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It's got to be the Gretsch image that kept it out of the hands of jazz players. Gibson and Epiphone had strong jazz followings prior to amplification. Guild was a spin off of Epiphone. The electric jazz archtop was a natural progression for them.
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03-25-2016 07:42 PM
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A few months back I played one of the new Japanese-made Country Gent guitars. Thought it was one of the best-made guitars I'd ever played. Nice fat and mellow jazz tone on tap. If I had had two and a half grand in my pocket, I would have walked home with it. Great fat neck too.
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oh so you guys want subtle??
haha
seriously though, post 67 baldwin era gretsch to fmic 2002 era was sort of gretsch no mans land..to base your opinion of gretsch on a 70's model doesn't work...try a spruce top country club or a vintage streamliner...or
fairly recent jimmy vaughan was a looker
cheers
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now you talking! Those G400 and its variations are really good. I was considering one myself, but was told their are not very loud acoustically, at least not to compare to Gypsy guitars, but they are still awesome!
Originally Posted by neatomic
oh so you guys want subtle??
haha
seriously though, post 67 baldwin era gretsch to fmic 2002 era was sort of gretsch no mans land..to base your opinion of gretsch on a 70's model doesn't work...try a spruce top country club or a vintage streamliner...or
fairly recent jimmy vaughan was a looker
cheers
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Rob if you're talking about these, then Im right with you. I've had two nd would never pass a chance up to buy another and another and another etc..
Just perfect guitars. The neck is the best, the balance and playability are outstanding and the tone is awesome. I love that you get a little extra room between the strings and the slab of ebony they use is the nicest look I'v seen.
Hands down my Fav guitar.
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Well, it wasn't that one, but that looks gorgeous too! The one I tried was the more deep burgundy colour, without an armrest.
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Yes G400s are the gas. I have one. I installed a Shadow Nanomag pickup on it, but I'm thinking of changing it up as it sounds a bit brittle. Anyone here got any good pickup suggestions? A Kent Armstrong floater or DeArmond RC reissue are on my short list.
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When Epiphone came out with the Elitist Country Deluxe I jumped. I loved that guitar in every way but one...major neck dive! The action was great through the 12th fret, and then got progressively higher from 12 to the end of the board. I wanted to send it back to Epi to have that corrected, but the shop from which I bought it refused to send it back as they did not feel it was a problem. I returned it and got my money back. I would have loved to have been able to keep that one, but I just could not get past the neck.
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I think your list of reasons pretty much sums it up. That's how I see it too. Originally Posted by feet
Filtertrons with the tone rolled off a bit can sound just as warm and jazzy as most other humbuckers.
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George was playing his 7 string Epiphone up until he started with Gretsch. Gretsch didn't have a 7 string in their catalog; George got them to build one for him. I don't know if he approached Gretsch or Gretsch approached him but Gretsch did not have a 7 string until George hooked up with them. Originally Posted by wintermoon
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I'm with you Rob, if I could get a country gent without the bigsby and a single humbucker... One sweet jazz box.
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You said didn't understand I gave my reasons. Even a B6 ( of which I had two) undeniably adds weight, presses FIRMLY down on the top and is for me and probably like mos Originally Posted by Zigracer
people main reasons we will not own a weighty useless item. Gretch has WAY too few models without a trem, I for one think that is a VERY stupid marketing ploy. My anni, Tim Armstrng, and 3161 came with tp's as did (from the po) the 5120. Gretsch are or can easily be GREAT guitars but dicking with removing them is extremely unpalatable to many, and add to that the fussiness some have over initial appearance the trem will ALWAYS keep many from even considering a git with one installed.
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gretsch has owned bigsby since 1999...
cheers
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Bigsby and those funky metal bridges with the shit sticking up on them. Stupid.
I hate Gretsches. They're gorgeous, sound awesome, and are so uncomfortable for me to play I can never own one. Bastards.
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Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
Is this the Country Gent you played?
Only a few were made in 1959 and only for Chet Atkins' approval (Chet kept the best one). 25.5" scale instead of 24.6" and 1 3/4 nut, and a tone knob instead of the tone switch (mud switch). Pickups were prototypes made by Ray Butts, TV Jones has replicated these.
