Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar  (Used)

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar:

I have sold guitars in the past in order to get new ones or in hard times I have had to part with some guitars. Of all those, I miss my Gretsch 6119 more than any of them. The sound was so sweet and pickups were so quiet when compared to strats and teles. The guitar felt so good just holding it and the action absolutely perfect. The only thing I found wrong with mine was the pickup switch was noisy and did not make positive contact. I had to manipulate the switch just right to activate the proper pickup. The volume switch was also noisy. I could have fixed these problems easily though. Fit and finish was perfect. Unlike popular opinion, you are not stuck with the jangle sound associated with these guitars. This would make a first class jazz guitar played through a crystal clear amp. If I could take back one guitar, out of all the les pauls, ES gibsons, and fenders, I would take back my Gretsch and never part with it again.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar:

I got this guitar in 2004 and have not played it much until now (2011). My main axes have a been Fender Strat and Tele with the Strat being my #1. The feel and finish of the guitar are first rate and the build quality is what you would expect from a professional class instrument. I just wasn't in love with the sound I was able to get from it. That is until I recently got a new amplifier. I had been a long time user of Line 6 amps and the Solid State thing (the Spider Valve included) was the problem for me between the feel of the guitar and the sound it produced. I recently moved to an Egnater Tourmaster and this made all the difference. Through a good quality analog amp, this guitar really really rocks. Not only is is fantastic on the cleans and slightly dirty blues sounds, but perrrrs, like a cat, on the heavy distortion (classic rock) sounds (Zep, ACDC etc.). If fact, both rhythm and lead playing with the heavy distortion sound great with not need to push the lead sound or pull back the rhythm sound. One setting does it all very nicely on this guitar. The pickups are wonderful sounding. The feel of the guitar against your body standing next to a cranked 4x12 is exhilarating. No big feedback problems, just a whole body experience with massive crunch tone. I now love this guitar. With the 25.5" scale, it is a perfect change up with the Fenders and has a crisp punch and clarity that you can only get with the tension of the strings at this scale length. The Bigsby works great, although it's a bit of a b____h to re-string. The strings want to pop off the small posts they seat on around the Bigsby. Upper fret access is limited both by the single cut and the size of the body. Not as bad as an acoustic cut-away, but compared to a Strat or even a Paul, you're going to have to bring your whole hand off the neck to use the frets above 17. I definitely recommend this guitar.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar:

I have a couple Gretsch guitars, this and a 6118. Both are fantastic, have the same pickups, same wood, more or less the same circuitry, but sound different. The Tennessee Rose has a rounder, bouncier sound, a bit more surfy maybe. The only difference, really, between the two is that the Rose has a 25.5 scale neck, the 6118, like most Gretcsches, is 24.6 and it matters. I wanted to post this mainly to counter what others have said about it being overpriced and that you could mod an Electromatic and get the same thing, just not as pretty. First, it'll be more that a couple hundred bucks to change out the pickups, tuners and other cheaper hardware. Second, the Electromatics have a 5 ply top, Gretsches 3 ply. The 3 ply is more resonant and fuller I find. Not a huge difference, but if it matters, you'll need to cough up more to get it. Lastly, all electromatics have the 24.6 scale neck. You can't mod that. The longer scale length gives a punchier, rounder, bouncier sound. Again, not a huge difference, but if it matters to you, you can't get it for less. You can mod an Electromatic for a few hundred bucks with TV Jones pickups and a few other things and get close to a 6120 or 6118, the classic Chet Atkins style Gretsch, but if you want the Tennessee Rose, you'll have to buy a Tennessee Rose, sorry. You won't be dissapointed though, they're pretty special, though it would be nice to pay less.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar:

I purchased a 2005 Tennessee Rose in this configuration. The setup and tone are outstanding - AWESOME tone. Great clean sound and headroom, nice smooth breakup into distortion. Master volume is nice. The guitar is being played through a Fender Concert, Traynor Guitarmate YB3, and a Fender Cyber Twin. The pickups have high enough output for blues and classic rock. The tone is amazingly fresh and open. Great for country, jazz, electric folk, jangle pop, blues...pretty much anything but metal.The guitar plays great - it plays really easy. It came strung with .11s, and the intonation has been stable even with moderate use of the Bigsby. There is a slight buzz coming off the bridge (NOT fret buzz, but a buzz)that does not come through the pickups, but it's a little annoying. I haven't been able to figure it out; but I can't notice it when turn up, so who cares? Access to upper frets is limited, especially above 17. Volume knobs are not placed close enough for easy access for volume tricks. Workmanship and finish appear to be outstanding.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar:

My dad's played Gretsch since 1959 (he has a '58 Duojet and a new Country Gent). I was recently jamming with him--he played his Country Gent and I played my Gibson ES175. Suddenly I noticed that he had the sound I've been wanting all these years. So I got a Tennessee Rose G6119, and it's fabulous. I've used it on straight-ahead jazz combo gigs, big band gigs, blues gigs, and with a group that played Tom Waits songs most of the night. It was perfect for everything. Plus it's beautiful. 4.0 in quality because the nut is chipping, and the notch in the bridge for the high E is too wide, so the string buzzes (I use D'Addario Chromes with a 0.011 E).

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar:

I bought this guitar several years ago as my first really nice guitar. If set up properly, you can achieve very low action on it, and it has a beautiful bell-like tone. I've found that it's especially a good match with Vox amplifiers, and not as good with my Mesa LoneStar amp.The criticism I have of this guitar, is that you are essentially paying for a nicely detailed piece of laminated wood. You could purchase one of the Gretsch Electromatic guitar for over a thousand dollar less, and pay a few hunder to upgrade the pickups and tuners. This would afford you more options anyway.But if you've got to have it, it is a nice guitar and I prefer this model specially because it has a tone knob instead of the tone switch. (Personal preference).

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Electric Guitar:

Bought mine in 2005. Great neck - very smooth! Very versatile. I play blues, classic rock, but also good for country, "Chet" finger style, jazz. You won't be disappointed!! I play through an "Evil" Twin amp.