any gretsch luv?

[drjoel]

looking to add a gretsch flavor to my strat, tele, lester group. any thoughts on the new gretches?- likes, dislikes, etc. i'm looking at things like 6122sp, 120th anniv., RHH, dynasonic duo jet, falcon. appreciate any thoughts, feedback, experiences re: pickups, body size, scale length, etc. my high school rig in the 60's was an orange double cutaway 6120, mosrite fuzzrite and fender bandmaster so i guess this is another futile attempt to relive my youth!

[A440]

yes, really like them even though I tend to prefer solidbody guitars.

I played a friend's early Setzer model which was VERY nice. versatile, no , but awesome and very specific character.

I really like the semi hollow ideas like the power jet and power jet firebird.
I'm sure they're kinda cheap, but I've been looking at the electromatic
pro jet. not sure where they're made, but the gold or black top semi- hollow with bigsby appeals to me :)

the tv jones pickups are supposed to be great !

[pfflam]

Love bordering on fanaticism . . . and yet, I am poor.

[billybob77036]

If I were to get one it would be either a White Falcon, or the Reverand Horton Heat model.

They are great guitars.

[No Code 5]

I like the new Grestchs quite a bit. I have had a Silver Falcon with bigsby, a Setzer 6120 SSL, and the best of both worlds (imo) the Black Phoenix.

The Phoenix is Setzer stripped down Silver Falcon. So it has White Falcon dimensions, in black with silver sparkle. With the extra (trestle) bracing, TV Jones, pups, and a nitro finish. It is big and bad.

http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G6136SLBP&cat1=&cat2=&q=&st=1

the RHH and Setzer models also come with the nitro option, which really adds to the feel. The TV Jones pups are great too.

All the new Gretschs have top notch build quality and are very solid.

[jpage]

I've played quite a few older Gretschs and found the build quality to be lacking in a big way. Apparently, the factory used to stress "quantity over quality" and it really showed. Sloppy neck joints, bad frets, poor finish work and oversprays galore.

Now assuming you are asking about current production; I have no experience.

[UnderTheGroove]

I have a 6118 (no Bigsby) and I really love the tone and feel of it. It may not be the most versatile guitar, but it is more versatile than what I expected and what it does it does really well. It looks awesome and I get a lot of comments on it. My only minor issue is that the tuning isn't quite as stable as my fixed bridge guitars, but I have not yet taken it in for a setup.

[No Code 5]

I forgot... the RHH and Setzer models also have a pinned tunomatic bridge stock instead of the floating bridges on the other models... this is a big help with tuning stability.

The BillyBo has the bridge pinned as well.

[Pedro58]

Can you explain "pinned?" How do they fix it permanantly to the guitar top? Glue?

[Marty s Horne]

Personally, they're not my style of guitar but I've always thought they looked and sounded WAY COOL.

[gtraddict]

If you are talking of pickups my 6128tsp was bright thanks to the Dynasonics it had. I think they could cut through steel and the Bigsby I do not think helped it all that much either. Nice Rockabilly guitar, you could even get some great country sounds out of it. I always used it with an AC-15 non top boost because I knew I couldnt use it with a Fender amp of any kind. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/gtr_addict/guitars6128tspfront.jpg

I also have a pair of 6114's they have TV Jones in them. I think it is more of an all around guitar. Very warm sounding and open, not dark and harsh. You could go from LP tones to good Rockabilly tones depending on amp and pickup and tone controls. Even the volume is very interactive.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/gtr_addict/guitarsg6114front.jpg

[No Code 5]

Can you explain "pinned?" How do they fix it permanantly to the guitar top? Glue?

they make two small holes in the top of the guitar and corresponding indentations in the base of the bridge... the bridge sits on top of this and is "pinned" in place. this way it doesn't move back and forth with bigsby use or bending. It is a common mod that Gretsch has incorporated into certain models now... other guitar come with the historically accurate floating bridge.

[pfflam]

Pinning means that there is a very tiny pin that goes through a small hole in the top of the guitar. The cosmetic 'damage' to the roof is negligible.

I particularly love the RHH model (listening to him right now: a very impressive player!) I also like the Double Anniverseries, what a beautiful Two-Tone Green!!

and then again I also stay up nights dreaming about a Double Cutaway, Orange 6120!!

. . . oh to be wealthy . . .

course, I'd feel guilty twer I to get wealthy . . . I'd give it all away . . . probably
(except for a bit ;) )

[Kiwi]

Some thoughts:

1) When Fender took over a couple years ago, Gretsch quality control went UP. Yes, evil music giant takes over cool small company ... and things get BETTER for the buyers. Fender put in the bucks to make many more models available - a total revival of the brand - and really helped customer service.

