Most Probably the Finest Example in the World

This super rare 17-inch-wide and 2 3/4 inch-thick 'Project-O-Sonic' Stereo Country Club weighs 8.20 lbs. and has a comfortable nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Laminated rock maple body with laminated rock maple top and two large double-bound f-holes, three-piece maple/ebony/maple neck with a really nice medium profile, and single-bound ebony fretboard with 21 original medium frets and neo-classic inlaid pearl thumbprint (half-moon) position markers. The body of the guitar is triple-bound (white/black/white) on the top and back, the fretboard is single bound with two white lines inlaid on each side and at the end of the fretboard. Triple-bound headstock with inlaid pearl Gretsch "T-roof" logo. Two-layer (black on white) truss-rod cover with three screws. Individual Grover Imperial tuners with stairstep metal buttons. Two Gretsch Filter'Tron "Pat Applied For" Bi-Aural (Stereo) Humbuckers, each with gold Lucite ridged surrounds and outputs of 3.90k and 3.87k. Each pickup has six adjustable polepieces, the neck pickup has two each for the E, A and D strings and the bridge pickup has two each for the G, B and high E strings. Gold Lucite pickguard with Gretsch "T-roof" logo in relief in black (engraved from the underside). Two controls (one volume for each pickup) and a three-way 'closing' switch on the cutaway bout, plus two independent three-way tone selector switches on the upper bass bout. "Arrow-through-G" knobs with cross-hatch pattern on sides. Space-control bridge on ebony base (stamped "US PAT 2918837" in white) and "G" cutout tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. Rectangular orange and gray label inside bass f-hole with the model number "6192" stamped in blue and the serial number "30460" (December 1958) typed in black. This amazing guitar is in mint (9.50) condition. Complete with the original black leather strap, the original "Gretsch Project-O-Sonic Bi-Aural Sound" instructions, the original "Gretsch Space Control Bridge" instructions, the original "New Gretsch Neo-Classic fingerboard" instructions, the original "Gretsch Quality Control" card, the original "Gretsch Guitar Guarantee" (in original envelope printed in red), two original Gretsch "75" annivery hang-tags, the original "Gretsch Guitar Polishing Cloth" (in plastic bag) - and even the original 1958 Gretsch Guitar Catalog. Housed in its original Gretsch two-tone tan cloth and brown leather hardshell case with maroon plush lining (9.25).

When new, back in 1958, this amazing guitar cost $500 which was $50 more than a regular Country Club. In the original 1958 catalog the guitar is carefully described "Proclaiming the biggest revolution in guitar electrification, the new Gretsch "Project-O-Sonic" guitars are the talk of the guitar world. For the first time - Stereophonic, Bi-Aural sound disbursement through two speakers… and YOU control it ALL at the playing level! You've never heard guitar sound like this before!" The catalog also describes the new controls on this guitar "3-way closing switch - Controls single amp performance; double amp performance (full sound through two amps); Stereophonic Bi-Aural Sound Disbursement (bass and treble through separate amps)… For the first time -- TREMOLO THE WAY IT SHOULD SOUND. Split heads give you tremolo in treble side only, while bass sound remains pure." (1958 Gretsch Guitar Catalog).

"No small amount of controversy surrounds the topic of the invention of the hum-cancelling, double-coil pickup, however. Generally acknowledged to be Gibson employee Seth Lover's design, the humbucking pickup first appeared on Gibson products in 1957. Gretsch premiered Filter'Trons in 1958 after having contacted Ray Butts to construct a double-coil pickup. Given Gretsch's knee-jerk need to copy Gibson and the chronology involved, it seems likely that Gretsch chose to stop utilizing Harry DeArmond's pickups solely to pursue imitating Gibson. Most telling, Gibson's patent number for the humbucker design is 2727842 and predates the Filter'Trons number 2892371. The difference between the company's pickups is that the Filter'Tron has twelve exposed polepieces [except on the Stereo versions] whereas the Gibson unit only has six. It can be assumed that this difference was the basis for Gretsch's subsequent application for a humbucking-pickup patent. All things considered, there can be virtually no doubt the humbucking pickup was designed by Gibson."(Jay Scott, The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Company, p. 77).