The Electromatic 16" Electric archtop was a second iteration of the Electromatic Spanish guitar which had debuted in the 1940s. While the original Electromatic had an early pickguard-mounted electronics system, the 6185 used body-mounted electronics, and one DeArmond single-coil pickup. This iteration of the Electromatic was also produced with a cutaway and either one or two pickups.

The 6185 is sometimes confused for the 6187/6188 dual pickup Electromatic, which features two DeArmond single coils, and block inlays instead of dots.