Gretsch 6120W

Mine is a 2001 that I purchased new. The specs have been covered here and they are listed on the GretschGuitars.com Web site. The short version is that this is based on the mid-50's G6120. The original G brand (burnt into the wood) has been replaced with silk screen. This is the third G6120 I have owned and I prefer this model because it does not have the zero fret and tone switch on the upper bout as did later 50's 6120's. I would have preferred the D'Armond (Dynasonic) pickups (G6120SW) but couldn't find an affordable G6120 so equipped. I like the kitschy G brand and cowboy inlays on the neck but that fits the kind of music I play.

The routing for the Filtertron pickups won't allow you to substitute D'Armonds. (When I bought the guitar I took it to Duke Kramer and he tried.) The size of the Filtertrons also means I can't replace the neck PU with a P-90 like Eddie did. Oh well...

I play mainly Blues, Rockabilly, Swing, and related styles. (Trad 50's style, not neo-Rockabilly or Psychobilly.) The G6120W works well for that Eddie Cochrae - Duane Eddy style. I prefer the brighter sound of single coil pickups but with some tweaking can get by. The sound post helps make feedback easier to control (I have an ES-295 that howls if I'm not careful) but it's still archtop sensitive enough to make feedback easy to use. I play through a 2x12 Blues DeVille, 1x12 Blues Deluxe, or 1x12 Blues Jr. depending on the size of the venue. Mostly bright and clean but I add a little crunch with the amp or a TS-9 Tube Screamer as needed. I use a little reverb or an analog delay for slap back echo. The neck pickup is louder than the bridge but the separate volume controls let me mix the levels easily. I tend to control volume on the guitar rather than running flat out and using pedals or the amp.

Setup from the factory was disappointing for such an expensive guitar. With some tweaking I got it close but still had problems with the low E string popping off the bridge saddle. The high E would occasionally pop out at the nut too which is ridiculous. I had a luthier make a new nut and slightly deepen the bridge saddle slots and that fixed it but that should have been done at the factory. The action was easy to adjust and a tiny bit of sticky wax on the legs of the bridge keeps it from slipping. I fingerpick (Scotty Moore-style) and damping with my palm heel on the bridge used to move it easily.

The finish is mostly good though there is one flaw on the neck binding. You can't easily see it but I can feel it when I'm playing about the 12th fret. The gold plating on the bridge and Bigsby is rubbing off but that happens on every guitar I own. (I prefer chrome or nickel plating.)

Other than the above the fit and finish wasn't bad but I'm rating it lower because a guitar at this price simply should not leave the factory with flaws like that. I hear that Gretsch QC is better now.

I've been gigging with this guitar regularly for about 7 years. Once the original problems with the bridge and nut were corrected I have not had any problems with it. It is sad to pay so much and then have to pay a luthier to fix things like that but it helped.

The G6102W is NOT a guitar to thrash around with. If I played music that required raucous stage behavior I would use a Tele or Strat instead. You also don't want to leave a G6120 (or any archtop) leaning against an amp when you take a break. A fall that wouldn't hurt a solid body could easily damage a hollow box like this. It is also important to protect it from abrupt changes in temperature and humidity. I live in Texas and if I left this axe in my car during the summer it would be crumbling by now. You don't have to baby it but you should treat any hollow body archtop with a little care.

DEFINITELY get the hardshell case with the guitar. This is not a box to toss around in a gig bag.

I would NEVER play a gig without a backup. You can have a problem with even the most reliable guitar. I've been playing too long to ever do a gig without a backup. (One big embarrassment is all it takes.) I would rather bring a backup I don't use than risk finding myself limping through three sets with a problematic guitar.

Never had to deal with them. A friend of mine knows Fred Gretsch well and tells me that Customer Support is getting better (and initial quality) but I can't speak from experience.

For simple problems I am more likely to take the guitar to a luthier I trust than to return it for warranty repair. I figure if they got it wrong at the factory why should I trust them? If the guitar has serious enough problems I will return it to the mfgr for refund or replacement. I've never had to do that with a Gretsch but I have with guitars from another well known company who's name begins with G.

