Despite having 1959 in it’s model name, this Country Classic was not a reissue of a 1959 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman (Model 6122). It was actually a custom-design model from guitarist Paul Yandell, who performed with Atkins for decades and was instrumental in convincing Atkin’s estate to bring the Atkins endorsement back to Gretsch after Atkin’s death in 2001.

When Chet Atkins left Gretsch in 1980, after a quarter-century of endorsement support, Gretsch tried to continue the Country Gentleman under the new name of Southern Belle, but the company was in such deep financial trouble that only a few were assembled in Mexico from leftover parts.

In the 1990s, with Atkins firmly established as a Gibson Endorser, new owner Fred Gretsch (great-grandson of the founder) introduced Japanese-made reissues of the 1958 single-cutaway Country Gent and the 1962 double-cutaway version under the model name Country Classic. When Fender took over development and distribution of Gretsch in 2003, the Yandell-designed Country Classic 1959 appeared, featuring a slightly wider neck, custom TV Jones pickups, and a tubular-arm Bigsby vibrato.