The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review and Music Article Archive: 2003 Gretsch G3900 Synchromatic Archtop

Review: 2003 G3900 Synchromatic Archtop

The Gretsch G3900 Synchromatic Archtop was part of an extensive release of three Korean manufactured product lines to be priced in the sub-1000-dollar category. Although there were three distinct lines, due to an unclear distribution and marketing strategy, there isn't a lot of information about these guitars on the internet. In fact, it's unclear how many even reached the market in any numbers, and there are models out there that may never have even been listed as new releases.

This particular archtop was part of the “Historic Series,” and was intended to be a link to one of 17 past classic designs. A lot of this was primarily marketing spin, as most only had a superficial resemblance to the past. In this case, the guitar didn't really resemble the legendary Synchromatic acoustic arch-top line that was introduced in 1939 and included everything from student to Pro versions.

Except in two details: One, the guitar features the distinctive unbound “Cats Eye” holes, and two, a distinctive (and to some, maybe a weird looking) modern-deco type wood bridge. In all other respects, it's actually a lightweight medium sized Gibson-influenced arch-top with a slight old time Gretsch flavor.

Adding to the retro vibe is the single coil floating pickup, with the tone and volume control mounted on the pickup guard. The vintage sunburst tone is very authentic looking, although not traceable to any particular classic Gretsch and it's an attractive and clearly durable finish.

The body is laminated maple, with a one piece bound maple neck. The tuners are good, hold tune well, and tune fast. The all-maple construction, laminated to reduced feedback, results in a guitar that can get jazzy tones with some tone settings and picking technique, but the pickup isn’t quite warm enough. The tone isn't quite “round” enough, but to be fair, you don't buy a Gretsch to play pure jazz. Thicker strings do improve the jazz tone noticeably, and one can always add a Benedetto to the pickguard and radically improve that capability.

I did notice that .12's stifle the sound, although it makes the jazzier side come out. You get a muddier tone, so the best compromise turned out to be .11's. It doesn't have a big enough box for a .12 set to drive in that style.

The small body is extremely comfortable to hold and play and produces a fine acoustic tone. If you fingerpick it with your nails, it gives you the Chet Atkins sound without breaking a sweat. If you want the sound a bit smoother, you can do that, or back off the volume and get some acoustic bite. This was the capability I enjoyed most in the guitar.

Turn up the gain, and you have a more than decent retro-rock, rockabilly or bluesy-rock guitar. The small neck makes chording and fast soloing easy, and many players will find this guitar will make them sound better.

The best way to describe the guitar is that it's a niche type. However, it can do electric finger style extremely well and old 40's and 50's style jazz-acoustic are certainly within your reach. It's a guitar that didn't sell well but might have if players could have been exposed to the subtleties it was capable of. I experimented with tuning it to an open jazz chord, and while it couldn't do the Wes thing, a lot of Django came out. Not bad.

For example, I like to relax by improvising to an open tuning or, say, some John Fahey arrangement. By backing off the volume a bit, I found that the acoustic-electric sound was capable of a sound that responded to even the lightest amount of touch.

It's one of those guitars one can bring a lot out of in terms of tone, as opposed to the other way around. That's a good point to remember in an age where a majority of players expect the guitar to make the sound for them. I found this guitar much more enjoyable than, say, the Epiphone Zephyr or some Artcores I took a chance on early on.

In 2003, Fender took over this company and this guitar and the rest of the Historic models were discontinued, leaving only the Electromatic line in place. That and the extremely pricey high-end guitars.

There is one very interesting aspect about this guitar, and the Historic line in general. Unlike Gibson, which uses Epiphone for its budget guitars, Gretsch backed this line with its name.

As a result, it's one of those rare Korean made guitars that has kept a good resale value. Most of these guitars that come onto the market are snapped up even at prices close to it's original retail. Korean or not, you're still buying a Gretsch. It helps that the G3900 was a good guitar in the first place, but it also shows what a good name means in a crowded guitar market full of imports.

- Al Handa

2006

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa