NGD: Gretsch G6120SH-RRED Brian Setzer 2-Tone Hot Rod

grayn

I went out today, with the idea of getting a guitar for playing vintage rock'n'roll/rockabilly stuff.
It's a style I like to dabble in and have done so previously on Gibson & Eastman 335s and some Gretsch Electromatics.
I was looking for another Gretsch mostly but wanted to try some Teles, too.
The shop had some nice pre-owned semis, including a Gibson Lucille and an ES330 with P90s.
I didn't take to the Lucille but the 330 was a lovely, light semi, with a really nice, warm resonance.
It was also incredibly loud but that was down to the bridge P90 being so high, as to almost touch the strings.
I'd like to have taken this one home but it didn't really have the tone I was listening for.
I tried a few Teles out, of which my favourite was a brand new, Fender American Original 50's Telecaster.
Great neck and pickups and again, I'd like to have brought it home.
But I wanted to try a Gretsch and the one that really got my attention was a Brian Setzer 2-Tone Hot Rod with Bigsby.
It was in Roman red, which is somewhere between burgundy and pale purple and is a translucent finish.
It has some lovely striped maple beneath and the sides are a lighter colour than the back & front.
It was a preowned model in mint condition.
The first thing you notice is that it only has one volume and 3-way switch for controls.
Cool, I always have the tone on full anyway and it gives the guitar a nice clean look.
This is a very well put together guitar that also has the benefit of locking tuners.
Which really assists with string changes, a real boon with those notorious Bigsby, string anchor posts.
The only disappointment was the previous owner had set the guitar up with really low, low action and 10 guage strings.
Impossible to play without buzzing and it does nothing for tone either.
But despite that, the TV Jones pickups really shone out, with bags of definition and character.
As a comparison I also played a rather pricey and a little gaudy, G6136T Limited Edition Falcon, in Azure metallic.
Which despite it's slightly O.T.T. looks, I liked and it has the blessing of string-through Bigsby string anchors.
And a rather nice Electromatic G5420T Semi-Hollowbody, in Aspen green.
But to my eyes, ears and hands, the Setzer Hot Rod was the winner.
It is a class act and had by far the smoothest Bigsby tremolo.
So it came home for a really great deal and the first thing I did was put some D'Addario NYXL 11s on and raise the action a tad.
Put it through my Princeton, with spring reverb and some slap back echo, from my TC Electronic Flashback.
Very nice indeed for some vintage rock and  boogying billy.
I even added a little crunch for some lead lines and was very impressed.
I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Gretsch guitars but this Hot Rod is definitely giving me that warm fuzzy feeling.
Specs:
Build: Hollow Body Cutaway
Single CutawayBody
Finish: Gloss Urethane
Body Shape: Nashville® / G6120
Body Material: Laminated Flame Maple
Bracing: 1959 Style Trestle
Body Back Arched Laminated Maple
Body: Top Arched Laminated Maple
Maple Neck
24.6" Scale Length
9.5" Fingerboard Radius
Ebony Fingerboard
22 Frets
TV Jones Brian Setzer Signature Filtertron Pickups
Bigsby Vibrato

grayn

grayn

grayn

grayn

hairmetal

Lovely guitar... HNGD

Caffeine_Vampire

I’m jealous. Beauty. 

steveledzep

Gorgeous.....HNGD

TheMarlin

Sir, you have very good taste!  Beautiful!’

DB1

Lovely. If that came from SAP, that used to be mine. It's a nice one, although it did have an owner after me. The Lucille was one of mine as well. 

LKV_Jazzmaster

What a stunner of a strummer! Happy NGD

grayn

DB1 said:

Lovely. If that came from SAP, that used to be mine. It's a nice one, although it did have an owner after me. The Lucille was one of mine as well. 

Yes, it did.  Well done for looking after it so well.  Now it is strung and set up to my liking, it's just what I was looking for.=)

Dominic

Cumbersome old things but people don't realise just how versatile they are and how easy to play despite the size and depth.
And they do have a very distinctive sound.Lovely guitar.

grayn

Dominic said:

Cumbersome old things but people don't realise just how versatile they are and how easy to play despite the size and depth.
And they do have a very distinctive sound.Lovely guitar.

