Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar 

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

If you're into rockabilly and the old country stuff, this is the sound you're looking for. This thing, at least the one I got, feels like an old worn in pair of gloves or jeans.
I wanted a Gretsch with Hilo-trons and a simple sunburst finish, so I took a chance on this reasonably priced model. The space roller bridge is a nice feature allowing the player to adjust string spacing. Nice for fingerpicking stuff. An interesting feature is the tone selector switch (bright, medium and dark). This seems limiting at first, but the settings for each selection are pretty good, which keeps tone tweaking to a minimum. Separate volume knobs for each pup is a nice feature, which allows you to blend them. The sound of the Hilo-trons was exactly what I hear on the old country recordings...bite and twang, but without the brittle, painful high end of the telecaster. The Bigsby takes a little getting used to, but works find for mild bends. The strap buttons loosen to allow you to lock down the strap.
Workmanship is what you expect from a Japanese crafted instrument...very nicely done with attention to the little things. My only complaint is the tuning stability, but I haven't had a chance to check the nut slots yet, so that little issue may be temporary. Action was good right out of the box. I did have to adjust one of the pole pieces to get the sound balanced properly, but that's no big deal
The features and sound is hard to beat at this price.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

I bought this as a follow-up instrument to my Gretsch Tennessee Rose to test the Hilo'Trons. Amazing pickups - I can't say enough about them so I leave it at full, lush, bright but balanced. The Filtertrons in my Rose are a close second and the Dynasonics in my Jet are third. All that said, the feel of the body is missing something compared to the Rose. It felt thinner and the acoustic nature of it felt flimsy - I can play my Rose not plugged in and it's still satisfying. This one was not - the mid range acoustically sounded like a banjo. The Rose feels more akin to a semi-hollow with a center block if I had to say anything - solid. This one just felt thin and maybe brittle. The finish was beautiful, the neck was very playable. Lastly, it's pricey but that's Gretsch.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

Best production guitar I've ever played, and I've played quite a few ......and the only guitar I've gotten in my well past 20 years of experience that the only thing I feel the need to change is the strings!

She is perfect, cleans are rich full and haunting on a level I've never heard before through my egnater tweaker half stack, or they can be nice and jangly, smooth and mellow, or bright and snapy or....Overdriven and distortion this guitar handles a whole lot better than I had been led to belive...you can get incredibly aggressive and still have fine definition and clarity....I feel slightly ashamed admitting this...but yes...you can do metal with it...and do it well IMO.
Hilotrons, V cut bigsby, space control bridge, tone switch, beautiful finish, great case, incredible craftmanship...all there.

Plus my 2011 model has trestle bracing, a feature that should be advertised as its a BIG one IMO. Dose howling feedback at high volume/and or highly distorted amp settings make you shy away from guitars like these? If you have trestle bracing its not a problem! You can easily google the term for the nitty gritty..short and sweet..howling feedback from loud/high gain settings is NOT a problem with this feature.
This guitar looks, feels, plays, sounds, and even smells like every set of hands that helped create her wanted to create the best instrument they could possibly produce, I give them an A+ across the board in terms of build quality!
You could easily spend twice as much for half the guitar you get if yours is like the one I got.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

My title? Not really. No one picked like Chet Atkins but Chet. However, it is fun to pick in that style and Gretsch guitars have that nice thump-thump sound and tone. While Chet was more associated with the 6120 and 6122 models, this 6117D/A hollow-body has an excellent mellow sound with the HiloTron P/Us. By mixing the toggles and rolling of the tone knobs, there are fantastic tone colors to be had. I own several vintage Gretsch models and there are various factors that make any vintage guitar worth its weight. Having said that though, there are a lot of quality features to be found in the "Gretsch Professional Collection" guitars. High quality control is evident in all areas with playability second to none. I bought mine new in '03 and have not regreted one single note.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

I own a 1964 Anniversary 6118, green on green. I've had it since 1969. First real guitar I ever had. I've taken the new model for a test drive at my local shop and the new model is just as quality as my '64.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

This guitar is quite possibly all you will ever need. Hilotrons have always shown up in important places throughout the history of music and recording, and after playing this beauty you'll realize why. Solid tone, sustain, vibe, mojo, and more!

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

Someone could spend their entire lives searching for a guitar as perfect as this one. It is a true classic and its stunning good-looks are rivaled only by its stunning sound.I have the version with the Bigsby, which just takes everything so very far beyond sweet. As always, the Japanese craftsmanship is absolutely flawless and second to none. The pickups sing with gorgeous tones so lush they cannot be described in words. Even the TKL case it comes with is truly luxurious. This guitar covers every ground, from twang to mellow cleans to smooth gain to thick distortion and swirling fuzz. It honestly plays and sounds so awesome I don't even touch my Gibson or my Rick anymore.Get your hands on this guitar, and you will understand.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

I bought a Gretsch Anniversary practically on impulse. So far, I'm not sorry I did. While Gretsch was never as high on my list as Gibson and Fender, I never said "they're crap" (although historically, the "Baldwin-era" models weren't anything to write home about).While the Anniversary won't make me want to "86" my Strat or ES-333, it does offer a surprisingly nice counterbalance to both. While its sound isn't quite as warm as the Gibson (Hi-Lo 'Trons vs. Humbuckers), the Gretsch's sound is a bit mellower than the Gibson, since it's a ture hollow-body. AND the Gretsch has a Bigsby. It's great for rockabilly, blues, and almost anything "British Invasion."

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

I picked up a 1993 model of this guitar a while ago and have been quite happy with it since. I love the feedback at without having to crank the gain and volume, it's great when the guitar can go from sounding agressive to wounded easily. playing with a slide sounds wonderful as well. I'd definitely replace it if it were stolen. Now all I have to do is find a decent backup guitar that sounds this good.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6117T Anniversary HT With Bigsby Electric Guitar:

Although not the quality of the very early models, it still compares favorably with the 1967 6118 I own. Outside of my Ric's it's the best in my collection.