Help Me Find This Guitar

April 28, 2010 1:51 PM

LongShotFilter: I once was in a music store in Northern California and while waiting for a friend I picked up a mini acoustic guitar which was selling for around $75-150 (I think) in order to pass the time. To my great surprise, I loved the feel and sound of this cheap small guitar, and would have bought it at the time but was broke. Now I need to find it again...

It was not made of wood, but some other strong (fiberglass-esque?) material, and was a dark grey/black with some sort of cowboy stencil/printing on it. There was also another version in another color (more female oriented maybe?) available. However, I never wrote down the brand or make and now regret not buying this incredibly fun, portable guitar while I had the chance. Any chance someone remembers this guitar? I have not found it via the google...

posted by rooftop secrets to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 answers total)

Was it like this one?
posted by Yorrick at 1:58 PM on April 28, 2010

It probably isn't this, but...was it perhaps a Fluke, specifically the one with the cowboy stuff on it? Small ukulele with a polycarbonite body and fretboard (unless it had the optional rosewood), highly playable.
posted by davejay at 2:01 PM on April 28, 2010

It looked alot like the Martin Cowboy one, but I'm relatively sure it wasn't a big brand like Martin or Taylor -- also it was much cheaper than that (it's probably a knockoff of that model).

It was a standard dreadnought shape too, so unfortunately not like the Flukes.
posted by rooftop secrets at 2:04 PM on April 28, 2010

Also, it didn't come in a real case -- I believe they just came in cardboard boxes or something cheap like that.
posted by rooftop secrets at 2:07 PM on April 28, 2010

Could it have been one of these? Gretsch claims on their site that they're "real wood," so that doesn't quite fit your description, but everything else matches.
posted by sbrollins at 2:16 PM on April 28, 2010

Do you have any recollection of where the music shop was? Name of the town? Could you start there and ask them?
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:27 PM on April 28, 2010

YES! sbrollins - well done... it was the "Showdown" version of that line -- apparently it was wood with just a really thick finish. Apparently they're out of stock, but at least I know what I'm looking for...

AskMeFi to the rescue again.
posted by rooftop secrets at 2:34 PM on April 28, 2010

Here's one for a hundred bucks.
posted by chez shoes at 6:49 PM on April 28, 2010

I knew it was a Gretsch Americana as soon as you described it. I think they're discontinued.

I haven't tried one myself, but I frequent Gretsch forums and the Americanas are widely considered to be surprisingly good for their price. Hope you find one.
posted by mmoncur at 7:24 PM on April 28, 2010