The Tennessean...$295

I'll take a dozen, please.

 

$2650 in today's money. So at $2400 for a 6119-62 you're money ahead buying a new one. (but not nearly as cool)

 

The original "Hot Rod" Gretsch.

 

I love that they're advertising "thin gauge strings for country styling", as if that's a feature of the guitar itself rather than something the player chooses.

 

That must mean a $500 guitar today was about $50 bucks back then. Proline vs econo models was true then as it is now.

 

You'd think so, but $50 back then didn't get you what $500 does today. You could get something like a Danelectro for $50, but the higher end electric archtops from companies like Kay and Harmony were getting into $125 territory, i.e., more like $1300 today. You could certainly get something of better quality and construction than a Danelectro today for $500, and $1300 can get a whole lot of guitar. High end American guitar prices have held pretty steady, and now high end Japanese have pretty much reached parity. It's the budget guitar market that has really changed (for the better by just about all accounts).

 

FWIW, I don't think I was making $1.00 an hour back then.

 

What year was that? Did I miss that somewhere?

 

The after-market Bigsby units were selling for $50 in the late 50s. Seems like a lot, but they obviously sold.

 

Median family inco.in 1962 was about $3000, or $25,750 in 2020 dollars. Median income in 2020 was $43,894. Delta represents increase in standard of living.

 

I could not live on $44,000! That ain't California money...

 

It was not a cheap guitar back in the day. It was simply "a more affordable Chet model". Nothing more. There is a neck pickup missing and some minor cosmetics. The rest is exactly like a standard 6120 of that time. The effort to built one was very comparable to the 6120 model. Unlike comparing a Les Paul Standard to a Junior.
I used to own an original from 1961 and I still have a modern one.
These are incredible tools. And they make me look sharp, too. Love that model. My all-time favorite Gretsch.

 

When did they get HiLo Trons? Mine is a 64 or 65 according to the serial number list (I don't recall which). Of course, the one in the ad has open f holes and a thicker body from the look of it.

 

Hilo's introduced on the Tenny in 1961, when they went to the sealed-top and dual pickup configuration.

 

In 1964 Dano's were $69.95 for the 2-pickup models I believe.