❌SOLD❌ Gretsch 6071 Hollowbody Bass Walnut, 1968

Built from 1968 to 1972, the Gretsch 6071 bass is a thin hollow body bass, using Gretsch’s sealed ElectroTone body and a one Super ‘Tron type bass pickup. It’s closely related to the dual pickup 6073 bass built to 1971, most famously used by Peter Tork with the Monkees.

Here we’re looking at an early and largely original Gretsch 6071 bass, built in 1968, its first year of production at the Brooklyn plant. It features a laminate Maple ElectroTone body with faux F-holes. The full-profile neck is Maple with an Ebony fingerboard and zero fret, with a scale length of 29.3 inches or 744 mm.  The Gretsch logo plate is pinned to the front of the head, and impressed into the back of the head is ‘Made in USA’ followed by the serial number.    The body is bound around the top,  and there is some typical deterioration to the binding.  

Ghent tuners are used at the head of the Gretsch 6071, and the standard G-cut folded metal tailpiece and a Space Control bridge anchor the strings. Naturally, there’s a string mute, activated by the small lever next to the standby switch. The single pickup is essentially a Super ‘Tron, with a pair of bar magnets rather than the adjustable pole pieces on the Filter ‘Tron. Other controls include a Master Volume and a Tone switch. On this bass, the original tip for the tone switch has been replaced with a rounded, slightly larger model. There are also two creme plastic rests, one for the thumb and the other for the fingers, depending on the player’s technique.

All of these electronic and mechanical components are accessed through a generous access hole on the back – underneath the snap-on back pad is a plastic cover, screwed to the back.

This Gretsch 6071 bass plays well and has a full, lively sound acoustically – it is presently strung with round wounds.  The short scale makes it an easy reach, and the zero fret helps make the action even along the full length of the neck. 

A newer black Gretsch case is included.

More About Gretsch

Gretsch was a family business in Brooklyn, New York and founded in 1883. In the early 1930’s Gretsch began building guitars, and by the 1950s were prized instruments. In the mid 1950’s the famous 6120 and Jet were introduced, intended to appeal to electric guitarists. By the late 1950s ever increasing stage volumes were becoming problematic for hollow bodies, and Gretsch introduced the sealed ‘ElectroTone’ body. This is basically a shallow but fully hollow body, without soundholes; the visible F holes are painted on or are decals.

Fred Gretsch Jr, the owner of the company, was aging and did not have a successor, so on July 21 1967 the company was sold to the Baldwin Piano Company. Partway through 1969, Baldwin moved Gretsch production from Brooklyn to one of their facilities in DeQueen, Arkansas. Baldwin ceased Gretsch production in 1981 and filed for bankruptcy two years later. In 1985, Gretsch returned to its family ownership when Fred Gretsch III bought the remaining assets and rights.