Gretsch not only followed Gibson into the solidbody market in the 1950s, Gretsch also followed Gibson’s lead in enlisting a famous guitarist to promote it’s soildbodies.

Chet Atkins was by no means as famous as Les Paul – no guitarist was – in late 1954, but he was on the verge of his first pop success (“Mr. Sandman” in 1955), and he would go on to be far more influencial than Paul. Gretsch gave Atkins his own semi-hollow and solidbody models, and Atkin’s only requests were a vibrato and, for more sustain, a metal nut.

Gretsch’s Jimmie Webster had just created the Gretsch Round-Up in 1954 with full western ornamentation, which seemed to be appropriate for a country artist. With the substitution of the metal nut and the vibrato, the Chet Atkins Solid Body was created.

Atkins never cared for the western features, and his later models were not western-themed, but his signature Solid Body retained the same western look until it was discontinued in 1963.