Gretsch 6152 Combo

Others have already covered it,though there seems to be some variation. This one has a 12" vintage speaker, trem & reverb-in-a-box, otherwise as the others have described in terms of tube lineup, controls, and inputs. has a polarity reverse, which is handy if it still has the ungrounded two prong chord of death.

never seen any other amp w/4 preamp tubes per output tube. ok that's an observation, rather than feature...or is it? only circuit monkeys truly know

looks totally bitchen' w/ol'timey gry bumpy tolex, even on the handle. that's feature for me.

It's got a nice cabinet & point-point wiring. That's worht a hi rating

pretty good at all volumes, but sounds best driven. cranking the reverb when the volume is maxed really increase the drive. some circuit thing, i guess. max the volume & reverb & it cooks, w/ lotsa fuzz & grind, kinda like N. young tone on Zuma, and can really dial in the link wray thing, but at pretty low volumes. probably clocks in at about 5 watts. really cool tube sag. totally garage vibe tone regardless of the axe you use, which is good thing.

trem's pretty good, though depth control is always better.

reverb is ok, way better than i thought could come out of something in short cardboard box. don't let this thing get wet or the reverb box will melt!
it only does a coupla things soundwise, but those coupla things it does really, really well

it's like more than 40 yrs old and plays killer w never a snag. that's pretty reliable. the cool thing about this simple amps and their wiring is they're easy to fix, modify, tho i never had to tinker with this one

gretsch is owned by fender now...if you bug 'em up for help w this ol' amp they'll pissing themselves w/laughter...and won't help. they are all about f*&^ing over musicians for money. one of the best things about buying an ol vintage amp like this is that the corprate bu**holes at fender don't get a penny.

these are really, really cool amps, really well built. the price has kinda been driven up by collector types, i think, but even for what they cost now, they are still way cooler sounding better built amps than the ones you can buy new for more. and it is about the coolest looking retro tonebox i ever played, so i can understand the collector thing, sorta

I really do love the tubilicious box o sizzle. i think i'll plug it in & rock instead of going on about my gear & playing style

Mine is a 1964 model with the old oval speaker design. It's a 5-watt amp, which is perfect if you want genuine tube distortion. Other people have already elaborated on the features. I only wish the vibrato had an intensity control. Also, they located the controls right over the driver tubes - it gets a bit hot to the touch after a while.

For reference, I play a Guild X-500 through the amp. Despite the fact that this was a rather cheap amp when it was built, I like its sound much more than, say, a Super Reverb - it's much warmer with a stronger low end (certainly for the speaker size). I particularly like how it distorts at about 1/3 of full volume.

The reverb tank needed mending when I got it (the wires isolating the springs from the housing just corroded away) and there's a bit of rust on the control panel. However, once I replaced the tubes (which I think were also several decades old) and gave it a cosmetic touch-up, it was as good as new. For a 41-year-old amp, I'd say that's pretty darn reliable. Occasionally it crackles with the reverb turned up, and replacing the preamp and driver tubes hasn't fully solved this problem, but most of the time it's alright.

I suspect it's a wee bit out of warranty by now... I don't know anything about Gretsch's current customer support, but I sincerely doubt they would have anything to do with this dinosaur.

A little crunch goes a long way in creating a warm sound. This amp is incredibly warm and is perfect for rock, blues or country. Every time I turn it on I feel like I've stepped into the 1960s.

This amp dates to 1966 with same year Jensen C12 speaker. It is very light and compact. Tubes are RCA 5Y3 rectifier, 1 6V6 power tube, and 4 12AX7s. Low wattage like a Fender Champ. Top mounted controls include 2 regular inputs, a treble input, and controls for volume, tone, tremolo, reverb. The amp is good for blues, country, old style rock and roll. I use it as a practice amp because it gives good tones at low volumes. For its day it had a lot of features.

