I’ve caught myself more than once taking in a deep breath of an old guitar.
1959 6124 anniversary questions
- Thread starter SlApBaCkEcHo
- Start date
ToneM1
Gretschie
My 1st Gretsch was a `59 Anni that I traded a 1965 Gibson Melody Maker & $20.. It was a 6124. I traded it for another guitar a couple years later. I got it in 1970. I got another one in 1995. Between 1970 till 1995 I had a few other Gretsch's 2 or 3 60's Tennessean's, 2 6120's (a `58 & a 1960), An Atkins Axe and a couple of Country Gents. One of those had belonged to Mike Nesmith as a friend of mine had been in a band that Mike worked with on their 1st LP. The second #6124 had been converted to double pickup and had a Bigsby installed. It was basically identical to a 6120 except for the colour of the paint.
As president of the Single Pickup Gretsch Preservation Society, I would urge you not to install a bridge pickup. A single pickup Gretsch isn't missing anything, and the lack of mass of a pickup at the bridge can be a blessing. I would get the neck reset, have the electronics checked out, possibly tweak the capacitors (try the resistor connections that Emergence suggested), keep the original pickup in place and live with the guitar for a while.
In place of the Annie I would much rather see you buy a 1959 Fender Esquire and add a second pickup to that.
In place of the Annie I would much rather see you buy a 1959 Fender Esquire and add a second pickup to that.
ombudsman
Electromatic
REPORTED
SlApBaCkEcHo
Electromatic
While i was changing strings i took some pics of the pickup and the switch.
Was it made in 59 or 2 years ago i have no idea!
I know lots of guys feel new production are better and i feel they are different. That 59 is so Light! Shes darker sounding, usually i live in the middle position hard to tell the difference when i only have one pickup.
Was it made in 59 or 2 years ago i have no idea!
I know lots of guys feel new production are better and i feel they are different. That 59 is so Light! Shes darker sounding, usually i live in the middle position hard to tell the difference when i only have one pickup.
mister rain
Synchromatic
you and me both. i do wish the internal and external pots on the tremolo was different, but good gravy marie do all 4 i have sound AMAZING.
I've always been in the school that says, "it's your guitar, make it your own". HOWEVER -- given that you are the owner of a rare bird, give yourself several months to get to know her "as is". Explore different amp settings (and different amps). Don't lose sight of your first impressions, but spend time refining them and evaluating the sounds you seek.
Personally I would not add a second pickup unless you have a very strong preference for a bridge (only) sound. That is one mod that can't be reversed unless you're willing to spend a LOT of money.
Talk to your luthier (and other "technical" people) about changes in tone switch capacitors. "Mud switches" from that era were widely considered to be close to useless -- they offered 3 choices in sound (good, bad and awful). New versions are better. IMO, age does not make a bad product better -- it just makes it older.
Personally I would not add a second pickup unless you have a very strong preference for a bridge (only) sound. That is one mod that can't be reversed unless you're willing to spend a LOT of money.
Talk to your luthier (and other "technical" people) about changes in tone switch capacitors. "Mud switches" from that era were widely considered to be close to useless -- they offered 3 choices in sound (good, bad and awful). New versions are better. IMO, age does not make a bad product better -- it just makes it older.
6187LX
Gretschie
Your components are vintage. I have a '57/8 Streamliner with exactly your setup. The single Annies replaced the Streamliners in '58. It took me a little while to appreciate the mudswitch and now I would never replace it. A friend who spends a bit of time in distortion-land really likes what you can do with a mudswitch.
afire
Friend of Fred
Bingo. I think a lot of people who say that don't have a lot of experience with well cared for, maintained and properly set up vintage Gretsches. They offer something the new ones don't and vice versa. Which is better is a matter of opinion. That they're different is a matter of fact.
SlApBaCkEcHo
Electromatic
Ive had the guitar for 6 months now and the more i play that thing the more im into it. It has its own voice and i think i want to work with it to keep it...
Usually i play in the middle position both bridge and neck. The reason id like a little more tonal options adding a bridge pickup.
