Gretsch cone collapsed

[pete1951]

There have been several members of the forum who have had cones collapsed on Chinese made Gretsch guitars. I recently attended Michael’s Pocklington event and took some tools and spare cones. A forum member with a collapsed Gretsch cone ( paulsblues12) brought his guitar and I was able to have a look under the hood and replace the cone.
Unfortunately Gretsch don’t seem to offer any after sales service, so I couldn’t get a ‘Gretsch ‘ cone. Fortunately I have a couple of replacement cones used in MM guitars a few years ago ( they look the same as the one used now, but I haven’t studied a recent cone)
They are very similar , the spirals and details under the biscuit are a little sharper on the Gretsch than the old MMs.

However the spinning marks are much coarser, I don’t know much about spinning, could this be the reason some Gretsch cones seem to collapse?




Pete

[Michael Messer]

Like so many things made in Shanghai's guitar city, they look almost identical, but the Gretsch cones are not the same as MM cones. They come from a different maker, you can see that by the spirals, the pattern in the centre and by the spinning grooves. While we call them Continental cones, that is not what they are called in Shanghai. There are a few makers and we call them all Continental, so the Chinese companies call them that because we like it. Gretsch cones are not MM cones.

I have spent a lot of time helping the guy that spins mine to do them as I like them and I am not prepared to comment on the reasons they are not right, because all it will do is help Gretsch. Well, that is if they are interested in improving, which I doubt. Any company that refuses to supply spare parts to their customers obviously doesn't have any respect or interest in their customers beyond the point of sale. I rarely speak out and criticise other guitar companies as it doesn't look right or professional. However, as it is me that has been supplying UK Gretsch customers with spares, I feel qualified to do so!

I am sorry for the customers so I help them out, but that is really not how it should be.

Shine On
Michael

[pete1951]

The Gretsch cones are also made of the same thickness material, it could be a weaker alloy? or ,from the fewer tooling marks, less ‘work hardening ‘ that is causing the collapse.??

Pete

[Michael Messer]

Nov 25, 2022 10:49:37 GMT pete1951 said:

The Gretsch cones are also made of the same thickness material, it could be a weaker alloy? or ,from the fewer tooling marks, less ‘work hardening ‘ that is causing the collapse.??

Pete

Perhaps it is Karma that causes those problems.

Shine On
Michael