74 Gretsch Country Gentleman

[James Lindley]

I am restoring a 74 Gretsch . Electric . I am confidant with the wood and the Hardware as far as that goes in making this Baby sing again . My area thats lacking is the Electronics , switches pots pickups . Who would be good recommendation to talk to about subbing out that part of the rebuild to bring this back to life ? Suggestions ?

[David King]

What exactly happened to to this guitar that it needs a rebuild? Was it in a flood?
The person who probably knows the most about these guitars and what's inside them is Tom Jones of TV Jones pickups. I'm sure that there's a Gretsch forum somewhere where you can find knowledgeable folks who love these guitars. I would start with a can of Caig DeOxIt 5 and a very carefully remove each component from the F hole or neck pickup cavity, one at a time and spray it out while turning the shaft, switching the switch etc, a few dozen times each. If everything works at that point then put it all back in place and leave well enough alone. Replacing components that are still good will only drop the value and the new components probably won't last as long as the originals anyway.
Just as an example, I have a nice 1968 Les Paul here that someone decided was a good candidate for a "restoration" in the 1980s. The guitar looks great and plays great but has lost 3/4 of it's value.

[James Lindley]

I have removed everything carefully . It sat in a case in a garage 15 yrs . Appears that something got hot and melted some plastic that dripped onto the top .. the wiring looks jury rigged and all the components have tarnished and have turned green . I just want someone that knows more than I do to verify whats good and get it back in proper order . I don't want anything replaced that shouldn't be. I will check into Gretch forums if there are any .

[Daryl Kosinski]

I am retired after being a Electronics technician for 39 years. If you want to mount the components on a piece of cardboard, box it up and send it to me. I can evaluate the whole thing no charge. I can recommend what needs replacement and you can repair it or I can do it for a reasonable rate.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

My experience with Gretsch is that their electronics look jury rigged right from the factory with strange connectors and a good amount of electrician's tape. They also have a less than conventional idea of what controls should do (Tone controls via toggle switch, standby switches, etc). If you take Daryl up on his offer, you need to tell him which controls were where, as function is not always what you'd expect.

As always, getting the harness out of the guitar is easier than getting it back in.

Daryl, be wary of the volume controls. One guitar I worked on had two bad volume controls which would not pass signal. The conductive tracks had oxidized off. Another had one "leg" of a circuit not grounded. That was a stereo white falcon that I'd prefer to forget.

And remember: "No good deed goes unpunished".

Best of luck to everyone.

Joshua

[Bill Raymond]

TV Jones has a pictorial diagram of the tone switch (aka "mudswitch") wiring on his website under "resources".