Thinking of Modifying Your Gretsch 5120

[soundmasterg]

Hi Peter,

Pinning the bridge didn't change the tone at all, and makes it easier when changing strings to make sure the bridge location is correct. I had it done on a Harmony bass I used to own too and I think it is a great mod. Of course the people doing the pinning need to do a good job. We have some excellent luthiers here in the Portland, Oregon area so I found someone qualified.

Greg

[paologregorio]

Looks sweet! Cool mods! I'm a Dynasonic p/up guy, but I've never played through Supertrons. How are they compared to the Filtertrons? Setzer always got a killer tone out of FTs, but when I've tried them, they've always sounded flat/dull to me compared to the Dynas. It would be interesting to hear how the Supers sound in comparison.

Your guitar is pretty much a 6120 with the mods, eh? Aren't all the dimensions the same? Is the neck as slim on the 5120s as it is on the 6120s?

[admin]

Paul: The dimensions of the 5120 and 6120 are, for all practical purposes the same. There are structural and material differences outside of the hardware but the body is very close. By way of example, there is more of an overhang of the neck over the body on the 6120 than the 5120 at least those that I have played. Naturally there is much more attention to detail on the 6120 as can be seen on the headstock and the binding on the f-holes. I am still learning about Gretsch guitars.

The same slim neck is on the 5120 compared to recent 6120 reissues and the profile front to back seems very close to me as does the fretboard radius. The 6120 necks are better built and the selection of wood and staining is clearly superior on these instruments compared to the 5120.

I find that the Supertrons are somewhat more sensitive than the Filtertrons and give plenty of twang and bite at the bridge. The neck is a jazzier sound. Together they have the same sparkle as the Filtertrons. What I love with the Supertrons is the blades rather than pole pieces which provide for a more even sound when bending as there is no moving away from a polepiece.

I will try to pay closer attention to the differences as I continue to see more models.

[paologregorio]

Thanks for the detailed info, Peter! Very informative. Good to know. Happy twangin'!

[kiramdear]

Gretschresource Forum in our future?

[fendertweed2]

I agree on the value/quality of the 5120, I lucked into a new one for dirt cheap $ about 4 yrs. ago ... I pinned the bridge, added a rocking bar bridge (may go to a TruArc), and when I put TV Jones Filtertrons (plus in the bridge, stock in neck), the cheap oem wiring harness was a problem so I added the quality TV Jones harness, too.

It's a great playing & sounding guitar, but the neck profile may be a bit too thin front to back for me in the long run, so not sure what will happen... I don't seem to have the same feeling there on my 6120 SSLVO (which of course, the 5120 led to, LOL)...

cheers,
Jon

[admin]

Jon: Please post a couple of photos of your Gretsch guitars.

[stringman]

Thanks for your reply peter,it sounds like the way to go on the supertrons, and the chet arm that I have in my case pocket.Tried the arm. did not like it as much as the original bigsby arm so I switched it back. I was able to get the arm height set to where I wanted it by using a padded wood clamp overnight on the spring compressed. When I released the clamp the spring was a perfect fit for height tuned to pitch,so that my pinky lined up perfectly with the arm. All the ideas were put to the test when I went out and bought a dvd called chet atkins rare performances 1955-1975. Please order it at your local book store or amazon.com, you will not be disappointed. Most of his early live performances are on this video. And it"s worth it just seeing all the vintage original gretsch guitars he uses through the years. Good to see that you are happy with your conversion on your 5120. I am including pictures of these items that we spoke about. By the way, 2 full lenght albums are included in each cd.One more note check out the bridge that came stock with my 6120. You now have great tone. Thanks Ron.

[admin]

Ron: Thanks for your detail comments including the tips. I will look for the DVD.

[soundmasterg]

I agree on the value/quality of the 5120, I lucked into a new one for dirt cheap $ about 4 yrs. ago ... I pinned the bridge, added a rocking bar bridge (may go to a TruArc), and when I put TV Jones Filtertrons (plus in the bridge, stock in neck), the cheap oem wiring harness was a problem so I added the quality TV Jones harness, too.

It's a great playing & sounding guitar, but the neck profile may be a bit too thin front to back for me in the long run, so not sure what will happen... I don't seem to have the same feeling there on my 6120 SSLVO (which of course, the 5120 led to, LOL)...

cheers,
Jon

Jon, what was the problem with the stock wiring harness? I've thought about upgrading but am not sure why you would want to do it?

Greg

[admin]

Greg: I believe TV Jones is on record saying that his harness is not very different from those models made since 2003. Having said this we are all familiar with differences in the quality of potentiometers and switches.

[stringman]

Greg in my case my guitar came with dime size pots 1992 6120 and a cheap selector switch. Note that the picture shows 3 pots on the lower area and 1 on the cutaway, 2 switches on top set up like a bryan setzer, where the pickup switch is closer to you, and the tone switch is further away. Now if you didn't know it was set up that way, you would assume that all gretsches were set up like that with 2 switches. Not so. If you have a regular 6120 or a 6118 these switches are set up reversed. So when I ordered my supertron pickups I also ordered a new custom harness to go with them. The harness has 4 full sized cts pots and 2 switchcraft switches. If you have a 6120 or 6118 or any other gretsch with 2 switches on top you can just reverse the positions of the switches as brian setzer did on his. Now you might ask so what is the advantage of having this setup on the switches? The advantage is that you don't have to reach over the tone switch to get to the pickup switch. Makes switching much faster.

[soundmasterg]

Thanks Peter and Ron! My 5120 is from 2006...so I'll have to talk to TV Jones and see what he recommends. The 5120's seem to me to be a bit darker sounding than the more expensive Gretsches.

[admin]

Greg: It will be interesting to see what TV recommends. The darkness, plugged in, is due to the "Gretschbucker" pickups in my view. I do not think you will find that to be the case if you upgrade the pickups. Acoustically you may have a point but I have also found that the bridge has a significant role to play in this regard. The TruArc is an great improvement.

[tennis_nick]

I can definitely attest to how great the 5120 is, and how FUN it is to modify it!

Mine gets brought out to every other gig (just because I like to rotate a few of them) and last time I played it, I put it down after the first set until a bunch of girls in the front row were yelling at me to "pick up the pretty orange one again!" How could I do anything but oblige???

I didn't go as far with the mods,

Instead of pining the bridge, I used very thin two sided tape to affix it. It's reversible, it works, it's hot rod.

I went with the TVJones TVClassics, and usually play fairly overdriven, they do very well. I do need to cut the springs on the neck pickup, to get it up a bit higher, I just never got around to doing it.

Other mod includes a Graphtech nut. GREATLY improved tuning stability!

Without further ado...



One of my funnest tricks, stolen from Jimmy Page, strumming the low E while using your left hand to action the Bigsby, great for the introduction to "C'mon Everybody!".
I'm not certain if that's what cochrane did on the original or not!