Found Old Guitar Want To Find Amp To Match

[tomcollins]

hey all ,found an old guitar at a yard sale ,20 bucks looks to be a gretsch for the fact the pick ups are Dearmond , bringing it in today to see about getting it conditioned and working right , it was a bit beat up but solid structure wise for the most part , guess I can see online if it is worth spending the money , but mostly what amps did they use or sell for these is what I was wondering? love the sound of these old guitars , I have an old martin that I love , rarely play but when I do I love the sound , tho it is a few years older (30's)

So I guess this is two questions , is it worth the money to fix up ? , and second what amps would go with this , ??

 

i'm guessing this is from the early 50's but don't know what they sold with these , or if it was personal to the guitarist

 

thanks

rock on !!

[Rudi]

Old Gretches can command pretty good prices.

 

Oddly, many new ones are surprisingly cheap.

 

DO you have any idea what model it is?

 

The G6120SSC has been selling well ever since Brian Setzer used one in the Stray Cats, and the ltd (59 only) re-issues are going for silly money (try £12,000).

 

It sounds like a nice project even if it doesnt fetch much.

 

 

Oh yes amps.... You wont do much better than a Fender Twin Reverb IMO.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Rudi

[TapperMike]

If you are not seeing the Gretsch logo clear as day on the headstock it may just be a knock off.  A lot of japanese companies did this in the 50's/60's/70's  And a lot of Americans faked the fakes close enough so that the unsuspecting would fall for it.  As quality increased overseas EU and American companies brought suit upon japanese makers.  These became known as Lawsuit guitars. 

 

Current Gretsch guitars are made  in Korea by Peerless. Prior to that they were made in japan at one of the fujiGen factories. Several years back both Fender and Gibson started buying up other guitar brands.   FMIC (Fender) has owned Gretsch since 2002

[tomcollins]

it is a Gretsch 6120 1958 , a solid find !! my guy says the # inside is 29352 and puts it in 1958 sometime there about , went on line and found a few and they are $3-7500 !!! i'm blown away right now cause I got it for 25 bucks !! about 400 to get it into shape and $800 to make it new !!!

I'm trying to find the amps they sold with these tho and not having any luck

 

[EJB]

WOW you lucky dawg. I am not a gear historian but in that era I woud imagine Vox and Fender were the Big Two. In the U K i am pretty sure it would be Vox in the U S probably Fender.

See if you can find any Artist that played them back in the day.

Mayhaps Chet Atkins? Merle Travis? What model did George Harrison play?

 

WTG

 

EJB

 

Just checed it out Gretch stills sells signiture models

Chet Atkins, Brian Setzer and Eddie Cochran.

Edited May 10, 2014 by EJB

[john]

Nice one Tommy. I am officially jealous!

[EJB]

I just officially became a Garge Sale attendee

[RodChandler]

Thanks Tom. Now you have mapped out my next few Saturdays!  

 

Congrats on the nice find, and I'm betting a 59 bassman or a Fender Champ would get you the sound they used back when it was new.

[TapperMike]

Eddie Cochran

 

http://www.guitarplayer.com/miscellaneous/1139/under-investigation-eddie-cochran/23141

 

Sales had diminished over the years till Brian Setzer revived them.

[tomcollins]

nice link !!! very informative !! thanks !!

 

yea I can now see a handful of guys running around in garage sale frenzies "you got any musical stuff?" "no " ok NEXT !! lmfao !! but I too went with my girl "yea how cool is that ?on mothers day we go out looking for old instruments at yard and garage sales !! (did find an old horn ) not sure if or what it is , going to clean it up . anyway , yea a cool find and when she gets back from the spa , will play her and see if the sound suits me , found a few that are worth a few grand up to 7,000 but .... it's about the hunt and find ,lol  

[shelter]

Nice guitar. Old Fender amps match perfect with old Gretsch guitar. If you can afford a blackface fender, go for it. If not, silverface fenders are very good too. Tweed amps both fender and good handmade tweed fender copies are perfect but most of them very expensive.