1967-8 Honey AG-9 …. a ‘loose’ copy of the Gretsch 1622 Country Gent.

Honey guitars were made by Teisco Gen Gakki and were sold for just a few years and only in Japan. As well as the HONEY name on the headstock they often had a cool little ‘honey’ bee stencilled, as in this case, on the pickguard.

It does carry the general vibe of the Gretsch 1622: 24 3/4" scale, 22 frets, zero fret, painted on F holes, 2" deep, Hollow body, double cut (only 16.5" wide - not the full 17"), MoP thumb print inlays, similar control layout, etc.

Nicely constructed with all ‘gold’ hardware, it’s a fully bound guitar - front, back,neck and headstock - no loose binding. Painted on F holes so, I guess, strictly speaking, it is a chambered body guitar as opposed to a traditional hollow or semi hollow design.

I have renewed the electronics, added a new ‘trapeze’ tail-piece. This guitar would have had a kind of Bigsby style vibrato but as this was missing and I had a ‘gold’ trapeze I went with that - no regerts! Otherwise it's in original condition. Great low action and the neck is a thin ‘C’ shape and extremely comfortable. The guitar plays very nicely and feels great.

The single coil PU's have been wax potted and sound terrific and the electrics are quiet: one tone-cut switch on the upper bout for each PU, rotary PU selector on the lower bout. The knobs by the vibrato are Master Vol and Tone plus a kill switch.

Over the intervening 50 years the ‘gold’ plating has worn on mostly gone from the pickups. There are minor marks and dings here and there as you would expect from 50+ years of use but nothing of concern. The finish is a very dark brown with a nice rich deep look to it, almost black in some lights .

It resonates beautifully and holds tune. A stunning looking guitar and a player for sure.

No case but will packed VERY well for shipping.

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