I have been playing 35+ years and play acoustic and electric. On electric I stick mainly to Blues, Rockabilly, Swing, Roots, Jump Blues, and Cajun-Zydeco. At the moment I am playing with two Rockabilly bands and I use the G6120W often. I usually take a '52 reissue Tele as my backup so I can get that Luther Perkins sound when needed.

I like the G6120W and, if stolen, I would get another one. (Though I would look for a G6120SW or a G6120W-1957.) In fact I did - an earlier G6120 I owned was stolen. (Don't leave the damn things unattended in a car trunk even for a moment!) That said, I like the G6120W but I'm not in love with it. Gretsch can do better and, for the money, they should. I'm hoping that FMI's involvement will lead to a better generation of Gretsch guitars.

If you like the idea of a G6120 but the price bothers you, consider a G5120 Electromatic instead. The fit, finish, quality, and sound is nearly equal and the G5120 costs 1/3 to 1/4 the price of a new G6120.

Another review suggested trying the G6120 with your own amp. That is a very wise suggestion. A Strat or Les Paul gets along with many different types of amps but hollow archtops, especially Gretsch's, do not. Also try playing this guitar standing up if that's the way you play most of the time. Some people find the deep box difficult to grapple with. If you are used to a solid body slab it will take some getting used to. The same is true if you aren't used to a single cut-away.

Mine is 2001. Made in Japan. Here are the stock specs
NECK:
- Three piece rock maple neck
- Rosewood ebony-stained fingerboard
- Block pearl inlay position markers with
Western motif, featuring
- individual block inlays of cactus,
steerheads, rifles and arrows
- Adjustable truss rod
- 24-1/2" scale, joined at 14th fret
- Curly maple bound headpiece with
horseshoe pearl inlay

* BODY:
- 16" wide, 2-3/4" deep
- Laminated maple construction
- Open-bound oversized F holes
- Multiple binding
- Single cutaway
- "G" brand on top

* ELECTRONICS:
- Dual high sensitive FiltertronTM
adjustable pickups
- Pickup selector switch
- Tone control
- volume control for each pickup
- Master volume control

* FEATURES:
- 24K gold-plated metal parts
- Solid brass control knobs, 24K
gold-plated
- Deluxe high gear ratio enclosed
machines
- Adjustamatic roller bridge with individual
string adjustments.
- Gretsch Bigsby flat handle vibrato
tailpiece
- Western maple stain finish,
hand-polished

I have not owned a Gretsch before, but have wanted a 6120 for quite a while. I play various "self-contained" kinds of styles, fingerpicking and rhythm styles for playing alone with voice, and I wanted an electric sound that works well for this - acoustics are fine, but limited to, well, an "acoustic sound" and sound of a solid-electric just doesnt "sit right" for this kind of thing. Also I love Brian Setzers playing, and knew he mostly uses 6120 (altho not this version).
I knew of a "W" that was available, but when I read the panning it received on the Gretsch forum for its "lacklustre" looks, and poor details, I was put off, and tried a number of the mainstream models, with the tone switch on the top shoulder. They were all ok, but none of them was exactly what I wanted tonally. Since the "W" was ??300 cheaper, I drove the 80 miles to look at it. This model is less popular because of the cowboy motifs, and the (silk-screened) G-brand, which not everyone wants, but when I saw it, I didnt have a huge problem with its looks. If you want an authentic faithful reproduction of the original version of this guitar, it may not be for you. I have to like the loook and vibe of a guitar, but the bottom line is how it sounds and feels. The main issue for me was that I would prefer to have the tone switch rather than the rotary tone control fitted to this model, and also the bridge is very basic, providing no adjustments for individual string intonation. However, when I plugged it in (Fender Hotrod Blues Deluxe 40W combo), any reservations disappeared. This guitar provided everything I had been after. It has a beautiful full and rounded voice when using a clean sound, but the Filtertron pickups can provide a gorgeous edge when the dirt is applied.
SOme have said this guitar sounds really bad, and all I can say is maybe they didnt plug it in, or used an unsuitable amp, because I have to say, when I heard how lousy it sounded acoustically - having a really "cheap" sounding brighness to it,I would not have predicted how great this guitar is when plugged in. Very versatile, and with very full tone.
I should say here, that pretty much all my playing is recording, and all my live playing has been as a bass player, so I cannot comment on the performance of this guitar using it live, and nor do I have the experience to compare it to other guitars live. I do use a variety of guitars for recording, and am pretty picky about getting a real "sound" so thats pretty much what this review is based on.
To anyone looking for a 6120 for the first time, my opinion is just try a few 'til you find the one that's for you, cos like any model of guitar, they all feel different, despite having identical specs. Mine is fantastic, and gives a me a hell of alot back.

