1977 Gretsch Super Chet 7690

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Now I like me some guitars with bling.  John "The Drummer" - not so much.  But even John can't resist the Super Chet!  Among the many collectible Gretsch electrics that guitar enthusiasts treasure are those that raise queries like “What were they thinking?,” alongside “How did they do that?” One such eclectic collectible is the Gretsch “Super Chet,” produced from 1972-1980.

One of the very few stunning guitars produced during Gretsch’s Baldwin-owned period, the Super Chet was Chet Atkins’ attempt at merging the best of his legacy electric Gretsch hollowbodies from the Fifties and Sixties with the archtop jazz guitar aesthetic he so admired in the other contemporary jazz guitarists of his era, namely Johnny Smith, Tal Farlow, and Wes Montgomery. Even Benny Goodman’s guitarist, the late great Cal Collins, played a ’74 Chet Atkins with Benny, on his now famous
Russia tour.

The 7690 Super Chet came in two finishes; a wine/autumn red stain and walnut. Its rounded cutaway, maple hollow body with white-bound f-holes, 17″ lower bout, 2-piece maple neck with a center stripe joining the body at the 18th fret featured a stunning cream-b-w-b-w double-bound body, with cream-b-c-b-w-bound headstock and b-c-b-c-b-c-b side purfling.

But despite its fancy abalone inlays, double binding, and fleur de lis ornamentation, the Super Chet suffers from playability challenges. Its bulging Bakelite pickguard, a piece of art in its own right, housed five pots—a master volume, as well as volume and treble for each Filter’Tron pickup. So one wrong sweep of your right hand and, well, your volume could basically go anywhere. Attempts to fortify the controls on the pickguard proved challenging, as the tiny screws would work themselves out and the knobs could literally fall off—but hopefully not during a gig. This guitar features a redesigned pick guard and a simplified single volume and single tone control. The knobs have moved away from the strum path so unintentional knob adjustments are less likely.

For jazz players, the Super Chet commands great aesthetic respect right alongside other more ornamented Gibson and Epiphone archtops of its era.