Pre-FMIC Gretsches aren't at all bad (both of mine are pre-Fender) but they did cut corners on some models by using cheap switches and ceramic pickups in a lot of models. You had to know which models had alnico FilterTrons; now most or all of the high-end ones do, I'm pretty sure.

The lower-end Electromatic line is made in Korea or China. Not bad stuff, but the high-end guitars are (and have been for years) made at the Terada factory in Japan - first-rate stuff, easily the equal of Merkin-made.

2) Head for the Gretsch Pages, where the truly knowledgeable people live, and click on "Modern Gretsch Guitars." They'll be able to tell you all about types of pickups, where various models are built, and the intricacies of various bridge designs and other stuff. They have as members several online dealers who really, really know their stuff when it comes to Gretsches, give great service and have very good pricing. Spend a while with these folks:

http://www.gretschpages.com/discus/

3) Your basic choices are: Low-end or high-end models? Solid, or true hollowbody? I'd go high-end, of course, for the real snap, twang, and sweet kerrang.

Be sure you get alnico pickups (should be simpler now). I have one solid (6114 New Jet, a sleeper) and one hollowbody (the benchmark Setzer 6120) but there are many more wonderful models out there.

One other thing to check: Scale length. Many Gretsches have a 24.6" scale length. The Fender/Gretsch web site has the details for each.

They are peculiar beasts, but we love them. Now is a good time to buy!

Re a "pinned bridge" - you have to understand the floating bridges on the hollowbodies are held in place only by string pressure. It's an intonation nightmare if they ever move, like the first time you change strings and they fall off. (Duhh!)

Pinning them means they are held in place by wire that goes into the bridge base and the top of the guitar, like very thin posts. Invisible anchors, and you still get bridge-to-top contact. I had my pre-FMIC 6120 pinned by a luthier; I cannot imagine why people think it hurts value.

Floating bridges are all part of the charm of these old Gretsch designs ... along with Bigsbys, odd scale length, all the volume and tone knobs, and the infamous mud switch!

Gotta love it all. They're Gretsches, and they don't sound or play like anything else. Some people love 'em, others don't.

But they will never make you look lame.

Kiwi

[drolling]

Yep, plenty Gretsch love in this corner.. Got one of their new Korean made Electromatic hollowbodies - the model's your basic poor man's 6120/Nashville that's been reworked 3 times in it's short lifespan in an effort to make it more 'vintage-style'. You could probably get a deal on the 1st iteration w/fixed T.O.M. bridge & tension-bar Bigsby - That's the one I ended up with.. great US made s/c pickups that are often referred to as "DynaSonic lites" by the players over at GretschDiscussionPages, where you'll get considerably more info if you're interested.

Introduction of a 'budget' line was a brilliant marketing ploy by Fender, who've really injected some vitality into the company since they took it off Fred Gretsch III, who was running it into the ground.

After a couple months, I HAD to have a pro model, so I went for one of the ones you mentioned; the 120th Annie. An edible shade of bamboo yellow w/metallic copper back & sides, this one's stripped-down (no binding or gold plate) but has some deluxe features like TV Jones pickups. Filter'Trons are my favorite humbuckers (recovering tele player), and the TV Classics are a step up from F'Trons.

You CAN go back again - I say go for it!

[pfflam]

http://www.themusiczoo.com/6120DC0169combo.jpg

. . . ohhhh the pain!

http://www.themusiczoo.com/2toneanncombo.jpg

Make it STOP!

http://www.themusiczoo.com/6120RHH_Horton_JT05074661combo.jpg

Aargh!

[gtraddict]

They are making the Western without Dyna's now?? Good:D :AOK

[billybob77036]

One of the sweetest color combos ever, which I want to make into a tele one day...

http://www.themusiczoo.com/G6136_White_combo.jpg

[kingsleyd]

Count me in... http://www.lilypix.com/photos/showpic.php?aid=3501&uuid=480&pid=53543

+1 on checking out The Gretsch Pages. Everything you need to know about Gretsches, ancient and modern. (at least everything that you can't learn by playing one!)

[Mike Duncan]

http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL664/3909625/8084735/120536257.jpg

I've got a brand new RHH, great guitar...sometimes I worry that I may have a little too much money tied up in this monster. BUT IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

Mike

[gtraddict]

My stupidity on the RRH and getting the Western mixed up.

