Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Nashville 1971 - Orange

This is a vintage Gretsch model 6120 also known as the Chet Atkins Nashville. This guitar is in great condition and appears to have all of it's original components.

Let's talk about the neck. There are a lot of players out there that like a fuller, chunkier neck, and for most of them the typical Chet Atkins neck is a bit small and narrow. I think this guitar must have been custom ordered as it has a chunky and wider neck. If you like a full, meaty neck, this is the Gretsch for you.

Also, this is a rare transitional model coming out of the 1960s. Basically, it has the design and details of the 1960s model but without the mechanical string mute. And since there is no string mute, it doesn't require the giant hole in the back, so no hole, no cover over the hole and no backpad to cover all of it. Just a beautiful, clean maple back more like the 1950s models. And nobody uses the mute anyway, so it's better off not being there in my opinion.

Overall great condition with signs of use and wear but no abuse or damage. The orange color is a nice faded transparent orange with wood grain visible, and the lacquer has a nice shine also. The binding looks great, perhaps it has been replaced which means no binding rot on this one. Ever. The original pickugard is intact with very minor cracking. The FilterTron humbucking pickups sound classic Gretsch with twang and fidelity, and they really like like some overdrive too. The controls are 1960s Gretsch with 3-way pickup toggle, 3-way tone switch often call the "mud switch" (you bypass the tone caps in the middle position, and that is where you'll likely always leave it), master volume, neck pickup volume, bridge pickup volume and finally, a stand-by switch where middle is stand-by, up or down are "on". Tuners are the original Van Ghent machines and they work nicely and hold tune well. The original V-cutoout Bigsby works smoothly with the floating rocking-bar bridge. And the original hard case is included and is in good condition with all hinges and latches working.

This is a cool and unique Gretsch 6120, and I'm pricing it to sell as I've got to cover some other purchases.