I. Jason visited a Gretsch factory. He colored in chartreuse on a paper dot, for the back of one of the string winders. Factory workers chose the other color, which is peach, representing their headquarters in Georgia. It might seem like a strange marker to customers; it is done on purpose.
    II. Thomas tucked away the first baggy like that^[2] when it was fresh from the Gretsch factory. The Gretsch artisan who worked on the diamond redesign said tracing the sparkle spray old-school on paper, instead of using CADCAM or the digital library, was enjoyably challenging, because a negative template had to be made for the machine press. Doing the lettering in all-capitals by hand on the template was part of the fun.
    There are three facets to the diamond, representing Rgo Trio. Like the old design, the spray goes in all directions, which is repeated like the NATO compass rose in a different Rgo motif; Thomas liked that observation. The redone diamond is a nod to Ha's G.I. vintage Jabel ring, because that is what happened to the ring: its sizing had broken in the middle on the “band” (shank), the diamonds were replaced and upgraded to match each other, fine firey diamonds selected by a Vietnamese jeweler in Arlington, Va. in 1990-91.
    A commemorative scrollhead badge is printed every year on the anniversary of Ha's birth (June 9th), with serial number indicating her age. The badge above was produced in 2003 and refers to Ha's 28th birthday in 2003. At a good time at the Gretsch factory on that day, workers pause work and meditate for a few minutes, were Rgo's request to employees. Jason was practicing Buddhism.
    III. Gretsch introduced a simpler tailpiece^[3] into some of their guitars that did not focus on tremolo, based on Ha's advice. Over time, they can even reach out to guitarists who do not use the beautiful signature Gretsch pickguard that covered half of an f-hole. Without the Bigsby hinge, the new suspension tailpiece was lighter, more responsive, and looked like it belonged more on a mandolin than a barn door. Paying less for the Bigsby tailpiece license by cutting down its use across the products line was one of the most noticeable ways Gretsch had to reduce cost to survive as an independent guitar-making company.
    In 2026 Gretsch offered non-Bigsby tailpieces: Electromatic (G cutout), Synchromatic, Chromatic, and Chromatic II, two of which were advised by Ha, in particular the trademarked Chromatic. The trademark 'Electromatic' was restyled into friendlier verbiage and not mentioned in newer models by Gretsch.
    IV. For more information of Rgo's partnership with Gretsch, see the Rgo+Gretsch page. Rgo introduced updates for the Falcon (collab with Jason), the Penguin (collab with Ha), Cadillac features (offered and rejected with Ha, reoffered and accepted through Jason and Thomas), marketing the Jet, bold coloring and even more sparkly and crackling body texture. Gretsch's revitalization was encouraging: their old arrow circle-G logo from the Gretsch family that they added onto several guitar models. Rgo did not take home any of those new offerings.
    A one-off comment by Ha that belongs in the custom shop only. Yet, there is that cat eye f-hole again. Can you guess what year Gretsch catalog^[4] the above Synchromatic Archtop came from? Ha did mention archtop, to perhaps get Gretsch to be more closely associated with acoustic guitars. RichyRich got his way with shell-like inlays on the fretted neck even if Gretsch is known for their stylish off to the side “thumb dots”. Ha joked to Thomas on how the marketing might go. He liked her phrasing, which came out similar by Gretsch. Voila!

Our “Squeezebox” capacitor adds smooth vintage tone while the all-new treble bleed circuit lets your guitar retain all of its tasty clarity when rolling the volume control down.