[No Code 5]

http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL664/3909625/8084735/120536257.jpg

I've got a brand new RHH, great guitar...sometimes I worry that I may have a little too much money tied up in this monster. BUT IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

Mike

I think that about my Phoenix sometimes... but when playing it I forget those worries... it is almost like playing a Gretsch (big hollowbody) is totally different than playing a "typical" solidbody. A completely different experience that to me is well worth the price.

They respond in such a different way... you can really feel them when you play... Neil Young and Pete Townshend style playing really comes to life.

Playing Won't Get Fooled Again at a healthy volume on a big gretsch is really something everyone should experience.

YEEEAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

[reverber8]

Got some serious Gretsch love here as I picked up a new 6120DSW last year. A stunningly beautiful guitar. Orange stain with a nice figure to the wood in full western dress - G brand and cowboy inlays. Dyansonics and a Bigsby. Love that Bigsby!!!

Really fun to play and nothing sounds like it. Certainly it's not the most versatile guitar in my collection but it truly gets "that great Gretsch sound!" Nothing else even comes close. Every collection needs one. The Electromatic hollowbodies are pretty cool and get much of the Gretsch vibe. Good bang for the buck.

I'd like to pick up a Duo Jet w/ Filtertrons. Maybe a Sparkle Jet or Black one. I played one with the light blue pearl finish at a guitar show a few weeks ago. Think Ringo's drum kit - very unique!

Here's a photo of "the Kids" on the couch. My 6120DSW proudly sits in the middle.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c118/reverber8/3d7cba0d.jpg

[Eugene]

I have a '60 Jet Firebird....VERY cool guitar and construction is very solid. IMHO, Gretsch made some of the coolest looking guitars ever.

Eugene

[Jon C]

mucho Gretsch love here, but as others said, very spotty quality and overall finickiness of many, esp. older ones, kept me from ever laying down my cash...


... then I found my Gretsch Elliott Easton... wonderful. Chambered, light, resonant, chimey, growly, snarly (even if it has only one usable tone position, the 3-way tone switch is a joke IMO). WIth TV Jones Filtertrons and CTS pots, etc., a real tone machine.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c388/fendertweed/781a44eb.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c388/fendertweed/frontfull.jpg

[Crazyquilt]

I have serious Gretsch envy.

Right now, I'm on my search for THE Tele. I think I've got my 'THE P-90 guitar.'

But, much as I dig my Reverend Flatroc -- it may be orange, it may have Filtertron type pickups, it may have a Bigsby & f-holes -- but it's not a Gretsch.

Sigh.

[majorledhead]

I Have A 66' Monkeys Rock N Roll Model That I Spent A Small Fortune Restoring. It's Very Playable And Toneful, The Super Trons Are A Great In-between Sounding Pickup. I Use It For Rockibilly Tones Or Big Clean Epic Type Songs. Its A Different Animal From My Strat Or Paul, But A Must Have For Any Collection.

[Roe]

I love my malcolm young model with tvjones pups and big frets!

[Buffalosix]

After years of holding out, I finally went all out early last year, culling the herd - shedding my PRSi and reluctantly, my Hamer Newport - and rebuilding my stable. I'd always wanted to go Gretsch, and I believe Fender really has done it right. Now was the time. So in addition to my '62 AV RI Jazzmaster, I now have two Gretsches -

6196T Country Club (Solid spruce top, Bigsby, Filtertrons, 25.5 scale). My "jazz box."

6122-62 Country Classic (Double cut, hollowbody, Bigsby, Filtertrons, 24.6 scale).

And of course, I'm Jonesing for more, but I don't see it happening any time soon. But, in the interest of hypotheticals... I'd sure like the new 6122-12 12-string, and the 6120DC - the double cut Nashville with the TV Jones pickups....

There really is nothing like a Gretsch.

Cheers.

[Roe]

buffalosix,

how does the 25.5 scale compare to the 24.6?

[Buffalosix]

I get a slightly mellower/bassier sound out of the long scale Country Club - but some of that mellowness might come out of the solid spruce top. I get a slightly brighter sound out of the Country Classic (but also might have something to do with the thinner body) - slightly more along the sound of the "classic" 60s Gretsch.

As far as the feel of the scale length, I guess for me its not difficult to switch between the two, because on the acoustic side I switch between a 25.5 scale Gibson J-100 XTRA and a 24.75 scale Gibson J-45 pretty frequently.

[phoenix]

Anything Second Aniversary is awesome. PAF Filtertrons. very Gretsch.
Lots of years are deals. Of course big chief head-up-his-ass, let go the
'58 on the right that included all case candy and the original receipt.
:jo

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/pnxlndco/100_0905.jpg