This one was a used guitar so I cant comment on factory set up. One slight concern was that there was a little bit of subtle string buzz when I got it (fitted with 11 guage strings), and sighting along the neck, I could clearly see the "bump" where the relief-section of the neck begins. (On these guitars, when neck relief is adjusted, only the off-body section is affected). When I went to adjust the neck, I found that the truss rod was pretty much "full-out" so I could not make any great adjustment here. This means (as far as my knowlege goes) that only heavier strings wioll bring the neck further forward, and 11s are heavy enough for me! However, with the small amount of adjustment that was possible, the neck seems to have settled nicely, and a low action - not super-low, but very acceptably low, has been achieved.
I have to agree with the comments on the grtschpages guitar forums, noting the "cheesy" quality of some of the details of this guitar. The fret-inlay pictures are quite cartoon-like, and the Nashville logo is pathetically poor - like someone did a 5-second sketch, and they said "ok we'll use that." But the looks of the guitar are not as over the top as I expected, and overall, I like it. The machine heads are fine, and the Bigsby and tilting bridge system seems to work well, without any detuning problems so far.

Generally a robust feeling, well - finished guitar.

No experience here

I have been playing about 30 years, on and off. My other guitars are a 1967 Gibson 330, 1996 Japanese Jaguar, Martin acoustic and an Italia Mondial. Main amp is Fender Hotrod Blues Deluxe. SOmetimes use the Line 6 Green (delay) and blue (modulation) modellers. All recording done with a G4 / G5 macs.
If this guitar were stolen, I would be looking for another one straight away, though the next one would probably not be a "W"
Like I said, I wish it had the shoulder-positioned tone switch, cos you can get to it so fast. Maybe I'll fit one, but it would mean drilling wouldn't it? :0/

-93 re-issue model, bought it used, all stock with fancy western motives & decors, hehe!

Suits me fine, I play mostly old rock & roll and rockabilly.
My amps are fender pro junior and hotrod deluxe plus an age old ymaha analog delay. Works fine for my purposes although it took me while to get used to Filtertrons after 8 yrs with tennessean and hilotron.

Everything works fine, only things I did were I grounded the bridge with tape, adjusted the bigsby by placin a piece of leather
under the spring.

After two gigs I can say , no problems. The feared feedback and howl did occure but that's only a plus for me

no experiences, I bought it used. the place I bought it is very reliable and their service and knowledge is the best in finland,

I think I'll try the TV-jones someday, otherwise it's ok!

2002 Gretsch 6120 Nashville Western, made in Japan. You know, the big orange daddy with the G brand and the fancy western inlays in the neck. Gold hardware, flame headstock, Bigsby whammy bar, hardshell case. Go to the Gretsch website for details. I bought it in January 2003 and have been using it regularly in the studio and on stage.

I had never even played a Gretsch on stage when I got this. I bought it from an out-of-state dealer based on having played a bunch of Gretsch guitars locally to decide which model I wanted. I knew I wanted that big hollow-body sound, and I wanted something that not everyone would have. I started looking at Falcons, but that big orange guitar just seemed too cool to pass up. After calling every dealer in the US, I found this one in Las Vegas, at about the same time Fender was taking over Gretsch. This guitar has both demons and angels living in it. Its defnitely not forgiving like a Tele or Les Paul, but then again, most hollowbodies aren't. If you are in control, you can masterfully weave that sustain and feedback into whatever you are doing. If the demon rears its ugly head, this bitch will feedback without notice and have 'em all on the floor holding their ears. I am playing hard-driving Texas country, western swing, classic rock, rockabilly and blues. This amp is quite capable of all of that, though it will never touch a Tele for raw twang. But then, it wasn't designed for that. All the classic sounds are there, from Duane Eddy to Chet Atkins. But I can make La Grange and Highway to Hell pour out of it like a spilled coke. I have it set up with heavy Boomer strings and it works with a slide quite well. I may never get used to the volume knob positions because they are down beneath the pickguard cover. You can forget getting to them on the fly. I just set it on 10 and use a volume pedal. Surprisingly, the whammy bar stays in tune quite well.

