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This just came into my friends store today It's a 1956 or 1957 Gretsch 6120.

my god, that's ab-fab.

played one like this at HOG.....i think they had a green one too? dark green? not sure what model.

robroe wrote:played one like this at HOG.....i think they had a green one too? dark green? not sure what model.

Light Green = Anniversary
Dark Green = Irish Falcon

LOVE the Dynasonics in the old 6120s. They have tons of punch, and are wound hotter than today's Dynasonics. Gretsches are cool!!

Will wrote:

robroe wrote:played one like this at HOG.....i think they had a green one too? dark green? not sure what model.

Light Green = Anniversary
Dark Green = Irish Falcon

Possibly. It could have also been a Caddy Green Duo Jet, or a Caddy Green 6196 Country Club, like my old one (I wish I still had that guitar, but thanks to a PayPal foul-up [partly my fault], I had to sell Charlotte the Country Club, last November )

My old 'Club (it was a 2003 that I picked up as NOS). The photo was taken the day it was dropped off at work. Believe it or not, that guitar just SCREAMED at high gain, and it was easy to control its feedback. Gawd, how I miss it!

I played a few older Gretsch guitars and I can say none of them were very good. I can't say that about any other vintage guitars that go for big bucks and are American. I rather have an old Guild than an old Gretsch, value aside.

Will wrote:

robroe wrote:played one like this at HOG.....i think they had a green one too? dark green? not sure what model.

Light Green = Anniversary
Dark Green = Irish Falcon

The Irish Falcon would be awesome if it wasn't called the Irish Falcon and if it didn't have anything to do with U2.

jcyphe wrote:I played a few older Gretsch guitars and I can say none of them were very good. I can't say that about any other vintage guitars that go for big bucks and are American. I rather have an old Guild than an old Gretsch, value aside.

i don't know. if they were good enough for chet atkins and bo diddley...
i've played an old '50s duo-jet with dyna-sonics and thought it was better than most guitars i've played. don't think i've tried any other vintage gretsches, though.

the first one is beautiful.

the tuners on the green one are hideous.

holyCATS1415 wrote:the tuners on the green one are hideous.

they used to put them on those crazy old archtops:

That's a nice guitar.
A 6118 Anniversary is on my list of guitars I will own one day...

The tuners on my old Country Club, are Grover stairsteps. As was mentioned, D'Angelicos used them too. I think they look kind of classy in an art deco way. As for the comment on the quality of old Gretsches - yes at times their quality was spotty. For instance, a fair amount of vintage Gretsches suffer from neck problems (requiring the necks to be reset), and binding rot. But there are some vintage Gretsches out there that are some real honeys. And, they typically don't cost anywhere near as much as vintage Gibsons, Fenders, or Rics. But, just like Giboson had its dark period when owned by Norlin, and Fender had its dark period, when owned by CBS, Gretsch had its dark period too. In 1967, the Gretsch family sold the company to Baldwin (yes, the piano makers). While there are some Baldwin era Gretsches that are pretty good, in general, the Baldwin era Gretsches are the worst ones to get. Quality went downhill bigtime, and the company was run into the ground by 1981.

Fred Gretsch III bought back the rights to Gretsch guitars, and production was first restarted in the late 80s (with the Traveling Wilburys guitar, that was more Danelectro than Gretsch). To clear up a misconception - the Gretsch family owns Gretsch guitars, and drums. Fender Does NOT own Gretsch. In 2003, due to issues with quality (mainly the electronics, and the fact that the guitars weren't as faithful to the old Gretsches constructionwise, as the playing public wanted), Fender was contracted to handle all production and distribution details for Gretsch guitars. Fender is still doing so to this day. The Gretsch family still has final decision power over any new models, or design changes. I met Fred III one time at a Fred & Joe Road Show (Fred and Joe Carducci [who handles Gretsch guitar stuff for Fender] make a tour of the Gretsch dealers on a regular basis, giving out door prizes, talking to players, etc.). Fred's a real nice guy.

All Gretsches (with the exception of a few very expensive guitars made in Fender's Custom Shop), are made overseas, either in Japan in the Terada plant (the higher end Proline models), Korea (the hollowbodied Electromatic models), or in China (the solidbody Electromatic models). Many if not most Gretschheads (including yours truly), feel that today's Gretsches, are among the best ones ever made from a quality standpoint.

Interesting post thanks.
The recent Japanese ones I have tried in the shop have felt really great. Trying to justify the price at the moment (mostly to my wife) is difficult, but will probably sell some stuff to fund one in the next year or two.

The 6120 is really in remarkable condtion.My friend said everything is original from what he could tell except maybe the frets.Not sure.It is just such a cool and classic guitar.Love that '56 handle on the Bigsby.







This one should go in the Gretsch Museum( Link ) Randy Bachman contributed 300 guitars from his collection.



[youtube][/youtube]

Justin J wrote:

jcyphe wrote:I played a few older Gretsch guitars and I can say none of them were very good. I can't say that about any other vintage guitars that go for big bucks and are American. I rather have an old Guild than an old Gretsch, value aside.

i don't know. if they were good enough for chet atkins and bo diddley...
i've played an old '50s duo-jet with dyna-sonics and thought it was better than most guitars i've played. don't think i've tried any other vintage gretsches, though.

Chet Atkins had all his guitars specially made he was particular and all his electronics worked on by Ray Butts(guy who invented the FilterTron too), so what does that really mean? Bo was also a tinkerer and ended up going with his own shapes. I was also talking about the hollow bodies more than the solid bodies.

Randy Bachman has said that the Gretsch 6120 in the video below is the one that was stolen from him in the 70's

From The Gretsch Pages:

"Randy Bachman once had a cherished Gretsch stolen, and had never given up hope of finding it. In the 80's, he's watching TV and lo and behold, there in a Thompson Twins video, is his long lost guitar!! He recognized it because of a distinctive knot in the veneer of the front, which is basically unheard of on a Gretsch. He finds out that the band is coming to town, and gets all the documentation together, including a police report, photo's, proof of purchase, etc. and goes to the venue where they are playing, and goes in to talk to them about his guitar. He tells the story about how it stolen, and obviously the guy from the Thompson Twins didn't steal it, but bought it a few years back from someone. So, he pulls out all the paperwork hoping to retrieve his guitar, and the guy tells him "Oh. I NEVER take that guitar on the road with me, it's far too valuable!!"

[youtube][/youtube]

Great looking 6120 there.

The lady's post is very much on the money. I've had a couple of old and not very good at all Gretsches (yeah, necks mostly) but the 5120 I bought three or four years back is a stunningly good guitar. Made in the Samick factory in Korea, the build quality is very very good - I've swapped out the stock pups for filtertons and put in a bar bridge. Otherwise pretty standard Electromatic.
Very very good for feedback and control thereof - surprisingly much moreso than a Casino I recently got rid of...

I dunno. I'd feel pretty stupid playing an guitar called The Irish Falcon. I think it's pretty cheesy, maybe it's because I'm Irish.

Also, I don't think we really have any falcons save the odd kestrel.

To the buddy calling D'angelicos "crazy archtops"... boy you should reconcider the "crazy" : they are absolutly fantastic, ear blowing archtops