The Gretsch Anniversary series debuted in 1958 as a celebration of 75 years since the company’s founding. In what must be among the longest anniversary celebrations ever, Gretsch has pretty much kept on making Annies ever since. In fact, they’ve celebrated a few new anniversaries along the way.

For many, the ultimate vintage Annies are the originals. For the first two years, Anniversary models were equipped with FilterTron humbuckers, making them essentially a budget-priced 6120. All they lack are the bound f-holes and headstock of the more upscale models and a stock Bigsby.

Budget-priced was the key: From the beginning, Anniversary models were “promotionally priced”, and as the ‘60s began, Gretsch began moving them farther downscale. In 1960, Rosewood fingerboards began to replace ebony and HiLoTron single-coils began to replace FilterTrons. By the end of 1961, the changeover was complete.

But even as Gretsch took the Anniversary down market, they came out with a pair of high-end stereo versions, the sunburst 6111 and Smoke Green 6112. On Anniversaries, the already low-output HiLo’s were split to provide the stereo output, making the system even less functional than it was on FilterTron-equipped stereo guitars. Since the system was only offered in 1961 and 1962 and was never particularly popular, stereo Anniversarys are extremely rare. They can be easily spotted by their closely-spaced pickups.

During the Baldwin era, the Single Anniversary was quietly dropped, as were the Smoke Green Anniversaries. The sunburst finished 7560 Double Anniversary soldiered on as through the 70s, until 1977, when it, too was dropped.

The Anniversary line quickly returned In the modern era, and has proliferated since its return. In addition to both FilterTron and HiLoTron-equipped versions, Gretsch has also celebrated with the Bamboo Yellow/Copper Mist 120th Anniversary and the Jaguar Tan/Gold 125th Anniversary.

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