Its very easy to tell that this is made on an assembly line. Its almost too pretty to look hand-built. Asians are masterful copycats and this shows exactly that. And all the rumors are true, the pickup switch crackles a bit and the bridge pickup is weaker than the neck. But these are issues that can be overcome. This particular guitar was spotless except for a small imperfection right in the 90 degree angle of ivory where the back of the neck joins the body. The poly coating has a hairline surface crack, which I will fill with CA and no one will ever know. Action is good, but the 13th fret was buzzing on the little E string and I have since fixed that myself. Unike Gibsons, the gold hardware seems very susceptable to staining and fading from fingerprints and sweat, so its a must to wipe it down thoroughly after every show, and really polish on it the next morning. The roller bridge and floating taipiece could easily become a pain the butt for intonation, especially for novices. Gretschophiles tell you to tape it down with double-sided tape, but I have yet to do that.

As I stated, this guitar looks like a work of art. That makes it hard to want to take it out and risk banging it into mic stands and spilling beer all over it. Unfortunately I play with several acts and one in particular is developing a sound around what this guitar and I do together. So, the thought of leaving it at home and only taking it out on Sunday is gone. But its defnitely a guitar that you will want to play often, if you like the Gretsch sound and style. Its got a nice thick coat of poly on it, but that stuff will surely crack if you subject it to radical temperature changes. I think its built well enough, but I think keeping it clean and polished, and safeguarding it on stage is a must. Unlike a Tele or Les Paul, it will not survive being kicked over even once by the drunk hostess who wants to come on stage and talk into the mic at her own party.

I bought it from Bizarre Guitar in Las Vegas. They are a Gretsch dealer. It was nicely set up and they went to great lengths to send me pics ahead of time so I knew what I was getting. They told me they keep their finer guitars in the glass case with a humidifier, away from Beavis and Butthead. They had this one almost a year before I bought it and it didn't have a spec of dirt nor even a polishing scratch when it arrived. Haven't had to deal with Gretsch, but now that they're Fender, I have no expectation of getting anything out of them even if I needed it. The Gretsch Discussion Pages was helpful too. You can read hundreds of posts about everything under the sun.

I have played professionally for 20 years and currently have a Fender Custom Shop Nashville Tele (Tele and Strat wiring) and a Taylor 914 CE acoustic. I play through a Boogie DC-5 combo. Don't buy a Gretsch without playing several types. Each model is very different in tone and playability. And whatever you do, you'd better bring your amp along or test the Gretsch through your type of amp. This thing has some serious bottom-end and the little Hot Rod Deluxe-type amps just fall apart when you lean on them. If you want any type of clean sound, you need at least 50W and a big speaker with balls to survive the THUMP of a power E chord with a Gretsch. A Fender Twin would do just right, or a Boogie for sure.

HERE,,i have a 1994 Gretsch 6120w,,,What does the "w" stand for ??Western of course but there are som many other words it could represent.."waste of Money" ??? "Worthless" Perhaps ? this piece of crap is now celebrating it's 9th year..already,the body is cracking along the binding,,, the frets are worn down to practically nothing.. the cheap original tuners were so bad I had to replace them with Grovers.. The Bridge ?? God,,who designed that fiasco ?? the pickups are weak as West Virginia Beer.. All mid range,,no highs,,muddy bass,,the filtertron ceramic magnets need to go,,,This guitar is a loser...Please read on....

