Gretsch Synchromatic G-1659

This is a Korean-made Gretsch (says "Synchromatic" on the headstock) folk-sized acoustic. I'm sure it's all laminated. It's a companion to the G-1653 model which is the same body but a different finish. The 1653 is natural, spruce-looking and the 1659 is finished in a beautiful redwood kind of transparent burgundy or something. It's more beuatiful than it sounds and looks like something from the 1920s.

I'm mainly writing this review because there ain't diddly on the internet about these guitars. I assume they were in production only briefly and not usually sold in the US.

It's just a bare-bones folk acoustic...nice thumbnail inlays typical of Gretsches, no pickguard. I won't rate it high for "features" because it is what it is...pretty and serviceable, but nothing fancy at all.

The surprising thing is the sound. It's very well balanced. Bright highs and nice bassy lows with mid tones as well. No complaints here. Resonates well, loud and booming when you want it to be but can lay back and be mellow too. I haven't even swapped the strings on it yet. I bet new strings will make it killer. It's really more sound than you'd expect from a small-box that I'm sure is laminated crapwood.

Really well made for something mass produced by computers in a Korean facotry. The frets are level and well dressed, the tuners are more than sufficient, the neck is dead straight, the nut and saddle are well finished giving it really good action. The bridge and pins seem totally solid too. Someday I may swap out toe plastic nut and saddle for bone, (and I've been thinking of trying brass bridge pins) but it works real well as it is.

As I said, the finish is pretty unique. The finish along with the body size is what attracted me the most. Everyone who sees it oohs and aahs.

Seems solid as a rock! I'd sure gig with it, though I haven't had the opportunity yet. I'd consider it very dependable. Finish MAY wear down over time, but that's not a real big issue to me.

I've been playing a little over 25 years, and in the last 5 or 6 years have switched to almost exclusively acoustic. I've owned quite a number of electric and acoustic guitars (and all kinds of other equipment) over the years. Is this the nicest guitar I've ever owned? No. It's not even the nicest acoustic. However, it's a great little box and, to me, worth several times what I paid for it. I wish I could find another one--especially the 1653 in natural finish, but I tell ya-- for a mass-produced guitar, these seem to be rarer than hen's teeth.

My favorite features are it's sound, finish and the size, which is perfect for me. I bought it at a pawn shop and played all the other acoustics they had on the wall before choosing this one. It sounded as good as an Epiphone Masterbuilt I played and in my hands, the Gretsch/Synchromatic felt much better and had better action.

If it were stolen, I'd be terribly upset because for one thing, it's the only guitar I have at the moment, and for another, in 9 months of searching eBay, CraigList and every other source I know of, I've been unable to find another one.

Anyone out there that has one of these they would like to sell, let me know first!