S’nice

[ForTheLoveOfIvy]

Gretsch Model PX6130-V Round Up Solid Body Electric Guitar | Reverb

Gretsch Model PX6130-V Round Up Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1954), made in Brooklyn, NY, serial # 15257, Western Orange lacquer finish, mahogany body, pine top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, original tweed hard shell case. As both Brooklyn Cowboy Kitsch and flat-out guitar coolness

reverb.com

 

[Pemberton]

Yep, nice! The handwritten V on the label is intriguing. I guess there’s no way to verify if someone in the factory actually added that V or someone else later.

 

[Henry]

Where does Px come from? And looks like a rosewood board.

 

[Stefan87]

that is awesome, never really been into roundups or the 6121s before but lately have been finding them really fascinating.

 

[Pete66]

Yep, nice! The handwritten V on the label is intriguing. I guess there’s no way to verify if someone in the factory actually added that V or someone else later.

Wasn't there a handwritten V on Deke's "Almost Cliff Gallup" Jet he found? Could be legit?

 

[Pemberton]

Where does Px come from? And looks like a rosewood board.

The early price lists and catalogs actually had letter prefixes before the model numbers.

 

[afire]

Yep, nice! The handwritten V on the label is intriguing. I guess there’s no way to verify if someone in the factory actually added that V or someone else later.

I'm guessing (and only guessing) that the V was added by the factory, but not when the guitar was built. I have to believe that the Bigsby was installed by Gretsch in the mid-1950s. I don't know that Bigsby even offered these gold anodized Bigsbys to the general public. I know I've never seen one anywhere but on a Gretsch. And, as they did with George's Duo Jet, they replaced the stock Melita with the rocking bridge that they equipped stock Bigsby models with (Bigsby bridge in '55, bar bridge in the late '50s). Paul Bigsby never supplied wooden based bridges with his vibratos as far as I can tell. But if it was custom ordered with the Bigsby, then why does it have the belt buckle tailpiece too? I suppose it's possible that Gretsch could have thought it a sufficiently integral element to the design to include it. Or they took an already completed 6130, replaced the belt buckle with a Bigsby and included both. Or the buyer specifically requested both. But I think the more likely explanation is that somebody bought a stock 6130 and either immediately or very shortly thereafter sent it back to the factory for a Bigsby upgrade.

And looks like a rosewood board.

Definitely rosewood. Also, they refer to it as having a pine top. This is the other mystery wood. I talked to Stephen Stern about it when I was contemplating a Custom Shop '55 6121 which would call for the same species. His gut was birch but he checked with his wood specialist and he also said birch. I can't think of a more authoritative source than those guys, I'm going to say it's birch too.

 

[Pemberton]

. . . if it was custom ordered with the Bigsby, then why does it have the belt buckle tailpiece too?

Good question. I wondered the same.

 

[Highnumbers]

I recently owned this guitar (and sold it to Retrofret). Really nice Round-Up that plays and sounds great, and the Bigsby is a very cool detail.

Given the fact that the early Duo Jet that Deke Dickerson found also had the exact "V" on the label and also came with a fixed arm B-3 Bigsby, and that this one is a gold anodized fixed arm, it's a logical conclusion that it's a factory install, potentially added after that request came in for a vibrato. The belt buckle tailpiece that comes with the guitar is an original and has clearly been stored for most of its life (but was on the guitar at one point). Meanwhile there's visible evidence that the Bigsby has been on the guitar for ages.

Anyway, I only had it a brief while and it was a cool one to check off the bucket list. The abundance of western details on these guitars is awesome.

 

[Highnumbers]

It's a really long read, but for anybody interested in going down the rabbit hole on Deke's Duo Jet (with factory Bigsby and same "V" nomenclature on the label), read his blog post here

THE STRANGE STORY OF #15654 and #15694

WHERE IS CLIFF GALLUP'S MISSING GRETSCH DUO JET? (UPDATED) Original 1956 Capitol Promo photo courtesy Yvonnick Guitton ...

muleskinner.blogspot.com

 

[afire]

I only had it a brief while and it was a cool one to check off the bucket list.

For sure a bucket list guitar. I also had one for about a year. Not my forever guitar, but something I definitely had to experience firsthand for a while at least once.

 

[GlenP]

Giddy up and Yippie Kai yay!

S’wonderful, s’marvelous!

 

[Highnumbers]

For sure a bucket list guitar. I also had one for about a year. Not my forever guitar, but something I definitely had to experience firsthand for a while at least once.

Yep, that's exactly right. I keep a tight list of "keepers" and even some really great ones don't make it on the list. This was bought intentionally to sell, and that's what I did. Really cool guitar though, I love how deeply Gretsch got into the theme on the original 6130 models.

 

[Highnumbers]

Sold! That didn’t last long

 

[Ricochet]

It's a really long read, but for anybody interested in going down the rabbit hole on Deke's Duo Jet (with factory Bigsby and same "V" nomenclature on the label), read his blog post here

THE STRANGE STORY OF #15654 and #15694

WHERE IS CLIFF GALLUP'S MISSING GRETSCH DUO JET? (UPDATED) Original 1956 Capitol Promo photo courtesy Yvonnick Guitton ...

muleskinner.blogspot.com

Fantastic read. The 17th fret is a great selling point, makes me a belieber.
Also I’m not sure if there’s a name for this but I’ve seen lots of people having a moment where they mixed up their 6 and 9s. Even done it myself.

 

[Ricochet]

I usually don’t dwell on things vintage but if the early ‘53 Jets used a Bigsby bridge and base, does this indicate the use of a shallow neck angle, and at which point did they increase it?

 

[afire]

I usually don’t dwell on things vintage but if the early ‘53 Jets used a Bigsby bridge and base, does this indicate the use of a shallow neck angle, and at which point did they increase it?

Not in general. I had a '53 and it had a very healthy neck angle.

Even with low action the Melita is riding pretty high and you can see how with the pole pieces have to be raised. But the same thought occurred to me. A metal based Bigsby bridge would have to have the saddle raised up pretty high. Obviously it works, but probably looks a little odd up close.