Need Help with finding model name of my 6122

[chrismasonddw]

Hi Everyone. Does anyone know what the official model name of this 2007 Country Gentleman would be? The pickgaurd has been replaced with a black one. Serial number jt09073135. Tv Jones Pickups. Thanks! Looking to sell, and need this info.

 

[ZackyDog]

Nice.

The only I see that resembles yours from the 2007 catalog is the Gretsch G6122-1959 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman (left). But the pickups and tuners are different.

https://assets.ctfassets.net/3xaxfhpie9jb/7BDq6skZPOeIGkK2USqI4a/33801b7bff2448ad2dbca808411284f5/2007-Gretsch-ChetAtkins.pdf

 

[chrismasonddw]

Just talked to the older gentleman that sold this to me. He had the pickgaurd swapped out (no big deal), and also had TV Jones Magnetrons installed (while telling me everything was original). My bad for not paying closer attention I guess.

Thanks for the reply!!

 

[Jalexander]

Are you sure it’s a 2007? You’re on the right path… it’s a 6122-59, which is the Country Gent modeled after a 1959 model with Chet’s own customizations added in. The biggest thing that distinguishes this model from all other Gretsches is the 1.75” fingerboard, the widest of any Gretsch and only on this model.

What’s weird on this specimen:
1) pickguard - you’ve found this was chsnged
2) pickups - you’ve found these were swapped. Any TVJ are great. However, this model has custom pickup and wiring choices specific to Chet’s specs, so a swap here is a bit of a negative.
3) Tuners. 2007 models had Imperials. Butter beans came in somehere in the mid-2010’s. So either the year is wrong or the tuners have been swapped.

 

[Henry]

JT09 means it was built in 2009. What does the label in the control cavity say?

 

[afire]

3) Tuners. 2007 models had Imperials. Butter beans came in somewhere in the mid-2010’s. So either the year is wrong or the tuners have been swapped.

I would have thought the same thing except just the other day I saw a 2009 6122-59 that had the butter bean tuners with full-eared plates* and it surprised me. Time flies, I guess. I bet it sounds great with those Magnatrons. I always had a half-baked plan to try a set of them out on my actual '59 but having removed the harness once for cleaning and enduring the nightmare of reinstalling it in a trestle-braced guitar with no access other than the pickup cavities, it was never going to happen.

*Why Gretsch would go to the trouble of recreating these tuners that nobody was really asking for and still not make any attempt to rectify the woefully wrong stairstep buttons is completely beyond me.

 

[tartanphantom]

JT09 means it was built in 2009. What does the label in the control cavity say?

This is the correct answer. It's a 2009, not a 2007 model. FMIC-era serial number are coded yymmxxx. The first two digits are the year and the 2nd pair is the month.

Your guitar is a 2009 model G6122-1959... with Magnatrons added... and a fancy custom pickguard.

 

[chrismasonddw]

Thanks everyone. Everything is now fully understood. The guitar sounds incredible with the Magnatrons....but kind of wish I could hear it with original intended pickups (was definitely mislead in purchase). Oh well!

 

[afire]

The guitar sounds incredible with the Magnatrons....but kind of wish I could hear it with original intended pickups (was definitely mislead in purchase).

For about $320 you can. A TV Jones Classic Plus in the bridge and a TV Jones SuperTron at the neck. I would say nobody wants to spend that kind of money on a guitar that they just bought, but some people can't wait to do just that. And you'll have the MagnaTron option if you end up liking that better or just for a different option. Or you could sell them and probably recoup much or most of the cost of the new ones.

 

[senojnad]

For the sake of comparison here is my 6122-1959 taken on the day I bought it (March 18, 2008). It was brand new "from the factory"/out of the box. It was built in Dec., 2007 -- SN = JT0712xxxx (it was listed as a 2008 model).



The original Gretsch catalog specs for the "6122-'59" listed (incorrectly) the bridge pickup as a TV Jones Plus HT. It was/is a Classic Plus. (I got that from The Man himself....)

 

[Baba Joe]

I’m a fan of the Supertron/Classic Plus combination and the 6122-1959 guitar in general and have no plans to change them. While my assumption is that most people do not change this combination in this guitar, I know of a few who have put single coil pickups in theirs with favorable results. The Magnatrons presumably sound great here. Congrats on a great guitar.

 

[audept]

Welcome to the forum, @chrismasonddw !