The Original Gretsch 6120 and Its Rebirth

In 1954 Chet Atkins put down his D'Angelico and made a commitment to Gretsch brand guitars. So came about the birth of the Gretsch 6120. The original 6120s sold for a whopping three-hundred-eighty-five dollars. The guitar was a runaway success. Thirty years later players world wide still praise the 6120 as one of the best.

The Gretsch 6120 became known for its Western Orange color, but inexplicably, it was manufactured in red in 1957. As time has gone by, the Gretsch 6120 has slowly been transformed from a western-style guitar to a more conventional, unadorned instrument. A couple of major cosmetic changes were made in 1957 in addtion to the bright red color the arrow embellishments on the knobs were replaced with the "G" logo. The same year the rather overwhelming "G" brand was take off of the right side of the guitar's body much to the relief of finicky collectors.

In 1959 a catalog advertisement promoted the 6120s features:

This Chet Atkins guitar is the favorite one ever manufactured. The body style is a slimmed down sixteen inc cutaway. The tailpiece and tremolo are by Bigsby. It's equipped with dual Gretsch FilterTron electronic heads. The Actionflo neck is an adjustable rod unit. Gorgeous bright, glossy red with a looping maple body. And the Neo-Classic fingerboard in satin ebony. The shoulder strap was crafted of beautifully carved saddle leather. The metal components are all gold-plated.

By 1958 Gretsch company had kicked their developing innovations into high gear. The Project-0-sonic Sterso wiring, along with humbucking FilterTron pickups (designed to lesson electronic humming) were debuted. The burnished Country Gentlemen also debuted this year, and was the costliest and most superior guitar available.

In 1962 Gretsch changed the model's design radically making it with a double cutaway hollowbody design with fake f-holes. Chet Atkins was the one who thought of the false f-holes, which were thought to keep the tone as pure as possible, while also lowering the amount of feedback.

As they released the double cutaway Electrontone hollowboy Gretsch put themselves right where they belonged after a solid ten years of guitar innovation, on and even plane with Gibson and the like. Gibson had invented the double cutaway in 1958 and now Gretsch was poised to go head to head with them as they pursued the greater share of the market.

In 1967, Chet Atkin's Nashville Gretsch 6120 model was introduced, and had a gold-plated headstock with ebony Gretsch script on the pickguard.

The modern Gretsch 6120 is produced in a number of different distinct signature models such as Brian Setzer and a Reverend Horton Heat signatures and reproductions of the original Chet Atkins Hollowbody.

These newer Gretsch 6120 models are equipped with superior electronics and fittings. By purchasing a 6120 you will be ensured of a superior instrument that will provide you with excellent quality.

The latest reissue of the Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body guitar features a sixteen inch wide fingerboard of ebony with trademark Neo-Classic thumbnail inlays,and a rock maple neck. The full hollow body is two and a half inches deep. This reincarnation includes two High Sensitivity FilterTron pickupsGrover Rotomatic machine heads, the exclusive Gretsch Adjusto-Matic bridge and a Bigsby B6G vibrato tailpiece. The color selection includes Black, Blue Burst an Deep Orange stain.

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