I was pointed in this guys direction by someone thats taking the same jazz lessons I am. We talked that i play it on a gretsch, and he said I wasn't alone. This guy Anton Goudsmit, wails. I like him for three reasons. 1, he has no hair. 2, he plays some wicked jazz. 3. He plays it on a gretsch. I think its a country club, minus bigsby. Makes me want to take mine off, or get another without one. Check out the link. Theres lots of stuff by him and his band. Its upbeat jazz rocking. Though I would share with those of you that play some jazz, or like me, are trying to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8D35SiVyg&feature=related

Yes! Anton is my #1 guitar hero! :D

His guitar is a '76 (Baldwin era) Country Club.

This song is one of my favourites of his:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8o1SXwOHSI

Don't forget George Van Eps playing his sunburst Gretsch 6079 7-string:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FctFQZOqGXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQa7tI63es

The first video is obviously from a very old VHS tape and pretty fuzzy, but the music is great!

Never gave him much attention(ah yes, Dutch conservatory jazz), but in hindsight I must admit he's pretty good.
I enjoyed this short docu. Too bad it's in Dutch cause it has a few hilarious moments. Apparently at 21 while in Lawschool he decided to make the switch to guitar under the influence of LSD. Also he managed to set himself on fire at his first public performance. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfAqhB4PFBw&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Django played a Gretsch, too:

http://www.paulvernonchester.com/images/Guitar/djangoVolpe2.gif

Django played a Gretsch, too:

http://www.paulvernonchester.com/images/Guitar/djangoVolpe2.gif

I just checked to for you tube channel. Great playing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1ki0AuB44

You are far from alone Freddie. Gretsch guitars do a great job at Jazz. Frankly, I like them better than the sound of humbucker equipped Gibsons.

Anton! I started listening to him because of Michiel. Great player.

I thought it was time somebody mentioned Sal Salvador, who had a dynasonic-equipped Sal Salvador model Gretsch jazz guitar range named for him; there is a lot of him on youtube but most of it is audio tracks with a photograph rather than a video of him actually performing live....the only one I found with a quick search (though there may be others) is this one.....the soundtrack and the snatches of video of him playing don't match up, but hey - you can see his Gretsch :)

Dynas seem to have a great sound for swingy, Charlie Christian style jazz; I've played jazz on Filtertrons and on Hilotrons and both can get a really good sound for jazz; I'm with Synchro on this - to my ear, they all sound much better than the standard dark Gibson-type humbucker sound that so many jazz guitarists use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZtla5c0Qag&feature=related

I thought it was time somebody mentioned Sal Salvador, who had a dynasonic-equipped Sal Salvador model Gretsch jazz guitar range named for him; there is a lot of him on youtube but most of it is audio tracks with a photograph rather than a video of him actually performing live....the only one I found with a quick search (though there may be others) is this one.....the soundtrack and the snatches of video of him playing don't match up, but hey - you can see his Gretsch :)

Dynas seem to have a great sound for swingy, Charlie Christian style jazz; I've played jazz on Filtertrons and on Hilotrons and both can get a really good sound for jazz; I'm with Synchro on this - to my ear, they all sound much better than the standard dark Gibson-type humbucker sound that so many jazz guitarists use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZtla5c0Qag&feature=related

Nice. had you not pointed that out, I would not have guessed he was playing a gretsch. I don't have the Dynas, I got the TV classics in my hotrod. A different sound. Need to turn down the treble quite a bit to mellow it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1ki0AuB44

Thats a nice sound, but those do not look like standard gretsch pickups. Look like hum buckers without covers. Am I wrong? And they all have a tail piece , not the bigsby.

If you play up over the neck pickup or the end of the fingerboard, you'll have a great jazz sound on any Gretsch guitar. My Black Phoenix has no adjustments for tone and it has the warmest jazz tone that you could ask for.

If you play up over the neck pickup or the end of the fingerboard, you'll have a great jazz sound on any Gretsch guitar. My Black Phoenix has no adjustments for tone and it has the warmest jazz tone that you could ask for.

I tend to agree. A lot of the players I listened to in my twenties were into the standard "Gibson 'bucker with the tone rolled back" sound but that's not the only legitimate Jazz guitar sound. My personal voice for Jazz is brighter. I rarely cut the tone at all and I use more reverb than a lot of Jazz players. It's my sound and I'm happy with it. Johnny Smith used a brighter sound and had no tone control on his guitar. Bill Frisell uses a sound that wouldn't have seemed out of place in Buck Owens band.

I've played several Setzer Hot Rods and usually end up playing some Jazz on them because I love the sound. TV Classics are not at all harsh and work well for Jazz.

...And they all have a tail piece , not the bigsby.