After Chet died his guitar was measured and this model was finally put into production as the G6122-1959. For finger style this guitar is hard to beat. Gretsch announced a lacquer version at 2016 Winter NAMM, the G6122T-1959GE .
Last edited by MaxTwang; 03-26-2016 at 01:47 PM.
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Gretsch was a major player in the 50's and 60's with country, rock, rockabilly and jazz players: Chet Atkins, George Van Eps, George Harrison, Lenny Breau, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochrane, Mike Nesmith and others being Gretsch players. Gibson had Les Paul and a bunch of guys playing jazz (and we know those jazz guys were smoking dope and shooting heroine).
Baldwin bought Gretsch in 1967 and moved production out of New York (and left the guitar builders behind). Baldwin's poor quality control and the binding issues severely damaged Gretsch's image; binding rot is a problem on pre-Baldwin Gretsch's as well, and is attributed to the binding reacting to the solvent glue used to adhere the binding.
Another factor was cultural shift: In the 60's we were becoming a more 'cosmopolitan' culture and turning our back on all things rural, country and cowboy. As part of TV's "Rural Purge" of the late 60's and early 70's Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, Lassie, Petticoat Junction, and others were cancelled while most of these shows had high ratings. At the same time Chet Atkins, one of Nashville's top producers, 'saved' country music with the "Nashville Sound" or "Countrypolitan" - he eliminated honky tonk and twang and introduced strings and smooth backing vocals. When asked what the "Nashville Sound" was, Chet would shake the change in his pocket and say "It's the sound of money".
The "cowboy guitar" was no longer in style and rock music changed in the late 60's, Gretsch was out and Gibson, with the Les Paul back in production, was in.
As far as the Gretsch sound, Filtertrons may be considered 'twangy' but IMHO they are the humbucker that is closest to the sound of classic single coil (DeArmonds & Dynasonics are still well regarded). A big problem with Gretsch is the "tone switch" instead of a tone pot; the "tone switch" has 3 preset tones and the "jazz" tone has a lot of highs rolled off, hence the term "mud switch". Find a Gretsch with Filtertrons, standard tailpiece and a tone pot and you're opinion of Gretsch might change.
On a final note, if you find a Gretsch with a Melita bridge - those fit nicely in the case pocket, Tru-Arc makes outstanding replacement bar bridges out of a number of metals depending on the tone you're looking for..
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Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven
Rob if you're talking about these, then Im right with you. I've had two nd would never pass a chance up to buy another and another and another etc..
Just perfect guitars. The neck is the best, the balance and playability are outstanding and the tone is awesome. I love that you get a little extra room between the strings and the slab of ebony they use is the nicest look I'v seen.
Hands down my Fav guitar.
Gibson's Chet Atkins Country Gentleman. I like the upgraded 'wire' Bigsby handle in the pic. Great guitar, especially the later models with the lighter balsa center block. The neck is really unique and wide, made for finger style.
Add a set of TV Jones pickups and you have a really special guitar; supposedly Chet tried to get Gibson to make Ray Butts designed pickups for the Country Gent. I always wondered if Chet's personal Gibsons had custom pickups as he still sounded like he had Filtertrons and not 57 Classics or 490R/498T which came on Gibson Country Gents.
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I play jazz on this:
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There's a 3155 at the LGS that I think is quite fetching. Cat eye f holes, gold hardware.... Oh snap I'm talking myself into it, aren't I .... Must resist.... Must resist....
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Cal Collins and his Gretsch:
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Nice Cal Collins clip. I had a couple of those double-cutaway, CA-6120 Nashvilles. One had a Melita bridge. Neither one, though, had a Supertron in the neck position like Collins' guitar. I still miss those guitars--especially the one with the Melita.
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Great Cal Collins clip! Didn't realize he was another one of the 3 finger players. Awesome player and great sound on that gretsch.
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I have a g3161, it's a GREAT guitar. No trem and from what I read this series were the "re-entry " models into the market and made by peerless. Prices on these are VERY low and a GR8 deal Originally Posted by atracksler
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