Yes, no doubt that the hollow, laminated maple body, agricultural trem and TV Jones pickups create something special and well suited to a number of genres.  Funnily enough, I used to find my previous Gretsches a bit cumbersome.  But I have this one sitting a little lower on it's strap and it feels just fine.

TheMarlin

grayn said:

Dominic said:

Cumbersome old things but people don't realise just how versatile they are and how easy to play despite the size and depth.
And they do have a very distinctive sound.Lovely guitar.

Yes, no doubt that the hollow, laminated maple body, agricultural trem and TV Jones pickups create something special and well suited to a number of genres.  Funnily enough, I used to find my previous Gretsches a bit cumbersome.  But I have this one sitting a little lower on it's strap and it feels just fine.

When you get a properly sorted Bigsby, it’s far from agricultural. It’s delicate and offers a level of fineness that other trem units can’t match. 

If you dive bomb your Bigsby, then you’re seriously missing the point. It’s just for the gentlest of touches. 

grayn

"When you get a properly sorted Bigsby, it’s far from agricultural. It’s delicate and offers a level of fineness that other trem units can’t match. If you dive bomb your Bigsby, then you’re seriously missing the point. It’s just for the gentlest of touches."

Thanks Marlin, perhaps "agricultural" was a little overstated but they are a large chunk of metal.
Perhaps "industrial" would have been better.
I'm well aware of what the Bigsby is good for and when it's set up well, like the one on the Setzer is, it is a pleasure to use for subtle and not so subtle vibrato.  
For this type of guitar and the genre I intend to use it for, I can't imagine a better trem.
Unless is was made by Duesenberg.

OilCityPickups

Ooooooo that's proper gorgeous :-)

DB1

grayn said:

DB1 said:

Lovely. If that came from SAP, that used to be mine. It's a nice one, although it did have an owner after me. The Lucille was one of mine as well. 

Yes, it did.  Well done for looking after it so well.  Now it is strung and set up to my liking, it's just what I was looking for.=)

I can't take the credit for it - I only had it for a couple of months (as usual!) and sold it last September/October, but I did ask Andy if it was 'the one' and he confirmed it. We both knew the chap that had it most recently. I more or less came to the conclusion that Gretsches aren't for me, after having about 10 or so in the past couple of years, Can't explain why, and I wish they were, because I think they're lovely. I've just never bonded with one - Country Club, Country Gent, 2 x Hot Rods, SSU, Chet, a Cochran, Black Falcon, White Falcon, Jr Falcon. None of them have stayed - there's been absolutely nothing wrong with any of THEM, so I suspect that the common denominator is me. That Hot Rod is excellent though, and one that I might have kept if there hadn't have been other things that I needed to fund.

grayn

DB1 said:

grayn said:

DB1 said:

Lovely. If that came from SAP, that used to be mine. It's a nice one, although it did have an owner after me. The Lucille was one of mine as well. 

Yes, it did.  Well done for looking after it so well.  Now it is strung and set up to my liking, it's just what I was looking for.=)

I can't take the credit for it - I only had it for a couple of months (as usual!) and sold it last September/October, but I did ask Andy if it was 'the one' and he confirmed it. We both knew the chap that had it most recently. I more or less came to the conclusion that Gretsches aren't for me, after having about 10 or so in the past couple of years, Can't explain why, and I wish they were, because I think they're lovely. I've just never bonded with one - Country Club, Country Gent, 2 x Hot Rods, SSU, Chet, a Cochran, Black Falcon, White Falcon, Jr Falcon. None of them have stayed - there's been absolutely nothing wrong with any of THEM, so I suspect that the common denominator is me. That Hot Rod is excellent though, and one that I might have kept if there hadn't have been other things that I needed to fund.

Well you can't say you haven't given Gretsch a good go.  They are very cool, glamorous guitars but mostly are of a certain size and sound.  I feel the same about Musicman guitars.  I've owned a load of their American models and still think they are some of the best guitars made but I never got that connection with them.  Just wondered, have you ever tried a Duo Jet?