Vintage 1971 Gretsch 7660 (6120) Chet Atkins Nashville Hollow Body - Free Pro Setup

Vintage 1971 Gretsch 7660 (6120) Chet Atkins Nashville
Hollow Body Electric Guitar with Bigsby Vibrato Tailpiece
Weighs 7.4 lbs

Includes free Pro Setup - $120 value.
See below.

Case: Includes the hard shell case shown. This is the case the guitar came in when we got it. It doesn't say Gretsch but looks like it could be the original case.

Description:  The Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body is one of the most iconic, genre-defining electric guitars in history, serving as the cornerstone of rockabilly, early rock 'n' roll, and country fingerstyle. Introduced in 1954 as a collaboration between Gretsch and virtuoso guitarist Chet Atkins, this model became legendary in the hands of artists like Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, and Brian Setzer.

Gretsch changed the model number from 6120 to 7660 in 1971, so technically this is a 7660.

That Great Gretsch Sound: Powered by lower-output, highly articulate Filter'Tron pickups that deliver a bright, twangy top-end with rich humbucking warmth—distinct from both Gibson humbuckers and Fender single-coils.

Signature Aesthetic: Instantly recognizable by its deep Western Orange Stain finish, gold plexi pickguard bearing Chet Atkins' sign-post signature, and a gold-plated Bigsby vibrato tailpiece for smooth pitch bending.

Hollow Body Construction: Built with a laminated maple body and a 24.6-inch scale length neck, creating a highly resonant acoustic snap that translates beautifully when amplified.

Condition: This guitar is from 1971 making it 55 years old. It's in very good condition overall considering its age.

Binding: The binding is in poor condition in spots as is common with these guitars. Please see photos.

Neck: The neck angle is good and the guitar plays and sounds awesome.

Tuners: It's got a set of gold Grover tuners, that are not original, but they look like they've been on this guitar for a long time. These were a common upgrade back in the early 1970's.

Bridge: It's got the original Gretsch floating rosewood bridge with rocking bar, but it appears that someone drilled small alignment holes in the guitar top. The hole on the treble side is generally in the correct location, but the one on the bass side is not, and this hole is visible when the guitar is intonated correctly. It's a small hole, so it's not too noticeable. Please see photos.

Pickups and electronics: The pickups, wiring and electronics appear to be original, including the Allen Bradley pots, Switchcraft toggle switches and Sprague tone caps. When we got it, there was no output. We traced that to an intermittent kill switch. To preserve originality, we soldered a jumper wire across the switch to bypass it. The other controls work as they should and the pickups sound awesome.

Tone "Mud" switch:

• Up, 0.1 μF, extreme treble roll-off, deeply muffled, bass-heavy tone
• Center, True Bypass, tone caps disconnected, full brightness
• Down, 0.047 μF, rolls off a little treble, providing a slightly dark, rounded rhythm tone

Pickguard: It has a gold Gretsch Chet Atkins Nashville pickguard, but it looks like it was a replacement pickguard that has been trimmed to fit.

F-holes: The F-holes on this guitar are painted on. That's how they did it back then. They look pretty convincing!

Luthier's Assessment and Measurements:

• Serial No. 71008
• Weight: 7.5 lbs
• Nut width: 1.72"
• Neck width at 12th fret: 2.11"
• Neck thickness at 1st fret: 0.82"
• Neck thickness at 12th fret: 0.91"
• Action at high e: 0.050"
• Action at low E: 0.060"
• Neck pickup DCR: 4.2k
• Bridge pickup DCR: 4.3k
• Truss rod: Turns smoothly
• Frets: Good 8/10
• Cosmetic condition: Good. Some binding rot.
• Functional condition: Excellent
• Electronics: Excellent. Kill switch as been bypassed.
• Playability: Excellent. No issues
• Overall condition: Good

Features and Specs:

• Model: 6120 Chet Atkins Nashville
• Body Type: Hollow Body Double Cut
• Body wood: Laminated Maple
• Finish: Western Orange Stain
• Neck material: Three piece maple
• Body and neck finish: Gloss
• Fingerboard wood: Ebony
• Fingerboard binding: Antique white
• Fingerboard inlays: Neo classical thumbnails
• Fingerboard Radius: 12"
• Scale: 24.5"
• No of frets: 22
• Fret size: Low profile vintage
• Neck Pickup: Gretsch Filtertron humbucker
• Bridge Pickup: Gretsch Filtertron humbucker
• Pickup switch: Three-way toggle
• Tone switch: Three-way
• Kill switch: (jumper)
• Controls: Bridge volume, Neck volume
• Bridge: Floating
• Tailpiece: Gretsch "V" Bigsby Vibrato
• Tuners: Grover
• Hardware: Gold
  

About Del Mar Lutherie:  We’re a small shop in San Diego County, California. We build custom electric guitars and vintage style hand-wired tube amps.  We also buy and sell vintage and used gear.  Our owner is a guitar enthusiast, wood worker and professional engineer by training.  We’re part of the local guitar community (Fender, Taylor, Carvin/Kiesel).

Why buy from us?  Our clients have peace of mind knowing they’re buying from a highly rated professional shop.  We've been doing this type of work since 1999 and have thousands of happy customers.  We pride ourselves in providing best-in-class personalized service for each client.  We are a Reverb Preferred Seller, and our approval rating is close to 100%.

