Gretsch 6117 Anniversary

1968 6117 Anniversery model. Standard hollowbody size for Gretsch. Tobacco burst finish. 2 Hi-Lo Tron pickups, pickup selector switch, tone switch, Master Volume, Pickup Volume, and Tone Control knobs. No Bigsby here...just the G brand chrome tailpiece. Maple body and neck. Appears to have a rosewood fretboard but, to me it feels like ebony. My other 3 Gretschs have ebony so it may just be a little wear. Pretty simple and straight foward. I like it.

I play mostly rock, blues, rockabilly style music. That's why I bought it. When I got it I thought about swapping pickups to FilterTrons because the Hi Lo's have a bad rap. They are single coils from what I have read on www.gretschpages.com . I plugged her in and I was very suprised!! They sound great!!!! I'm keeping them (also keeps it original). Very clear and punchy. I don't really notice much hum. I cranked my Soldano and it does not hum at all. The neck pu is fat and round sounding. Good for blues and jazz if need be. Both together have a nice mix of twang and roundness. The bridge pu is twangy and punchy w/o being to bright. It really cranks when the amp is overdriven. I also have a Setzer Hot Rod model. They sound a little different from each other. The Hi Lo's almost have a P90 type bite. I really love it. I use it with a Marshall JCM 2000, Soldano SLO 100 and VHT Pittbul. Although this thing screams "Play me through a vintage Fender amp!" which I intend to do soon. Great for rock a la AC/DC, Tom Petty, Social Distortion and Setzer type rockabilly.

She's pretty old with some nicks and bumps but the finish has held up well. Some spiderwebbing near the edges but not much. It does need to be rebound. It's really cracked and in places looks like it could fall off. Other than that....she looks great with a good coat of polish. It's held up well for a 33 year old guitar. Neck is very straight and fast. Really small frets though but, typical of all my Gretschs. The actions is smooth and fast. It's hard to tell the flaws because it is so old. I'll subtract a couple points for the binding.

Held up great for 33 years. Definatly would play her live. Strap buttons are solid as well. Stays in tune great.

Have not had to call or write them at all. I give Gretsch a 7 because you cannot email them with questions.

I love it. Been playing for 13 years and thtis is my 4th Gretsch. I love the Gretsch sound and this is a great variation to have with my Setzer Hot Rod. For the price I paid it was a steal. Love the sound and playibility. Not real big on the roller bridge because it can be easily knocked out of wack and it's a floater as well. No biggy. It is a beautiful finish and color. If you want a unique sound for rock and blues, try one. A must for rockabilly guys .I really like the sound of Hi Lo Tron's. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

This "double anniversary" is a suburst 6120 type single cutaway body with F-holes. The (rare) type II label (but with "that great Gretsch sound" printed on bottom) inside the body says 10084 making it nr. 84 from October 1970. Nevertheless ALL features indicate it was made earlier (brass "G-with-arrow-knobs", CTS pots from '66, missing zero fret, round style pickguard, neck thrust rod on head etc.). It is probably a '67 one sold from the "old stock" by Baldwin. Nevertheless it is one from the Baldwin-era and frankly I don't care. It's in perfect shape and I rather have one that I can afford than no one at all :-)

Mine has a Bigsby installed which is probably not standard. It has two single coil Hilotron pickups, each pickup has got it's own volume control. There's also a master volume (working on both pickups). Of course there is a 3-way pickup switch and there is a 3 way tone-switch.

About this tone switch: I hate it! It sucks ALL the highs from your signal. This feature is completely useless to me, if you don't want twang, why buy a Gretsch anyway? Maybe people might find it usefull for easy rhythm playing or jazz licks but to me it sounds like crap. I hear you think "well, then don't use it then!". Right, but the problem is that it's located in the same area where the pickup switch is, so it's *very* in the way! I will keep it there for looks but I will fix it in middle position and electronically "disarm" it (and still hate it).

I like the "very grabable" master volume control, but I didn't like the pot cutting the highs. I installed a capacitor to avoid this behaviour. I don't understand why this is not a standard feature on any guitar. I probably will also install C's for for the individual pickup volume pots because the neck pickup's output is slightly less than the bridge pickup. The pickup hight is not adjustable (fixed) so I need to adjust the balance with the bridge pickup's volume control and I don't want to loose that spanky twang!

The neck feels normal, not too fat and not to thin and has white (cream) bindings. The frets are also quite normal, a bit worn out and edgy, thinking of having it refretted with jumbo's.

Normal features for a 30 year old rock 'n' roll guitar, one extra point for the Bigsby! One penalty for the tone switch.

I bought this guitar for rockabilly, country and rhythm 'n' blues style songs (Paladins stuff) and it is excellent for that. At first I was in doubt buying it, because the "real" Gretsch sound to me is the Filtertron sound. Gretsches are *very* expensive over here in the wet 'n' windy Netherlands and I just couldn't find an affordable one with Filtertrons.

Anyway, I very happy with it because the Hilotrons turned out to be quite good for my style of playing! The pickups have low output (less than a single coil from a Strat) but my '69 Fender Super Reverb has plenty of power left so that's not a problem.

