NGD: Gretsch G6120SH-RRED Brian Setzer 2-Tone Hot Rod
Apr 20, 2019 17:26:16 GMT
Martin, Akquarius, and 4 more like this
Post by grayn on Apr 20, 2019 17:26:16 GMT
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.
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.