1977 Gretsch 7680 Super Axe
This all-original 1977 Gretsch 7680 Super Axe is one of the coolest guitars we’ve ever had. First of all, it’s beautiful. Just beautiful. Next it plays like a dream. The action is unreal low. And lastly, it sounds absolutely amazing.
The guitar is solid body, and sports DiMarzio Humbuckers. It’s smooth and powerful. It has onboard electronics, including a phaser and compression. It has binding on body, neck, and headstock. And the gigantic Grover tuners on this thing are like nothing I’ve seen. It has Chet Atkins’ familiar 24 1/2″ scale and zero fret.
The Gretsch Super Axe
The Gretsch 7680, or “Super Axe” as it was called, was designed by Chet Atkins himself. He was always after longer sustain, using body woods, body shape, and electronics to find the best sustain and best guitar sound. In this quest, he designed this one with a large body that is very thin and arched on the top and back.
He also introduced on-board electronics on this bad boy that sound amazing. It has volume and tone, of course. But it also has a compression on/off with a “Sustain” knob to control its intensity. When engaged it is like a power boost and makes the notes last for ever.
He also introduced a phaser with an on/off and two knobs: Rate (which is the intensity of the phaser effect) and Blend (which controls how much of the phaser is in the mixed sound).
These were only made from 1976-1980, and I had never heard of these guitars until just recently. But, it may just be the coolest guitar we’ve had here to date.
Very collectible, extremely playable, unmatched in beauty, and sounds freakin’ righteous.