Dr. T’s Professional Inspection and Setup: You may find a similar guitar at a lower price, but ours may still be the better value as we include our professional inspection and setup. With over 25 years in the industry, we’re convinced that a good setup is the single most important investment to improve the playability and sound of your guitar.  Here’s what in entails. We inspect the guitar and address issues. Next, we remove the strings and tighten and set the drag on the tuners. We inspect and polish the frets, clean and oil the fingerboard, restring, tune to pitch and set the relief, action and intonation. We then play each fret and check for fret buzz and fret-outs during bends, and we fine-tune as required. Next, we test the electronics, clean and tighten pots and jacks and balance the pickups.  Occasionally, we find a fault with the electronics, so we dig in and diagnose and repair that.  Once the electronics are tip top, we play the guitar to make sure everything is just right.  Finally, we clean and polish the guitar, then slacken the stings to get it ready for shipping.

String Gauges and Settings:  We do our setups using common string gauges and settings, which we've found work well for most players. For electrics, we use 9-42 gauge strings for Fender (25.5") scale guitars and 10-46 for Gibson (24.75") scale guitars.  We set action to 0.050 on the high e side and 0.060 on the low E side. This action is fairly low and allows for easy fretting without buzzing or sacrificing tone.  If you have special preferences, please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Fine Tuning Adjustments:  Your guitar will be playing and sounding wonderful when we finish our setup. However, occasionally minor adjustments will be needed after shipping due to changes in temperature and/or humidity, rough handling or other unfavorable conditions.  Since we have no control over this, we cannot cover the cost of these adjustments.  However, if your guitar was mishandled during shipping, please let us know, so we can see if a shipping claim is in order.  Sometimes it’s possible to get you a partial refund to help cover issues if we can show that they were caused by shipping.

Condition Ratings: We do our best to be consistent with Reverb’s condition rating system.  Please keep in mind that Reverb’s descriptions are very general and can be open to interpretation. The guitar you get will be the one shown in the photos, and if it has any major flaws or defects, we will point them out in the listing.  Our guitars rated below “Mint” will have signs of use and cosmetic imperfections, including minor dings, dents and swirl marks, which might only be visible upon close inspection. If you are sensitive to minor cosmetic defects, please let us know, and we can provide you with close-up photos.  We do not accept returns nor give partial refunds if you receive your guitar and believe that it should have been rated lower.  We’ve sold thousands of guitars, and almost without exception, our clients have not had issues with our ratings.  This tells us that we are doing a great job with our condition ratings.  

Standard of Care: We strive to meet our clients’ expectations, and we want you to be happy with your purchase.  Guitars develop wear with use and it’s widely accepted that honest wear adds character and shows that the guitar has been played and loved. Our used and vintage guitars will have signs of use. Our Del Mar Lutherie brand guitars are hand-built and will have artifacts that some people might view as "imperfections".  If you want a guitar in “perfect” or “flawless” condition, we advise you to buy new from an authorized dealer or buy locally so you can inspect it in person. We do not guarantee that our guitars will be cosmetically flawless, and we don’t accept returns or give partial refunds due to cosmetic imperfections.

Specs: We list specs as a courtesy. Some specs are measured by our techs. Others are taken from the manufacturer's data. Manufacturers change specs all the time, and their listed specs may not be 100% accurate. Also, some used guitars have mods that may not be apparent upon visual inspection. The guitar you will get is the one shown in the photos. If there are any "deal breaker" specs that you must have, please let us know so we can double check for you before your purchase.

Videos: We often provide YouTube links to provide our clients with more information. These videos will be of a similar make and model which is representative of the guitar in our listing. 

Shipping: We ship guitars via UPS ground. The fee shown includes shipping within the contiguous USA with insurance. It also includes packaging materials and our time to pack up and drop off at UPS.  For guitars, shipping costs are controlled by box size and insurance is based on value.

Delivery Time: We do our best to get your guitar setup, boxed and shipped as soon as possible. However, sometimes this can take a few days depending on our workload and other factors. Once UPS receives your guitar, they will estimate a delivery date, which you can access via Reverb. UPS will typically deliver your guitar within 2 to 7 business days after they receive it, depending on your distance from Southern California. If you're in a hurry, please let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate you, or at least we can advise you of the estimated wait, so you can decide if you need to make other arrangements.

Damage Claims: Although rare, guitars sometimes are damaged during shipping. If you receive a guitar that is damaged, please let us know immediately so we can open a claim.

Returns and Canceled Orders:  We are a small business and can’t afford to offer free returns like the big guys. There is a lot of time, effort and cost involved with processing your order, pulling your guitar from inventory, setting it up, packing and shipping it. Please make sure you want the guitar before you commit to buy. If we agree to a return or to cancel your order, you will be responsible for shipping costs (both ways) and a restocking fee to cover our time.

Trades:   We are a professional guitar business. Anything we take on trade, we resell. Due to shipping costs and transaction fees, we only do trades in person. To make sense for us, we can only offer wholesale value, which is typically 40% to 60% of what it would sell for on Reverb. This is usually as good or better than Guitar Center.  If you’re OK with this, please send current photos of the actual gear you have for trade. We need brand, model, year, and condition. Note any mods, repairs or other issues. If your guitar includes a hard case or gig bag, send photos of that as well.