This monstrosity sounds like and old teisco Hollowbody from the 60's..I paid a fortune for this thing and it spends most of it's time in the case,,,it is by no means a "Live performance" guitar..it is just very dead sounding...I could kick myself for selling My Yamaha AES1500 ( a very nice guitar,,much higher quality,,better sound) to buy this can of spam....

the action on this crapola is fairly decent..But I will not attribute this to Gretsch...I set the guitar up myself with a set of 011 strings,,,,thinner string do not set well in the beautifully designed Gretsch bridge,,,,they will pop out of the saddles or buzz like a nest of angry hornets....JUNK !!

i figure within the next 5 years the binding will start to deteriorate and separate from the body,,the finish is already cracking along the binding, I expect that the finish will be chipped away to the point where there will be bald spots all over the body..,, I think Gretsch should shoot a few more coats of lacquer on these babies when finishing them...

What good would contacting customer service do ??? You mean they will stand behind this $2200.00 junk ?? Yeah,,Right

I have been playing guitar for 32 years,, In those 32 years,I have owned over 120 guitars,,This one is definitely,.by far the greatest disappointment,,the sound is horrid,,the finish is cracking,,the frets are worn down to the fretboard...If this guitar would be stolen,,I would thank the person who stole it...NO ,,I am certainly stupid enough to buy one of these in the first place,,,but not so stupid as to buy another one,,,, I like NOTHING about this guitar..the "G" brand on the body was branded with a silkscreen (real western there !!) The "Orange" body is almost Red,,Come on Gretsch,,take a look at the original colors,,do you think this is even a REMOTE resemblance ?? By the way ,,whatever happened to the Original 6120 shape ?? this thing is shaped like a washburn J-6,,
And,,also,,what gives with the weight ?? This guitar would make an Ideal boat anchor...the only guitar I could compare this guitar to is a samick Jazz-type guitar,,they are similar in sound and construction,,although the Samick's pickups have more output and better high end capabilities..I seriously wonder,,Now that Fender owns Gretsch,,how much worse are the guitars going to become,,,Can we look forward to seeing a Squire White Falcon..?? perhaps a 6120 with a bolt on neck ?? or how about a Duo-jet with 6 in line tuners,,bolt on neck,, and one of those famous mexican paintjobs ?? There is NO question in my mind,,Gretsch should have folded after the 60's..when they stopped making decent guitars..

* NECK:
- Three piece rock maple neck
- Rosewood ebony-stained fingerboard
- Block pearl inlay position markers with
Western motif, featuring
- individual block inlays of cactus,
steerheads, rifles and arrows
- Adjustable truss rod
- 24-1/2" scale, joined at 14th fret
- Curly maple bound headpiece with
horseshoe pearl inlay

* BODY:
- 16" wide, 2-3/4" deep
- Laminated maple construction
- Open-bound oversized F holes
- Multiple binding
- Single cutaway
- "G" brand on top

* ELECTRONICS:
- Dual high sensitive FiltertronTM
adjustable pickups
- Pickup selector switch
- Tone control
- volume control for each pickup
- Master volume control

* FEATURES:
- 24K gold-plated metal parts
- Solid brass control knobs, 24K
gold-plated
- Deluxe high gear ratio enclosed
machines
- Adjustamatic roller bridge with individual
string adjustments.
- Gretsch Bigsby flat handle vibrato
tailpiece
- Western maple stain finish,
hand-polished

