Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Here is the the Thompson Twins video with the Gretsch that was stolen from Randy.

From The Gretsch Pages

"Randy Bachman once had a cherished Gretsch stolen, and had never given up hope of finding it. In the 80's, he's watching TV and lo and behold, there in a Thompson Twins video, is his long lost guitar!! He recognized it because of a distinctive knot in the veneer of the front, which is basically unheard of on a Gretsch. He finds out that the band is coming to town, and gets all the documentation together, including a police report, photo's, proof of purchase, etc. and goes to the venue where they are playing, and goes in to talk to them about his guitar. He tells the story about how it stolen, and obviously the guy from the Thompson Twins didn't steal it, but bought it a few years back from someone. So, he pulls out all the paperwork hoping to retrieve his guitar, and the guy tells him "Oh. I NEVER take that guitar on the road with me, it's far too valuable!!"

octagon wrote: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.

A 6120 from that era would have a Gretsch bar bridge (like Randy's) or a Bigsby compensated bridge.

The bridge on the guitar in the photo is a Melita bridge, used on mid-'50s Gretsch solidbodies and phased out by the late '50s.

libratune wrote:

octagon wrote: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.

A 6120 from that era would have a Gretsch bar bridge (like Randy's) or a Bigsby compensated bridge.

The bridge on the guitar in the photo is a Melita bridge, used on mid-'50s Gretsch solidbodies and phased out by the late '50s.

Thanks Ron.I thought I had seen that bridge before on guitars like "The Roundup".

I think it's still worth buying at 7K; you could trade the vintage Melitta bridge for the correct vintage bridge, and maybe even get some cash back.

I'm not a Melitta Bridge fan. They look cool, but in my experience, the the Melitta Bridge doesn't sustain as well as the "Space Controller", "Rocking Bar" or "Compensated" bridges. I have a Duo Jet and a Silver Jet from the same era with the same p/ups and control layout. the only difference was the bridge; the DJ didn't sustain as well with its Melitta bridge as the SJ did with its Space Controller. I changed the bridge and whammo, the sustain problem vanished.

Gee, is there even an actual guitar track in that Thompson Twins song?