Gretsch Historic Series 3700 Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI purchased this guitar from Guitar Center for $699.00 along with a TKL molded hardshell case for another $120.00. A very fair price for the quality of this instrument and the molded hardcase.
First off, the Gretsch 3700 acoustic is absolutely stunning in its tobacco sunburst finish variant. Since I purchased mine I have also seen it in Black and what Gretsch call their "vintage yellow" top which both also look great. This guitar is an absolute "looker" it grabbed my attention out of perhaps 60 other guitars on display in Guitar Center's acoustic room, and I should also mention that it sports a Gretsch triangular sound hole. When I picked it up for the first time I immediately checked out the playing action, very low, and very electric feeling, nearly perfect for the guy who also plays a PRS, Les Paul,Stratocaster, or other fine professional level electric instrument. The overall fit, finish, and wood selection were also very impressive. Finally, I played several styles of music on it, folk, bluegrass and fingerpicing styles, and my overall impression was that it was awesome considering its price point. It actually compares quite favorably to my Gibson J200 Artist in its overall balanced sound although the new Gretsch had a touch less mids and lows from its similar sized super jumbo body, with the 3700's Mahogany back and sides naturally producing a slightly more mellow sound than a J200's maple or rosewood. All in all, the Gretsch 3700 is a great sounding guitar, especially for this price range.
Nothing that would keep me from buying one, or recommending one to another player. However, Gretsch should consider offering the 3700 in a maple back and sides additional model to further turn up the heat on some of the famous name acoustic guitar manufaturers.
The Gretsch 3700 features a solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides for great initial sound that should only improve with age and the "playing in" of the top. The unit is very much a classic design, hence its hisoric series designation, being based upon Gretsch's F40 from the synchromatic line in the 30's and 40's. The playing action was virtually perfect and the intonation was also spot-on. Gretsch further chose to include quality sealed machine heads with high ratio gears on the 3700 a nice finishing touch. Once again, a fine quality sounding and playing guitar for the money with a spectacular sunburst finish.
The Gretsch 3700 Historic series acoustic is a truly great buy for the money comparing quite favorably to super jumbo's costing thousands more. If the classicists out there can get past the French, triangular sound hole, once again a Gretsch tradition on their acoustics, they will experience a truly fine playing and sounding guitar.
Bruce McIntyre rated this unit
on
2002-12-03.
