I'm having one of my clearouts at the moment. An apt turn of phrase really, as my wife's also made a cottage pie tonight.
Anyway, first up is this Gretsch 6120 SSLVO. If you want a case queen, look away now, as it isn't. This has been gigged well for the past seventeen years in a touring rock and roll band. It's been played in the USA, the UK and across Europe constantly in that time - apart from Covid of course.
Bought new in the USA in 2005, this one's got a few battle scars, buckle rash, a few dings and scuffs, a couple of little dings in the back of the neck which you can feel but don't get in the way (well, not in my way). I'm being overly critical here, but it's be best to be that way, I think.
There's no COA at the moment - the previous owner does have it, I think, but couldn't summon up the enthusiasm to look in the loft. I've offered him £50 if he can find it, and who can turn down those sort of riches? Well, he can, so far.
I'm going to take some more pics, as the couple that I've included here were done in a hurry. It won't be for a day or so as my little one year old grandson's coming to visit tomorrow and the whole house will be booby trapped with toys. And a wigwam, which is really easy to trip over, trust me.
Anyway, this is about the purest form of natural relicing there is. Genuine play wear. That'll be £5000 please. Or perhaps not.
I spotted it on eBay a few weeks back and the seller told me about his band (pics and links to the guitar in action on request if you're interested) and I thought it was pretty interesting so arranged to go to Bristol to see it. About 5 miles away from his house, I started to be a bit sneezy (I was already dopey and grumpy) and though it might be hayfever. Turned out that it was a hideous chest infection (not Covid) and for three weeks I was firing out lumps of what looked like Kryptonite every few minutes. So, if Superman was round our way during those three weeks, I apologise for any distress caused.
Anyway, I had a quick look at the guitar at the time - it sounded fine, which was the main thing, no problem with the 'natural relicing' as I was interested in the story of the guitar, just felt that the strings were a bit sloppy and old, but that was OK as I've got more strings at home than a puppet convention.
Anyway, I was starting to feel rough, so I bought it and just wanted to get back to the car and open a box of tissues which, to be fair, is normally how my deals conclude.
Got it home, restrung it, loved the tone, but realised that it probably needed a refret. Probably turned to definitely, so I've had it refretted. My fault for not spotting it, but at the time of inspection, I was the body double for the little fellow in the Benylyn ads. A refret has worked wonders anyway.
It's had a couple of mods - one very minor in terms of the strap
lock button being changed to black - this was to match the guitarists
strap! - and the tuners have been changed to Sperzel
locking tuners by the previous chap.
Needless to say, it does all of
the Gretsch things very well, and can also conjure up a meatier,
more bluesy sound when needed.
Sale preferred, but might be open to trades on this. I don't know what, but Gibson hollow body maybe with P90's, Tele-type possibly, even a nice acoustic - I dunno. Message me if this luscious old relic appeals to you. The Gretsch. Otherwise, I'd look for £1750. Does that sound fair?
Next is a lovely not-too-expensive Godin Composer GT. The 'GT' stands for 'Gloss Top', which must have taxed someone's brain for a few weeks when coming up with the name. It's got the ingenious TRIC case with it that's as tough as my wife when I claim that I have flu, and it's even lighter than my bloody wallet.
I only bought it last week, and I'm not really bothered about selling it - I was looking for something that I could put a Charlie Christian pickup into that wouldn't be too expensive. Then I realised that I'd probably end up playing the same old shite on it and sound exactly the same as usual, so why bother?
But - it's such a nice, bluesy, jazzy guitar - and it's really nice to play the cowboy chords with as well, giving quite an acoustic vibe, even plugged in. I could easily keep it, but you know what I said about cutting down? Well, that. I really love the shape of this guitar, sort of traditional (obviously) but with a nice tight sexy shape. Gawd, I need help...
There's nothing bad that I can say about it, it's in great condition, it plays ever so nicely, it looks great (to me - see above!) it's got 11-50 balanced tension strings on now, but it sounds great with flatwounds, and seems to intonate very well with either flats or rounds. It's sort of in competition with my ES-125, and the 125 just has the edge, although it's tempting to keep the Godin as well as I've sold the ES-125 three times already and you never know. Actually, you do.
£600 should be quite a bargain for this little beauty - I don't fancy any trades against this, unless it's a straight swap for an L-5 or similar of course. Well, I can dream.
Do feel free to message me and I'm happy to chat. I might even be prepared to post the Godin (but not the Gretsch) to the right person, although I'm happy to drive for miles and miles to meet any punters in the most unhygienic dogging areas, deserted moors at night, seedy laybys, public conveniences, maybe North Yorkshire and possibly even motorway services. Maybe even Toddington if they've cleaned up after last time.
What a load of drivel. I'm so sorry that you've had to read this, but congratulations if you haven't. Do message me if you're interested, but don't ask about Toddington.
Call me Dave.
Comments
Another reason for you to have kept the 6120 Nash Chet that you sold me!
GLWTS