Gretsch Factory Brooklyn

[greens]

Hey everybody. Just realized I never posted this and some people might enjoy it (in a bittersweet way perhaps).

I lived a couple of block from Gretsch building around 20 years ago. However about four years ago I finally got inside when a friend of a friend had a party in his apartment there. Here is a brief look at what it looks like these days.

Hallway:



Balcony that apparently needs some repairs before it can be used with permission.



view south from the balcony:



All in all, it was a great place to watch the fireworks from. And although it had little to suggest its former use inside, I was thrilled to finally visit the place my treasured Gretsch was born almost 60 years ago.

 

[thunder58]

Very cool . Thanks for sharing

 

[JC higgy]

Over on the GDP there use to be a great video of Fred Gretsch and all the guys walking to it from Rocky's , there was a resident who had a few Gretsches and invited them in!

Sadly that ,and a lot of other cool vids were lost to the site melt down a few years ago.

 

[greens]

Over on the GDP there use to be a great video of Fred Gretsch and all the guys walking to it from Rocky's , there was a resident who had a few Gretsches and invited them in!

Sadly that ,and a lot of other cool vids were lost to the site melt down a few years ago.

Ah, that is a shame. I remember Rocky's bar (at least I think). The name of the bar was always changing, if I'm thinking of the right one.

 

[JC higgy]

This was Rocky at Streetsounds Music.

 

[greens]

This was Rocky at Streetsounds Music.

Was it not in Bay Ridge then? That is like a 3-hour walk

 

[JC higgy]

Oh,then they must have drove,you'd be knackered after that walk!

There was a Gretsch day at Rocky's that day iirc.

 

[duojet55]

A friend downloaded most of the walking tour video and I copied it to my computer at work. I'll put it on YouTube as soon as I can and post the link here.

 

[tartanphantom]

Was it not in Bay Ridge then? That is like a 3-hour walk

Correct. it's over 8 miles from Street Sounds NYC to 60 Broadway at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge. Quite a long way to hoof it all the way!

 

[Curt]

Paul Shannon (red rocker) shot the video, it's still around.

 

[Curt]

 

[greens]

I hope they went to Peter Luger's afterwards - another great Williamsburg institution just two blocks away on Broadway, established in 1887 just four years after Gretsch.

 

[greens]

Also just a few blocks away is the Evangelische Lutherische St Paul's Kirche, where my first generation great-grandparents were married in 1906. It was established in 1884 one year after Gretsch. Also still going, with a Spanish-speaking congregation now.






Also a five-minute walk away from the old factory at 662 Driggs Ave is the childhood home of novelist Henry Miller, born eight years after Gretsch to German parents in 1891.




Lots of cool remnants of German Williamsburg in the area.

 

[greens]

A newer institution just a short walk away is the Radegast Hall and Biergarten.



They have a nice oil painting of two Kaiser buddies from early in the Gretsch era



The good old days, when Gretsch was in Brooklyn and world leaders took facial hair seriously.

 

[greens]

Here is a clearer image. I'm not saying it is a contest, but if it was, muttonchops are probably the only thing that tops a pointy mustache.

 

[wildeman]

Cool pics, now we wanna see your 60 year old Gretsch

 

[greens]

Cool pics, now we wanna see your 60 year old Gretsch

57 when I'm not rounding up . . it's a Double Annie in an unusual color



All original. Here are the tan lines



It has a little bit of binding rot but otherwise no issues

 

[Curt]

I hope they went to Peter Luger's afterwards - another great Williamsburg institution just two blocks away on Broadway, established in 1887 just four years after Gretsch.

View attachment 204454


View attachment 204455

We didn't, It was a long day. The building tour was after Gretsch Day at Street Sounds.

 

[SneakyPete]

Here is a clearer image. I'm not saying it is a contest, but if it was, muttonchops are probably the only thing that tops a pointy mustache.

View attachment 204461

Certainly is some impressive manscaping for it's day.

 

[SneakyPete]

Love the photos by the way, cheers