Currently named the ‘Tennessee Rose’, the Gretsch Tennessean 6119 first appeared in 1958, and for 1961 gained the closed, thin ElectroTone body. Chet Atkins had been urging Gretsch to take steps to reduce feedback on their hollowbody designs, especially after Gibson introduced the center-block ES335 in 1958.
Zero Fret
The Gretsch Chet Atkins 6122 Country Gentleman appeared in 1957 with the 6119 Tennessean, bracketing the popular 6120 model. These were the first of Gretsch’s thin body designs, and unlike Gibson’s new 3xx models, were fully hollow – no center block. Gretsch’s approach to feedback suppression was different, with the sealed ElectroTone body offering some resistance. Chet Atkins himself promptly switched from a 6120 to the Country Gentleman as his primary studio guitar.
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MORE →Here is a rarity, an Airline Pocket Bass by Valco, Black dating to 1964, a short scale bass regarded by some as one of the best recording basses ever made. The Airline Pocket Bass was built from 1962 to 1968 at the Valco shops in Chicago, Illinois, along with other Valco brands including National and Supro. Valco also branded their instruments for other companies, many of which were distributors or catalog retailers like Montgomery-Ward and Sears Roebuck. Valco amplifier production followed the same pattern but their customers included established builders like Harmony, Gretsch and Kay.
This instrument has sold
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