The Only Single-Cutaway Gretsch Rancher Ever Made…

This early 1955, custom 'one-off' single cutaway 17-inch-wide jumbo flat top weighs just 5.60 lbs. Close-grained mountain spruce top with double-bound triangular sound hole, laminated rock maple back and sides. Two-piece rock maple neck with mahogany center-strip, a nut width of 1 3/4 inches, a medium-t-thick profile and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Bound rosewood fretboard with 21 original thin frets and Western-style 'steers-head and cactus' pearloid block position markers. Triple-ply binding on the body and single-ply binding on the neck. Headstock with pearloid Gretsch "T-roof" logo and 'Steers-Head' inlay. Individual open-back Grover StaTite tuners with oval metal buttons. Specific original two-piece celluloid 'tortoiseshell' pickguard with engraved 'Steers Head' and four screws. Irregularly-shaped "Rancher" rosewood bridge with pre-set compensating saddle and 'ridged' metal bar where the strings attach. Inside the sound hole is the original Gretsch rectangular white label with the model number "6022" stamped in black, and the serial number "16172" stamped in red. All hardware gold-plated. This unique guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. The celluloid 'tortoiseshell' pickguard has started to oxidize and has a crack in the center - but it is complete and quite stable. There are a few very small and insignificant surface marks on the body but overall the guitar is in remarkable exceptionally fine condition. Housed in the original Gretsch four-latch brown hardshell case with padded burgundy felt lining (9.00).

"The #16150-16199 batch was a 50 unit group of 6022 Ranchers.  I've documented 5 of these including the cutaway example at #16172.  None of the others I've found from this batch have that feature, and I'm convinced it's a custom one-off.  This batch was made in late 1954, but probably for the 1955 model year.  Just as a point of reference the debut batch of 6120s was introduced at batch #164xx, and my research strongly suggests these too were made at the end of the '54 calendar year, to be 1955 model year guitars.  All the features on this cutaway Rancher match the rest of the batch.  This batch may be the only Rancher guitars made for 1955, as I can't find another batch until #202xx." (Ed Ball, author of The History of the Legendary Gretsch 6120).

Note: In 2008 we sold a regular 1955 (non-cutaway) Rancher serial # 16175. That guitar was one of the same batch that Ed Ball refers to.

The Model 6022 Jumbo Flattop as it appeared in the 1955 catalog: "A spectacular model in real, he-man, outdoor Western finish with powerful appeal for Hill-Billy and Cowboy bands. Extra deep, extra large (17' body width) with a depth and power of tone to match. Finest rock-maple body and neck, close grained mountain spruce top, finished over all in golden red and highly polished by hand. Body edges, fingerboard and soundhole bound in black-and-ivory plastic. Rosewood fingerboard inlaid with pearl positions engraved in Western motifs. Rosewood attached bridge with adjustable feature to permit regulation of the playing action. Tooled saddle leather shoulder strap with stone-set buckle and knurled strap attachment studs. Individual tuning machines with polished metal buttons. Metal parts heavily plated with 24-K gold" (Jay Scott, The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Company, p. 168).

"The 6022 Rancher is Gretsch's best-known and most recognizable acoustic. With its sunset orange finish, broad-shouldered body, triangular soundhole, unusual bridge and G-brand, it practically screams 'Gretsch'" (The Gretsch Pages at http://www.gretschpages.com/models/6022rancher/index.php).

"The post-World War 2 Synchromatic 125F flattop gave rise to two interesting guitars one of which, the Model 6022 Rancher, would become the company's trademark flattop. Introduced in late-1953 or early-'54 for model year 1954, the Rancher combined the 17-inch-wide, triangular-soundhole concept of the 125F with the Western appointments which were being showcased on the Models 6120 [Chet Atkins Hollowbody], 6121 [Chet Atkins Solidbody] and 6130 [Round Up]...The 1954, '55 and '56 Model 6022 Rancher Jumbo flattop guitar features a longhorn steer's head-inlaid peghead with a real mother-of-pearl 'Gretsch' block letter logo. A rosewood fingerboard with cows-and-cactus engraving in the pearloid plastic position markers tops a three-piece maple-ebony-maple neck and spans a 25 1/2-inch scale length. The 17-inch-wide, spruce top has a bound, triangular sound hole and tapers gently from front to back, a design achieved by bulky, slightly curved, internal top braces. The top is multi-bound in black and white and bears the trademark 'G' brand and a large, tortoiseshell plastic, screwed-on pickguard engraved with a longhorn steer's head. The irregularly-shaped, massive rosewood bridge supports a rosewood bridge saddle adjusted by thumbscrews. Strings insert through a bar at the back of the bridge rather than being sunk in a pin bridge and secured by bridge pins as on most acoustics...The highly figured curly maple sides and arched back have multiple black and white edge binding. The guitar is finished in Golden Red lacquer; on a mid-'50's Rancher, this usually appears as a deep, ruddy, brownish red, like the other Western models' Amber Red. Although the 1959 catalog depicted the Model 6022 with the same features as previous Ranchers, the guitar had, in fact, undergone two significant style changes. In 1957 the guitar uses pearloid plastic, humped-block inlays, has a horseshoe headstock logo rather than a steer's head and is finished in a more orange-hued Golden Red. In 1958 the neo-classic fingerboard debuts, the 'G' brand is removed from the top and a plain, unengraved, gold Lucite pickguard replaces the tortoiseshell guardplate. It won't be until 1965 that the catalog description will approximate the Rancher being produced. This version will persist until 1968 when the 'G' brand reappears on the model's top -- this time on the bottom treble bout. The Rancher was initially priced at $185, ascended to $250 by the late-'50s, $275 by the early '60s and remained at that price until the early-'70s" (Jay Scott, The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Company, pp. 167-169).