This guitar pretty much sounds like shit. The pickups are very quiet and fairly powerful which makes them better than many pickups that come in other Japanese made guitars, but for a guitar that costs this much they should sound much better. If Gretsch is going to charge $2300 - 2800 for a new one of these they should be putting better pickups than these crappy ceramic magnet Filter'trons in them. And just why in the hell are they using any pickups with ceramic magnets in them anyway? They're completely devoid of any sweetness or harmonic complexity. I've heard good ceramic pickups but these just don't cut it, and in my opinion alnico is still usually better. The bass end in particular is quite awful (and very nearly non-existent). I was able to boost the low end a bit by raising the pole-pieces, but there is no string definition when you do this, just one giant fuzzy rattling hum. The high end fairs better if only because you can hear the Gretsch twang and "schwing" but it has to be coaxed out with the Bigsby and perhaps a delay pedal or reverb, and it still sounds unsophisticated, flat, and a bit like an ice pick to the eardrums. Kind of reminds me of my Mexican Tele' before I replaced the pickups with Seymour Duncan vintage Tele' models. For a guitar that costs this much Gretsch should be putting TVjones filter'trons in these things (www.tvjones.com) or at the very least a pickup with alnico magnets. If it weren't for the Bigsby (which is perfection by the way) this guitar would have very little of the original "great Gretsch sound." The guitar fairs much better when it comes to overdriving the amplifier it's being played through. I'm using primarily a 1979 Marshal JMP MkII 50 watt head with a Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinet and on high gain it sounds pretty damned good, though it does still lack a bit of warmth and sweetness. It sounds similar to a my '56 junior when it's fired up and run hard but of course the junior still wins (my junior is the best sounding guitar I've ever heard, clean or otherwise, just FYI). The 6120 sounds pretty decent through my '49 Fender Deluxe on overdrive as well; very BTO "Takin' Care of Business" sounding. As soon as I go clean on the tweed however everything falls apart. Pretty horrible there. I can make it sound playable clean on both amps but I have to spend a lot of time fiddling with the knobs and it still doesn't sound as good as my other guitars. Fiddling with knobs is tantamount to bad sound as far as I'm concerned. A quality instrument should sound good for some sort of musical style at most any setting you throw at it. I was pretty sure this guitar wouldn't sound good through the tweed amp before I bought it, but you know I also have a Gibson ES 295 with P-100s and that thing sounds fantastic through the Deluxe. Playing a walking bass line on the 295 produces a wonderful compressed yet full and clear "ka-chunka chunka" that's perfect for playing along to Carl Perkins or just about any other rockabilly. It does the Scotty Moore thing dead on. If I put on a Stray Cats or Brian Setzer song I can damn near nail that hot midrange sound of Setzer's guitar with the 295. I can't do this with the Gretsch. Pity. Playing a walking bass line on the Gretsch is entirely unsatisfying compared to a good Tele' or a Gibson with P-90s. I recently ordered a Fender Vibrolux Reverb amplifier which I'm hoping will be more suited to this guitar, but I still plan on replacing these shameful stock Filter'trons with TVJones Filter'trons because I know that you can only polish shit so much.

I bought this guitar used so it's setup doesn't really apply here. Considering this guitar is 9 years old and has been gigged with quite a bit it seems to have held up very well. No faulty switches or loose jacks etc. Perhaps some of these things have been repaired in the past, I don't know. I love ebony fingerboards for the extra mellow sweetness it can add to a guitar's sound. Too bad it's completely wasted on the crappy pickups in this guitar. The finish looks great; perfect, in fact. The binding is not perfect however, but I've seen worse. Here again it's still not acceptable for a guitar that lists for as much as this one does. I've never been a fan of binding on a neck if it's not done like Gibson does theirs where they carefully cover the ends of the frets with it. The old Gretsches had this and it was one of the few things they did really well on those old guitars from a quality standpoint. Simply laying the filed edges of the frets over the top of the binding feels worse to me than just having now binding at all. The sharp edges of the frets a bit more exposed this way. This would be a small nitpick if this were an Epiphone or a Yamaha, but those guitars can be had for half the price of this one so I expect more. But, I suppose I can't bitch about this since this guitar was refretted with Dunlop wire by the previous owner. I think the original fretwork was probably much better. Still, as hard as it is to bind a neck the way Gibson does on their guitars I expect more for the price here. I hate polyurethane finishes as well. Polyurethane is sturdy, but it feels thick and cold and looks a bit plastic. Again, I'd rather have no lacquer at all if it's not going to be nitrocellulose. The floating bridge pretty much sucks. Not sure why they felt that needed to be that way. Not a bid deal though. I like the roller bridge a lot, and the Gotoh tuners work quite well. Once I set this guitar up properly I've had virtually no tuning problems. Usually if it goes out of tune it's due to the floating bridge sliding a bit. Very minor when it does though. This guitar stays in tune better than all of my other ones I think. Pretty amazing really when you consider it has a floating bridge and a Bigsby. If this thing had nitrocellulose and better binding I'd probably give it an 8 or a 9 for fit and finish. As it stands it's a little too much like an Epiphone at twice the price. But it is a bit better than an Epiphone I guess. I hear they're doing a better job with the new ones. The guitar is very beautiful, but it would be more so with nitrocellulose and better binding. The polyurethane looks a bit too shellacked for my tastes I guess.

