probably played the hell out of it for over 30 years before you got it. I'm guessing that's the explanation.

 

[Pemberton]

Beautiful guitar! I like the detail design on the hump block markers. Nice!

 

[duojet55]

My 400F has a really nice neck. It's slightly bigger than modern flattops, but still quite comfortable. There is no truss rod visible. Gretsch called their cross-laminated neck the "Miracle Neck", but I'd always wondered if there was some reinforcement hidden inside. It's beautifully flat and fast. Considering the 18" lower bout, the guitar would appear to have a big, bassy sound. It's actually more archtop-sounding, with a midrangy, clacky tone. Still, it sounds quite resonant and pleasing. This 400F actually sounds tons better than my '56 6022 Rancher, although it's build is similar. The maple back is arched and the spruce top isn't actually flat. There is a bend between the upper and lower bout around where the bridge base is mounted. I'd always thought this "piano bridge" and its height adjustable saddle were kind of tone robbers.
Gretsch sure had their own idea of how a flat top should be built, but then if they followed every other builder, it wouldn't be a Gretsch!

 

[6187LX]

You could use a strong magnet to determine if it's a "Miracle Neck" as described in the patent drawings, or steel reinforced. I had a '45/6 Synchro 100 which had the assymetric neck; a magnet showed that there was a steel rod inside. Grover really needs to re-issue the vintage tuner keys; the modern ones look like parodies of the originals. I love the wartime/post-war soundhole design; I didn't know Gretsch was using it into the '50s. Thanks for sharing.

 

[afire]

Grover really needs to re-issue the vintage tuner keys; the modern ones look like parodies of the originals.

When you get the petition together, I'll be the first to sign it. It's so weird to me that they went to the effort of recreating the elephant ear buttons for the 6122-59, but after over 30 years of building reissue guitars have still not bothered to get the stairstep buttons right (not to mention the Waverly openbacks). It almost feels disrepsectful. Can you imagine Gibson or Fender guys putting up with tuners that just kind of vaguely resembles misshapen Klusons on $3,000-$10,000 guitars? Pitchfork and torch wielding armies would be marching on Corona and Nashville.

 

[loudnlousy]

Wow, that`s special. I really like it.

 

[duojet55]

I just tested the neck with a powerful magnet. There is no metal reinforcement, so it must be the genuine Miracle neck. The neck is symmetrical over its whole length. The grain of the wood appears to be going in different directions on either side. I don't know if this is an illusion from the different pieces, or what.

 

[duojet55]

10-4 on the Grover stairstep buttons. I hate the look of the latest ones. They are clumsily rendered and ugly. On an otherwise lovely Gretsch guitar, they ruin the graceful effect of the headstock, making them look like six mocking Bullwinkles. The originals are so art deco and graceful. I also wish they'd reissue the ridged stairsteps for the more deluxe Gretsches. I wonder if the full force of a site like Gretsch-Talk would have any sway on the good folks at Grover? In my past dealings with them, they've always been friendly and helpful. Maybe even Gretsch could influence them if enough enthusiasts petitioned them to request the original-style buttons.