Gretsch G6118T - strings/intonation

Hattigol

Tempted by one of these (or an ES330) - there are some cracking deals on them in ivory/charcoal.
The blurb says that it has a pinned bridge intonated for standard 0.011s. I prefer to play with 0.010s - is that going to make much of a difference if I switch the strings and if so, is it an easy fix?

AlexO

Get the players edition. Had one great guitars!
You will be fine with 10s with no messing about but remember the scale length and these make 11's feel more like 10s anyway.

Modellista

I've been looking out for a deal on these for ages but can't find your cracking deal.

I also had assumed they were 25.5" scale, now I learn they are 24.6" I like them a little less!

Hattigol

modellista said:

I've been looking out for a deal on these for ages but can't find your cracking deal.

I also had assumed they were 25.5" scale, now I learn they are 24.6" I like them a little less!

Project Music have them on their website at £1,850 and I think Dawsons have them reduced as well. Tried one and like it but having played 0.10s for decades, anything thicker just seems odd - even with the different scale length...

Alnico

The bridge being pinned only means you can take all 6 strings off and the wooden block that the actual bridge sits on won't move. The saddles will still move forwards and backwards as normal and easily intonate between 10's or 11's.

My Gretsch 2620 is floating until later this year when I'll have it pinned but it's not too difficult to use masking tape to hold it in place when strings are off.

I use 10-52 so I get a slightly heavier feel on the bass strings but I can still play the treble strings easily and I can easily bend a tone and a half on them just like the solid bodies.
After I had a bone nut and a set up by @SteveRobinson it plays like a Les Paul with a big hollow body.

Hope that helps.

https://i.imgur.com/X4RqL97.jpg

Corvus

Looks like they have the solid rocking bar on now so intonation's a bit of a compromise anyway, but you could always drop a TOM on there if needed like ^^

Modellista

Corvus said:

Looks like they have the solid rocking bar on now so intonation's a bit of a compromise anyway, but you could always drop a TOM on there if needed like ^^

Heh... despite really liking the idea and look of these - no intonation adjustment (or even a compensated bridge) on a scale shorter than a Les Paul - isn't that a recipe for disaster?  Or do they not expect Gretsch players to venture up the dusty end?

ICBM

modellista said:

Heh... despite really liking the idea and look of these - no intonation adjustment (or even a compensated bridge) on a scale shorter than a Les Paul - isn't that a recipe for disaster?  Or do they not expect Gretsch players to venture up the dusty end?

If it's pinned in the *right* place, it's surprising how tolerant they are of string gauges - in any case, the intonation will only ever be an approximation because the bar is straight and has no offset between the G and D (or B and G with a wound 3rd) strings.

And because it has a Bigsby it will only ever be approximately in tune anyway .

(Actually not true, but someone would say it sooner or later .)

Corvus

It's a bit of a minefield of pros & cons, intonation in general's never perfect anyway, solid bridges do sound great, tradition & looks, all of that. With these big-bodies there's only so far high you can easily reach which probably helps make them more usable. But yeah I'd say usable if not totally ideal.

To me the Compton bridge is great, it's solid (or a chambered option) but pretty well compensated, makes a big old Gretsch sing. I've fitted them on other archtops as well. Intonation was good, I could reach up high (relatively) & do chords, was all good (though better when the exchange rate was nice and USPS post used to mostly slip customs!). But with these mostly the base wants to be movable for intonation.

kt66

Gretsches  like this sound so much better I think with heavier strings. 

ICBM

kt66 said:

Gretsches  like this sound so much better I think with heavier strings. 

I wouldn’t put anything less than 11s with a wound 3rd on one, personally - they just sound right, and with the long string path they don’t actually feel that heavy. I know some people do prefer lighter ones though.