The 1962 Corvette featured a new body design of solid mahogany with no routs, a mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, and the original Trapeze tailpiece replaced with a Burns vibrato. Other changes for '62 saw the bar bridge replace the ebony piece of the '61 and the truss rod cover moved off the body and up to the headstock. From there it was virtually the same as the 1961 with a single HiLow Tron pickup, dot inlays, and volume and tone controls on the lower bout.

As for the variations, there were several that Gretsch though would be a good idea at the time; among them the Princess and the Twist. The Princess was designed to introduce electric guitars to the female masses by providing a padded back, pastel colors, and matching amplifiers. It was almost like accessorizing for the guitar player.

Not to be outdone, the Twist was a cherry red guitar with a red and white peppermint striped pick guard. It also offering a new type of vibrato device Gretsch termed the Tone Twister, but rather than producing this great new vibrato sound all it did was break your strings.

In the end, had Gretsch stayed away from the cute variations and seriously developed the 1960s Corvette it probably would have been legitimate competition to the Gibson Les Paul. It's too bad they didn't.