This guitar is pretty sturdy. Much more so than the old ones, I would say. I never feel like I need to be gentle with it. As much as I complained about the polyurethane, it does provide this guitar with a thick armor. I'll give it a 9 if only because it could use better wiring and switches perhaps. But so far those seem to be doing fine.

I never have and never will never have to deal with them I imagine, but I've read the horror stories. It would seem that Gretsch in its current state is very arrogant and not a small bit greedy when it comes to dealing with their customers.

Overall, I'd have to give this guitar a 7. It's weakest point is the pickups. But, it is very very comfortable and fun to play while standing up (which is no small thing for hollowbodies), it's sturdy, and I absolutely love the Bigsby on this thing. The neck is quite comfortable and versatile. It's just wide enough to accommodate Travis style finger picking, but narrow enough to bang out rock chords and fast blues licks. If I put some TVJones Filter'trons in this thing it should be a pretty fine guitar...but for what I paid I don't feel I should have to do this. Gretsch! Are you listening? It's 2001 and I still can't buy a Gretsch that rivals a Gibson in terms of quality, and the tone has taken a serious hit with these new boxes. I have no doubt this guitar will last longer than the older ones without needing neck resets or replaced binding etc., but if it sounds like this do I want it to last that long? Anybody want sell me a used set of some of Tom Jones' Filter'trons or Brian Setzer alnicos so I don't have to pay another $250-300 on this guitar? As it stands this guitar is an overpriced Epiphone in more ways than I'd like to admit.

Well, it's designed in the US but built under supervision in Japan. 2 Filertrons, G brand, G logo'ed tuners, gold hardware, Bigsby, Western stain i.e. orange, western motifs on the fingerboard. Volume controls for each pickup, overall tone and a further master volume control - although I leave everything else on full.

It's a Gretsch semi so it sounds like a Gretsch semi, i.e. Stray Cats, Eddie Cochran, Beatles, Stone Roses. I have tried it through various tube amps - Ampeg, Fender Twin, Vox AC30 with plenty of reverb/tremelo. The sound on clean amp settings is almost acoustic with a hint of twang, add more drive and it goes sort of 'hollow' - Les Pauls get fat, Strats get thin and razor sharp - the 6120 sounds, well, like a Gretsch. Whatever it's used for it comes through the mix - I've tried Cochran through to Crazy Horse and it does the lot!

The bridge as supplied is floating and it's a nightmare setting the intonation, in the end I fixed it down with double-sided tape - don't take any notice of people who say it doesn't hold, it does. You also have to be careful about string gauge - any lighter than 11's and the top string keeps dropping off the bridge on bends.
As supplied the guitar is immaculate - I've brand new Fenders, Gibsons, and others - I'm not saying that these companies don't ship their guitars in pristine states but Gretsch certainly do. I've read this comment in reviews too that the Guitars are absolutely first class in terms of quality control.

The reissues are much stronger than the originals. On the other hand it may take some time for the pickups to achieve that grainy 50's quality. The strap buttons are unique - they screw through the strap into a brass thread. The action is low now that I've tweaked the set up - the heavier strings may not suit everyone's style of playing but there is no real option if you want to keep them on the bridge. So far the gold plating has stayed in place.

none so far.

My wife hates the colour - she says it loks tarty. Me, I love it because it is so very Nashville. I am very fond of classic US guitars and it was one of those that you just have to have. I went to a lot of trouble to get it, at the time there was no UK distributor and mine came in from Belgium. The guy in the shop was pretty excited to - he couldn'twait to have a go when it arrived (actually he insisted on being first!) I intended to play rockabilly on itbut I use it for indierock and Neil Young style stuff as inevitably my tastes changed with time. Sell your granny to buy one!