The Gretsch 6186 Clipper was a mid-priced hollowbody electric guitar introduced in the 1950s as part of Gretsch’s lower-cost professional line. By the mid-1960s, the model typically featured a single-cutaway hollow maple body, an arched top and back, a rosewood fingerboard, simple dot inlays, and a single Gretsch pickup, usually a HiLo’Tron, positioned near the neck.
Compared with higher-end Gretsch models such as the Country Gentleman or Tennessean, the Clipper had plainer appointments and a more stripped-down control layout, making it a functional entry-level hollowbody rather than a heavily ornamented flagship model. Its lightweight construction and single-pickup design gave it a direct, woody tone, and many surviving examples were later modified with additional pickups, vibratos, or updated electronics.
