Nice Vintage Gretsch 6120

[octagon]

They just got this in at my friends store.I think it is a '56 or '57.

[deaconblues]

Cool! My uncle just got his '60 or '61 6120 restored. Looks like that one but with Filtertrons, 'thumbnail' inlays and flame.

The guy who worked on it said the beat-up old case is worth $700 alone.

[jimk]

Oh......my.........
JimK

[octagon]

Yes it is a real Closet Classic.It doesn't have any of the issues that old Gretsch's often have like.Bindings are fine,neck is straight with low action. Wish I could afford it. I think the want $9500 for it.

[paologregorio]

That's pretty good for a real vintage Dynasonic era Gretsch, with the original cowboy case!

[electrofaro]

One day I'm going to win the lottery! A beauty!

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

Randy Bachman is still on a quest to find his from that era... He just provided 300 vintage Gretsch's to become the core of a museum that Gretsch is building...

[paologregorio]

Randy Bachman is still on a quest to find his from that era... He just provided 300 vintage Gretsch's to become the core of a museum that Gretsch is building...

Wow, that's awesome, and very cool of Randy Bachman!I went to the Fender museum and I don't think there were even 300 guitars in the entire exhibit(nor a single picture of famous Strat players Jimi Hendrix or Buddy Holly). It was a complete ripoff for the $10 admission. One would be hard pressed to spend a whole hour looking at the exhibits.

That Gretsch is amazingly clean. $9500 is a fantastic price for an actual mid-50s 6120 that clean, and a lot less than a Brian Setzer relic style tribute model!

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

Here are a few links about Randy and his collection... (Shame that it wasn't a RIC that he was obsessing over all these years!)

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolo ... 6c6da20055

http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainm ... 0e83e15f71

http://www.richardcleaver.com/2004/07/2 ... ollection/

[octagon]

Here are a few links about Randy and his collection... (Shame that it wasn't a RIC that he was obsessing over all these years!)

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolo ... 6c6da20055

http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainm ... 0e83e15f71

http://www.richardcleaver.com/2004/07/2 ... ollection/

Awesome. I think Randy recorded this song with his 6120

[JakeK]

Next guitar I want is a Gretsch G6120-1959. The 6120 is a darn cool guitar.

[jch]

That is a beauty ,really clean too!

My 57 has a little more ware on her!

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

I love SHAKIN ALL OVER!!! (Although I much prefer the 1961 Johnny Kidd and the Pirates version)... Bachman played both his and Kidd's version on his CBC radio program a few years back and told the story of recording the song late at night in a Winnipeg TV station studio. The whole band stood in a circle around but a single microphone. To blance the instruments they moved closer or farther away from the mike...

BTW here is more on Bachman and his collection...


STORY:

Museum acquires Bachman collection

For years, Saltspring Island rocker Randy Bachman searched in vain for his holy grail.

By Times Colonist (Victoria)July 9, 2008

For years, Saltspring Island rocker Randy Bachman searched in vain for his holy grail.

It's a late-1950s orange Gretsch guitar, the Chet Atkins model. It was stolen in 1976 from his Toronto hotel room.

Bachman used the beloved instrument -- "my first real professional guitar" -- on the Guess Who hit Shakin' All Over, and later for Bachman-Turner Overdrive's Takin' Care of Business. He has yet to find it.

Still, during 30 years of touring -- scouring music stores, pawn shops and garage sales around the globe -- Bachman did manage to amass the world's largest and finest collection of Gretsch electric guitars. That treasure trove of roughly 375 instruments has now been purchased by the Gretsch company for its museum in Savannah, Ga.

"It's worth several million dollars," Bachman said yesterday. The collection includes Gretsch amplifiers, banjos, dobros, ukuleles and an organ.

It was mostly housed on Saltspring Island and in White Rock. The Gretsch collection includes such rarities as a 1957 White Penguin model purchased from a Vancouver Islander. The White Penguin is considered by some the ultimate electric guitar collectible. There is also a mint condition 1958 prototype of the Country Gentleman model still in its original factory wrapping.

"When the museum curator saw that, he said, 'I can't believe it,' " Bachman said.

In the early '90s, Fred Gretsch, grandson of the company's founder, borrowed some of the Canadian rocker's guitars to use as templates for reissues. The Gretsch factory -- and the guitar designs within it -- had been destroyed by fire. Bachman's collection includes many rare and one-of-a-kind models. The relationship between Bachman and Fred Gretsch ultimately led to the sale of the collection, already sent to Savannah.

The guitars will be displayed at the museum as the Randy Bachman Collection.

Bachman said he will not miss his guitars, as he rarely saw most of them. He compared his collection to a library.

"You can't read them all," he said. "And you can't play these guitars all the time."

Bachman's hero, Chet Atkins, sent him a similar guitar to the stolen one after hearing of his loss. Featuring an autographed pick-guard, it is one of only three. Atkins owns one, while Paul McCartney owns the other. This is the only Gretsch guitar Bachman has kept.

As for the lost instrument, Bachman continues his search. He believes it might be in the possession of a member of the Thompson Twins, a British pop group.

When the Thompson Twins played GM Place in Vancouver years ago, Bachman convinced a friend working backstage to approach the group to see if they'd sell the guitar back to him. A guitar technician with the band said the Gretsch guitar hadn't been taken on the tour.

"The guy said, 'I'd never take it on the road. It's too valuable.' "


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[octagon]

I saw an ad for a Gretsch 6120 for $7000 . Is this the original bridge on this guitar?



I thought they had a bridge like on Randy's 6120.

[longhouse]

Gorgeous Gretsch with a great white case! Thanks for sharing that.

Excellent Randy Bachman story too. 300+ vintage Gretsch guitars!?!?!?

On the subject of 'Shaking All Over':