The bridge pickup seemed to be very (too) trebly for me at first but on the Super it's actually wonderfull. For solo's it's a crystal clear twangy and rockabilly bass-string-licks really step out. The neck pickup is smooth and jazzy but also has that twang (which is a good thing!). The middle position (both pickups) is the ideal compromise. Chords seem to last forever but when soloing this guitar doesn't have much sustain but Gretsches are known for that aren't they? To be honest, this Gretsch is not a very versatile guitar but it is PERFECT for my rockabilly and rhythm & blues tunes. If I want SRV blues I just use my Strat, for bluesrock I use my Epi Genesis.

My setup is a typical plug 'n' play configuration: Gretsch, cable, Fender Super Reverb. I mostly turn up my Super to 6 or 7 for a beautifull crunch and some tube sag sustain. At that settings the amp is LOUD! I did experience some "feedback" (it's not feedbacking, it's resonating!) now and then, but it is managable. I can imagine that if you like to play with more distortion, you loose control.

I still like Filtertrons better that's why this one gets an 8 for sound!

I think an old Gretsch is like an old motorbike. It might not be that comfortable, versatile or practical but it has a lot of character and that is making up for all the "inconveniences"! It looks Spartanic to play but when you get used to it, it's actually not so bad. With the .54 - .11 strings it's still hard work though!

The finish is OK for a 30 year old USA guitar but I would have expected it to be a little bit better in general.

I is 30 years old and will probably last another 30 because I carry it around in it's original case. The hardware's still ok and also the electrical circuit seems to be fine.

The Gretsches from the new Gretsch company look fine but are all made in Korea and don't have the character of an old one. Haven't dealt with the Gretsch company but they're probably not interested in the old ones, they just want to sell new ones. Nevertheless I like them for making the Brian Setzer Hot Rod and the re-issue alnico Filtertrons. Indicates that they appreciate what's happened in the past.

Anyway, for support I just go to my local vintage guitar shop, there aren't many (none?) Gretsch dealers in The Netherlands anyway. You can find a lot of info on http://www.gretschpages.com

This guitar is in the original case and is bought at Arthur's Music store in Indianapolis (sticker on case). They're still in business and I like to get in touch with them but they don't have email (anyone?).

I intended to replace the Hilotrons with Filtertrons but it requires some work on the body that I'd rather not do to my 6117. There are people who done this and are very happy with their "poor man's 6120". Anyway, the Hilo's turned out to be fine for me so for the time being I'll leave them in place.

This guitar still was quite expensive for my budget, but compared to other Gretsches it's relatively cheap. It might be a budget model but it is 100% USA Gretsch, sounds and plays like one. I really like hollow body guitars and I love my "double Annie" for being a lot of Gretsch for money.

This a 1964 model in sunburst with two hi lo tron single coil pickups,it is all original apart from having some non original grover closed back machineheads which are great so I have no complaint on that count.This guitar has the typical single cutaway hollow body shape and a non tremelo G tailpiece

I play a sort of indie/psychobilly velvet underground kind of thing so this guitar is ideal.I use a fender Hotrod Deluxe amp(reverb always on) and for effects I use a Marshall vibratrem a boss DD3(mainly for short slapback delay) and a boss bass synth pedal(for occasional madness and cool underwater backwards stuff) and also a variety of fuzz pedals. The pickups are very quiet and sound exacly like you would expect a gretsch to ranging from a huge hollow dark twangyness at the neck pickup to a bright brittle twang(again) at the bridge and a divine jangle inbetween on clean ,edge in the overdrive and were in early Stones territory and even at full overdrive the guitars dynamics are never drowned out individual notes still ring out clearly and chords crash and clang in that classic gretsch dynamic of high attack with low sustain,a fantastic rythym guitar

this guitar is not pristine but it is tidy enough for it's 36 years but it's all character right.I had the guitar set up when I bought it and it now plays nicely enough though there are lots of easier guitars to play but for style and sound it's a fair trade,

This guitar has lasted this long despite obvious use and seems very solid and ithe most reliable guitar I have owned.the gretsch strap buttons lock on so there is no chance of droppage and the tuning thanks to the grovers is great,I would use backup in gig as even the most glorious guitar can break a string bUt on any other count I would not worry at all.

I Think it may be a bit late to ask about the warranty

I have been playing seven years and have wanted a gretsch for most of those and upon fulfilling my dream I have not been dissapointed.I have always had lots of guitars mainly copies including a sattelite les paul copy(unplayable almost) a Fenix tele copy(good but heavy) a Tanglewood ricky 330 copy(very good and still with me) a Gibson 1972 SG2(great sound and playability but terrible reliability)a Squier Supersonic(too bloody small so I sold it after 2 weeks) and most recently a Columbus 335 copy 1970's I think and a very nice guitar though I may change the pickups still my Gretsch is miles better than any of these.If this guitar was stolen I would murder the person who took it if I did'nt get it back I would definitely buy another one.
the only thing that is not perfect about this guitar is it does not have a bigsby but I have just bought one so problem solved.