Octo Bass

This unusual feature showed up on the top-of-the-line Gretsch Super White Falcon in 1966. Essentially, this was a White Falcon with five standard tuned strings (A, D, G, B, E) plus a D string that was tuned down an octave. According to the accompanying literature, “It enables the player to achieve bass pedal tones without altering styles of playing in any way. The beauty of added deep bass to solo and chord forms makes this feature a guitarist’s dream come true.” Wishful thinking, unfortunately. The company was purchased by Baldwin the following year and many of the late Gretsch “oddities” were quickly dropped.