This was my first real guitar. I bought it at Fretted Instruments in the Village (or "Greenwich Village Close" as the real estate people say), it cost me sixty-five dollars. I bought it in 1965, when I was seventeen.
It's a 1949 Gretsch Syncromatic, not a "cat's eye" sound hole model, but pretty cool nonetheless. It's a great sounding guitar to this day, very fat sound, very loud and musical, all solid maple with a three piece maple/rosewood neck and an "ebony-dyed" rosewood fingerboard. Historical note: in the movie "Cry Baby," the Johnny Depp character played the same guitar.
Yes, I'm the one who painted it. Bear in mind, we were all crazy back then, and besides, I still like it.
It was a beater when I got it, but it still functions perfectly and plays great.
