The Fred Gretsch Company was set up in Brooklyn, NY, in 1883. It’s founder, Friedrich Gretsch was a German immigrant who died in 1895. The family firm was both a manufacturer and distributor. It’s first acoustic archtop guitars in 1933, and six years later, it began using the “Synchromatic” name.

Gretsch’s “Synchromatic” acoustics were to retain a favored place in the company’s catalogs for several years to come.

The one shown here is a Super Auditorium model dating from 1952. It’s features includes a slim, fast-playing “Miracle Neck”, a 16-inch top made from fine, straight grained spruce, and has a distinctively shaped “stairstep” bridge that dates from the 1930s.