I may catch flak from someone about this guitar. Before you do,please note that it has no serial numbers on the back of the headstock and no Gretsch label inside,as do the originals. Those of you who know my work know that I could make a thorough and complete fake if I wanted to. I have never had the inclination to do so.
I am allowed to make a guitar for my personal use,not for sale. It wouldn't be worth my time to try to make these for sale anyway. Mine are worth more. I'd rather put my name on my work,too. I just wanted a Chet Atkins guitar for my own use.
There are plenty of people out there making repro cars,guns,and all kinds of things,bear that in mind. They aren't meant to be passed off as original. I have a fine Japanese 1895 Winchester,and a decent Italian 1892 Winchester.
I love the look of these old Gretsch guitars,but they were the most inconsistent guitars quality wise that were ever made. I have a 1966 anniversary model with the top glued on 1/2" OFF CENTER!! When you look at how far from each edge the "F" holes are,it becomes obvious. This guitar also has a 4" square piece of 1/8" plywood JAMMED under the neck block,in a faint effort to make the neck block match the arched back!!!
You can find good ones. I have an immaculate 1956 Electromatic,which IS curly maple. In reality,few Gretsches were originally made of curly maple. They were ALL PLYWOOD anyway. Plywood is actually better for an arch top electric. It gives better sustain. They weren't made as acoustic guitars having plywood tops. Cheap Harmonys,Kays and the like were acoustic AND plywood anyway. Plywood doesn't vibrate as well as carved solid wood arches.
At the time I made this guitar,the reissues made in Japan had not yet come out. When they first came out,they were shaped wrong. They looked like Gibsons. Their cutaways were NOT Gretsch like at all. Their necks had flat Gibson type heels. (I ordered one from Sam Ash in New York,and sent it back without even playing it) I did not want to pay over $5000.00(today over $10,000.00) for an original 1959 Gretsch Chet Atkins model. The ONLY reason they are valuable is the Atkins connection. They are not made usually as well as Gibsons by any means. I still wanted one,though,because of Chet,and I do love the tone of the Gretsch pickups.
Duke Kramer,the former vice president of Gretsch was selling off the remaining original Gretsch parts which he had bought up after the last manifestation of the factory,bought by Baldwin,closed in the70's,for any and all purposes of the buyer. I was able to buy the headstock overlay,and the pick guard,and the BLANK arch tops and backs from him. He had pallet loads of them at the time.
The overlay isn't hard to make anyway. It is plastic pearl in maple veneer. Block letters. Anyone could make one. Having a real one was good,though,for kicks.
My 2 favorite guitarists are Sabicas,the World's greatest flamenco guitarist,who I was honored to make a guitar for in 1967,and Chet Atkins. Both are now dead.
I had to make the neck and EBONY fingerboard. By the way,the originals had rosewood fingerboards Ebony cost more. They saved 50 cents (at the time) and used rosewood. Ebony gives a bit more sustain in an electric. Any decent collector could tell that this is NOT an old,collectible Gretsch. Mine also has a longer scale length.
I made the sides,bound the guitar,made and bound the "F" holes,etc. Also,I had to round up some original pickups.
The original guitars were gold plated on their hardware,but used a plain aluminum vibrato,another difference.
I made the brass knobs,and also made a punch with the G and arrow logo. I can't find the punch,but posted an unfinished neck I don't think I'll ever finish for the 1 person peanut gallery who might say I didn't make this guitar. I can also produce the mold.
This sort of thing is exactly how I got launched into becoming a craftsman. At 13 I got a bad $12.00 guitar. We were always poor when I was young,and I started to try to make myself a better guitar. It took years,as I had no books,teachers that knew how to bend the sides,or money for parts. You were lucky to even find frets for sale in those days. If you did,they were only 1 kind,no choice of nickel or brass,or gauge.
It was sort of the same thing here. I wasn't going to spend over $5000.00,which,at that time was money I didn't want to use! I wanted a Chet Atkins model,so I built this one.
It is my favorite electric guitar. It just sounds exactly right. I did not build the interior like the original,either-another way to tell it isn't original. The originals have a solid wood "bridge" inside which Chet wanted. To my ears,it made the guitar have a "hard" sound. I braced this one like an Anniversary model,1 step down from the Chet model(6120). It softened the tone just enough.
I did have an EARLY anniversary model,with exactly the same bracing and pickups the 6120 had. I sold it off because it just had a bit of a hard sound. It was one of the pale green ones. The first anniversary models were EXACTLY the same construction and electronics as the 6120. They cost 1/2 as much!! All hocus pocus and marketing!
Some time after I made this guitar,the Gretsch company "reopened". At least,they imported from Japan,repros of their old guitars,which HAD been made in Brooklyn,N.Y. originally. Curiously enough,they call their South Carolina outlet their "Factory". I got all excited when I found out Gretsches were made again,and called them. They answered "Gretsch Factory". I said,"Oh,great","then they really are made here". I got silence. People like that are not honest,in my opinion,of course. They were only from Japan then. I think in later years thy started making some"custom" models here that cost as much as originals.
I have 3 of these Japanese repros,which I traded one of my guitars for. They are nicely made,but have polyurethane finishes(unless you pay a fortune),that don't look right,and very small necks. Smaller than the old ones. My hands are big,and so is the neck on my guitar. They also SAY the 6120 repro is curly maple,but my Brian Setzer is Anigre. Looks about like maple,but has the look of a white mahogany(porous) stained orange. MY opinion,of course about the quality,the wood,and everything else.
This is too much info for you non aficionados,but there are guitar makers who will want to read it.
So,this guitar is about a 1959 style model.It has the aluminum nut. Chet wanted a "zero fret" which did come out later.
In spite of my collection of vintage and new guitars,this is the electric I always come back to.
One last thing: The original 6120's did not use the expensive Grover "stair step" tuners you see on this guitar. They used a less expensive oval button,open back Grover tuner.