Gretsch guitars: G1618 Synchromatic Gold Sparkle Jet
<p>The mere existence Synchromatic line may be one of the more baffling Gretsch mysteries of recent years — maybe decades. The revered Synchromatic name, traditionally reserved for high-end acoustic archtops, was plastered across a dizzying array of Korean-made guitars which were themselves near-clones of the Electromatic line offered at the same time.
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<p>Like the Electromatics and Historics, the Gretsch Synchromatic line of guitars debuted in 1999. Nobody could keep track of all the models, not even Gretsch, and all three lines of budget guitars were merged into a single (and much-improved) Electromatic line-up in 2003.
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<p>The G161X Sparkle Jets were functionally pretty similar to the G13XX Junior Jets, bolt-on maple necks and all, and Gretsch offered those as the G1615 (Black Sparkle), G1616 (Silver Sparkle), G1617 (Blue Sparkle), G1618 (Gold Sparkle) and G1619 (Red Sparkle) from 1999-2003. In 2003, the G1615T was also offered, adding a Bigsby tremolo.
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<p>G162X Sparkle Jets were easily identifiable by their f-holes (the only Jet-bodied guitars to have them) and included the G1625 (Black Sparkle), G1626 (Silver Sparkle), G1627 (Blue Sparkle), G1628 (Gold Sparkle) and G1629 (Red Sparkle) from 1999-2003, as well as the Bigsby-equipped G1626T and G1629T for 2003.
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Gold Sparkle
— Oct 13, 2007 3:19 p.m.