I use this with Fender Strat and Tele, and Guild T-100D and Starfire VI. Sounds fine for blues, old style rock and roll, country. Gives bell like clean tones with the volume turned down, smooth breakup and pretty thick overdrive with the volume turned up. Very sensitive to type of guitar, guitar volume levels, fingering, pick attack etc. Tone control gives a usable range from bassy to trebly. Tremolo is non adjustable for intensity, and is set fairly intense. It sounds better than blackface Fender to my ears, but the speed control ranges from not quite slow enough to way too fast. Reverb is a lot better than Silvertone and Harmony amps I have heard but not as "wet" as a good Fender. However it is very usable and definitely gets into the "surf" zone turned all the way up. The amp can be noisy in some places especially with the reverb turned up.

It is well built, has never given any troubles. Considering it is almost 40 years old that is pretty good.

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Have been playing for about 30 years. For playing out I use a 1967 Fender Super Reverb or a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb. This amp is pretty much just for practice at home without scaring the neighbors or the family. It isnt loud enough to practice with a group. Although no reason it couldnt be used with a microphone into the PA. It is pretty rare, at least I have never seen another one, if it were stolen or lost I would try to find another. Valco made basically the same amp for Supro, National, Airline - according to the Gretsch pages website - but I've never seen any of those around either. What makes it nice as a practice amp is it has real good tone at low volumes with usable reverb and tremolo, and is very light. It replaced a 1965 Fender Princeton Reverb which was my other practice amp.

My Valco built Gretsch 6152 was built in the mid 60's. It is a low wattage, compact sized amplifier with an 8" Jenson speaker that is similar to the Fender Champ. The modest top mounted controls consist of 3 inputs (including "treble" input)and 1 each Volume, Tone, Tremelo and Reverb knobs. It also includes a foot switch input for the reverb and tremelo (my amp is missing the switch, however). A simple on/off toggle switch and fuse holder complete the no-nonsense look of the chromed panel. Black tolex with a stripe of white piping (as seen on most Valco amps from the period) help show off the amps most pleasant visual feature- a gold colored grill cloth and classic "Gretsh" logo.

This amp has a unique sound. It has the Fender Champ tube circuit but has a slighly smoother distortion at lower volumes. It has nice clean tones (not as "chimey" as a Fender Champ) but really shines when the volume is turned up and the guitars volume control is used to taste. You can also get some good tones with this amp cranked all the way up without getting the neighbers too upset. My main guitar is a Les Paul reissue but I feel single coil guitars are better suited to this amp. The reverb is a bit shallow. It has a relatively small reverb tank. It sounds ok but will never give you a deep, lush Fender or Ampeg type echo. I use it to add a bit of flavor to the tone. The tremelo is unique. It is a very "choppy" tremelo. Sounds great when you want a very up front type effect. There is really no subtle tremelo available from this amp (if you don't like the tremelo you can always pull the out tubes and give the amp a bit more gain). This amp, like all old tube amps, can be noisy if kept to close to other electronic devices.

I have owned this amp for about 2 years now. I don't know how many previous owners there were but it was well kept(save for some tolex tears and rust on the hardware). I have experienced only pleasure from this amp - not one problem. This amp is almost 40 years old. That says alot.

If you are into vintage amps you are on your own here.

I am 42 years of age and finally own the guitar of my dreams- a Gibson 1958 Les Paul Reissue. I also own a Tele clone I put together from parts. Lately, I have been reliving my youth and play mostly Classic rock and Blues. I realize more and more that the old "stuff" really was made better (just like Dad always told me!) and have now developed a taste for vintage amps. I don't have a big budget so I started small. This Gretsch 6152 was the first "old" amp I purchased and will always have sentimental value to me (it also looks GREAT in my living room). I have since purchased a 70's era fender Champ and a 60's era Airline(Danelectro). The Gretsh 6152's tone is unique and compliments the Champ nicely. I often play them in stereo. They are great "at home" type amps. They are probably too fragile(after nearly 40 years) to gig with but I am sure they would mic up fine. I recommend you try some of the MANY old, affordable Valco made amps out there for sale. Supro's are a bit over priced but Gretsch, Airline, National and other nameplates are very affordable.