That's right! Gretsch used to make some awesome true purpose built Jazz guitars - no need for a Bigsby. Of course, all that's left of that great heritage are the current Synchomatic range, the G6192 & G6193 Country Club models having been dropped a few years back. However, the G6118 Anniversary is also a great guitar for Jazz playing as a Bigsby just isn't needed.

There's still all the G6136DS Falcon too, but they have a bit too much bling to be taken seriously as a Jazz guitar. Nothing to to with the musician or design, just they a little too "over the top" with all that gold sparkle.

That's right! Gretsch used to make some awesome true purpose built Jazz guitars - no need for a Bigsby. Of course, all that's left of that great heritage are the current Synchomatic range, the G6192 & G6193 Country Club models having been dropped a few years back. However, the G6118 Anniversary is also a great guitar for Jazz playing as a Bigsby just isn't needed.

There's still all the G6136DS Falcon too, but they have a bit too much bling to be taken seriously as a Jazz guitar. Nothing to to with the musician or design, just they a little too "over the top" with all that gold sparkle.

I dunno, I don't think I could stand not having a Bigsby. I actually do use it, very lightly, in my Jazz playing.

I suppose it depends on what you regard as a 'jazz sound'. It's a long way from Eddie Lang and Django, through the 'warm humbucker' brigade (Burrell, Kessel et al) to the more modern funkier styles you are more likely to hear from the likes of McLaughlin and Holdsworth.

Here's funky Gretsch in Roy Ayers band. In this clip it's only used for rhythm, but if you're into vibrophones (and a bit of fun) this is the stuff, recorded live at Ronnie Scott's Club, London, a good few years back.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dJUpB2m2WQ

Hard to even notice the guitar in that video. Great post!

Did you notice that the Gretsch Coutry Gentleman had the Bigsby removed and a trapeze tailpiece installled?

I couldn't tell it was a gent on my screen, it was very grainy. Did notice no bigsby. think the wife would get made if I took the bigsby off mine, but I keep leaning towards that, or, even worse, another.

You are far from alone Freddie. Gretsch guitars do a great job at Jazz. Frankly, I like them better than the sound of humbucker equipped Gibsons.

I would agree... with more bebop-style jazz, but for me, I'm having a tough time getting my filter-gretsch to give me the tones I'm after, which I think are coming more from a 3"+ deep, spruce-topper... more of a western swing/jump blues/big band type of sound. The filters seem too clear and bright for that tone, I'm finding.

The best way for me to describe it is, the filter/gretsch makes a good bebop tone, but not a good western swing/jump blues tone.

Nice. had you not pointed that out, I would not have guessed he was playing a gretsch. I don't have the Dynas, I got the TV classics in my hotrod. A different sound. Need to turn down the treble quite a bit to mellow it out.

I also have a Hot Rod I'm trying to play jazz on (see above post.) I have come to the conclusion that, for the tone *I* want, I need to either swap out the pups, put in something darker, & restring with flatwounds to get the tone I want out of THIS guitar... or, buy another guitar & leave my Hot Rod alone as my rockabilly guitar.

. Johnny Smith used a brighter sound and had no tone control on his guitar.

I've played several Setzer Hot Rods and usually end up playing some Jazz on them because I love the sound. TV Classics are not at all harsh and work well for Jazz.

I'm really not a bebop fan, but I love Johnny Smith (sometimes classified as "mellow bebop")

As for the Hot Rod/Classics, see my posts above. I think what I'm after is a spruce-topped guitar, with darker pups (I've never been a fan of rolling back tone controls on any of my guitars.)

I also have a Hot Rod I'm trying to play jazz on (see above post.) I have come to the conclusion that, for the tone *I* want, I need to either swap out the pups, put in something darker, & restring with flatwounds to get the tone I want out of THIS guitar... or, buy another guitar & leave my Hot Rod alone as my rockabilly guitar.

I feel your pain. I forced myself to think outside the box, in terms of sound. I still practice on my gretsch, mostly unplugged, and have to turn down the treble a bit on my amp, and it kind of works. I put flats on the hotrod. The feel was great, and it did change the sound plugged in, but not dramatically. Plugged in I use my eastman, with the hum bucker at the neck, and even that needs to have the treble cut down a bit. I think once I can actually play some tunes completely, i will give the whole "tone
thing another look. Doubt i will ever have the money for the L5, but i am not even sure thats the sound I want.

Aha!I have been proven wrong by this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EycODumRxFs

Excellent track! I'm suitably inspired to go and groove on my Gretsch (well, once the working day is done!)

Thanks for that vid Anni_lover! Fantastic track! :D

Nice! For some reason, in that video, the 6122 looks like its a lot bigger than it is in real life, the neck just looks really long. Great sound, and as he asked in the beginning, i really dig it!

That's the G6122 II where the neck joins the body at the 18th fret which is why it looks long. The old 7176 Southern Belle was the same. Not sure about the 7676 Country Gent though.