Im now using mostly two amps. A fat jimmy gigmaster 20 and a z wreck jr. Both shine with gretsch and are totally different beasts. Im at the end of the tone quest not many amps i want to try except a bartel starwood.
there is absolutely no, 0, niet, nada situation where i did find the mudswitch useful and ive tried...It has been disconected this afternoon and will never get back in...
I just dont understant why they still use this to be honest.
So true. Some players think that all vintage guitars are either falling apart or they’re one strum away from falling apart.
But you are comparing select vintage apples versus a barrel of modern apples, so kinda putting your thumb on the scale. If you were to compare the average of all vintage (including the ones that require neck resets, etc.) and the average of all modern, I think the statement is correct . . . and by only referring to only a subset of vintage Gretsches, I think you're implicitly agreeing.
fingerpickingood
Electromatic
Sounds like you want to keep the ol' beauty as is, but give her the tweaks that enliven playability. Way to go! You may buy an additional guitar set up for the other sounds 
fingerpickingood
Electromatic
You can always take that mud switch out and put a tone pot there with no permanent mod, you can also play with capacitor values. In all honesty, that guitar would be worth the same money with a well done back pickup mod, right now, who's to say what the value of single pickup Gretschs will do in the future. For some people, a modded Anny or Streamliner is as close as they will ever get to a vintage 6120.
I am familiar with your dilemma though and have given it alot of though, I have a '57 6190 that I will be doing this to, the decision for me is a little easier though as mine has interior damage that will be accessible through the back pickup rout to repair, if this wasn't the case I would, most likely leave it stock.
I am familiar with your dilemma though and have given it alot of though, I have a '57 6190 that I will be doing this to, the decision for me is a little easier though as mine has interior damage that will be accessible through the back pickup rout to repair, if this wasn't the case I would, most likely leave it stock.
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journeyman
Synchromatic
I have a 1960 6124 (non trestle) and was thinking of adding a 2nd pickup, but decided to keep it as is. I have it set up as a jazz box. What I do with the mud switch is get a volume pot (250K) and have my tech add a capacitor and resistor to make it into a tone pot. Then he threads the shaft to accept the mud switch tip. It looks like the mud switch when installed but works as a tone pot. Here's a pic.
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journeyman
Synchromatic
I'll just add that I did have a trestle braced 6125 that got a back pickup and it sounded great. The guitar was very light and resonant. The problem with it was the neck; warped every which way. The twist was corrected with a refret and fingerboard planing, but it was warped from side to side. To correct that would have meant narrowing the neck too much to achieve straight edges. Whereas my current 6124 is totally hollow, it works well as a traditional jazz guitar, Its a tough call, but trestle braced ones just might be better instruments with two pickups. As I mentioned, I'm glad that I kept my 6124 as a single pickup model, but it serves a specific purpose as a jazz guitar with strong acoustic properties. Adding the 2nd pickup would have detracted from that, and of course the next step would have been the addition of a Bigsby.
I would say, that compromises could being found... for instance you could buy a replacement pickguard with a diy mod => an additional piece screwed on pickguard that will be used as a supporting leg (which will lay down on top) for bridge pickup (after shorten pole screws) and its ring floating. Then preserving the old harness and use a new one passing by the lower f-hole to connect the bridge pup.
I made that kind of thing for my L4 (no pup) to add a floating neck P90 ... It required some time and few tries but now everyone knows it as a good sounding ES175
. Somethimes things aren't what they look like a first glance.
If you look in details then you will see the P90's shim is actually the visible part of the supporting leg for the whole thing, the master volume is also on the pickguard (so all reversal mod.. but the input jack which is at the lower strap pin place).
I made that kind of thing for my L4 (no pup) to add a floating neck P90 ... It required some time and few tries but now everyone knows it as a good sounding ES175
. Somethimes things aren't what they look like a first glance.If you look in details then you will see the P90's shim is actually the visible part of the supporting leg for the whole thing, the master volume is also on the pickguard (so all reversal mod.. but the input jack which is at the lower strap pin place).
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afire
Friend of Fred
Not really. I'm just trying to make it a somewhat fair comparison. Since we can't go back in time and compare new vs. new, then at least exclude the ones that have suffered decades of abuse and neglect.
