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NEW Gretsch 12-string

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:44 am
by longhouse

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:57 am
by jingle_jangle
Saw it at NAMM. It's a Country Classis (6122) with a 12 neck. Compared to any Rick 12, it's a pretty boring-looking piece of kit, though...

It's about time, as there were supposedly a few of these made in the '60s, one of which was given to Mike Nesmith. Gretsch-o-Nutz have been clamoring for these for awhile.

I wonder how it sounds?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:31 pm
by doctorwho
I'd be interested in hearing one, too. Twenty-two frets, neck width at nut 1-11/16". I wonder how much it'll cost?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:55 pm
by winston
"We’ve updated one of our most popular designs to accommodate that classic 12-string jingle-jangle sound of the ’60s! "

Someone at Gretsch decided to use your nom de plume Paul. For a sec there I did a double take. Nice looking guitar though. IMO

I probably won't get to see one of these in my lifetime. All the Gretchs' in Canada it would seem have been snapped up for Randy Bachmans collection. Just kidding. But they are fairly rare here.

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:03 pm
by ozover50
Much easier to get over here than a Rickenbacker. Most Gretsch dealers here have 3 or 4 in stock at any one time. And they seem to have a new one every few weeks. That tells me that they sell, too!!

Also, there are usually 1 or 2 on eBay most days.

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:21 pm
by jingle_jangle
Fender has no class...to steal Rickenbacker's thunder in an attempt to make a few more sales to confused youngsters.

I'm not talking about the guitar but about the ad copy.

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:44 pm
by shamustwin
Right, to actually use "Jingle Jangle".
Someone gave me a semi-funny little book called the rock snobs guide or something, and under "jingle jangle", they describe it, among other things, as a Rickenbacker guitar sound.
A number of Rickenbacker references in that book, actually.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:41 am
by doctorwho
Not to downplay this, but technically Fender/Gretsch could be just quoting Dylan. Bob, not Thomas. (Sorry, "A Simple Desultory Phillipic" by Simon & Garfunkel comes to mind ...)

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:47 am
by jingle_jangle
That's being too generous, especially when the term is imbedded in the minds of a generation as being typical of a Rickenbacker wielded by Roger McG.

Technically, you're correct, Doctor. But the spirit of the whole thing smacks if disingenuosness (disingenuity?).

Now, that's a desultory phillippic if I ever read one...

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:50 am
by shamustwin
But wasn't the actual jingle-jangle sound "invented" after Bob's acoustic 2/4 ditty? I doubt he was referring to a guitar sound. Image
I doubt Fender/Gretsch is referring to the early Bob sound as well.
Any idea where or how Bob, or should we say Zimmy, came up with the jingle jangle phrase? Had he been smoking wacky tabacky?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:30 pm
by jingle_jangle
To dance beneath the moonlight wqith one hand waving free...

Well, that's how I remember the lyrics anywhoo....

Um, I always got the picture of a TAMBOURINE. That's the source of the J-J sound.

But it describes the sound of a Rick 12 perfectly, doannit?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:14 pm
by janglebox
For me, McGuinn playing any 12-string — acoustic or electric —is the absolute definition of jingle jangle. It's his picking style as much as the guitar that makes the sound. IMO.

Paul, I think it's "To dance beneath the diamond sky..."

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:20 pm
by shamustwin
Doh! As a kid, I never concentrated on lyrics, only how they sounded with the music.

My sister or the folks trying to censor rock would alert me to "hidden meanings".

I mean, I loved Puff the Magic Dragon, then some group comes out saying it's an evil song. I thought it was about a boy and his dragon. So the censors turned me on to the drug culture.

In '65 I didn't know "trip" had a counter-culture meaning.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:20 pm
by jingle_jangle
All, it all comes back now...I must've missed a year in there somewhere. Thanks, Steve.

Every once in awhile I TRIP up.

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:33 am
by red_rob
She looks interesting this new Gretsch. They should have made more of a gesture with its appearance though. Just whacking a bigger headstock on the 6122 is a bit of a cop out. Didn't the Monkees ones have a different finish? Something new and original would have been nice.