FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The single cutaway 6120 Chet Atkins model is often considered one of the sexiest looking guitars ever made. It's also a bit of an odd cat considering it was orange (in a world of sunburst and natural guitars) and was considered a "cowboy" guitar despite its Brooklyn, New York origins. Favored by rockabilly players, the 6120's specifications changed nearly every year since it was introduced in 1954, but there were two main flavors: DeArmond single coil and Filtertron humbucker. After going out of business under Baldwin ownership in the early 1980s, Gretsch was resurrected by Fred Gretsch Jr. in 1989. The initial offerings were made in Japan and were not true reissues, but composites that drew on the features of models from different years. At the 1997 Summer NAMM show, Gretsch introduced a new model to honor long time Gretsch player and guitar hero, Duane Eddy. The model is based on Duane's original 1957 6120 Chet Atkins model, but it is not an exact copy. There are some minor, and not-so-minor differences, but the guitar reasonably resembles the real thing. After being discontinued for about 10 years, the 6120DE was re-launched with slightly different specifications in 2011. 

 Body:  Hollow with soundpost; laminated 1-piece maple top and back, laminated maple sides; double bound top and back

 Finish:  Western Orange, polyurethane

 Neck:  3-piece maple/ebony, set-in; stained flame maple headstock overlay with pearloid logo and horseshoe inlay

 Fingerboard:  Ebony, single bound; pearloid "hump block" markers

 Number of Frets:  22

 Pickguard:  Acrylic

 Bridge:  Gretsch Space Control on ebony base with Bigsby B-6 tailpiece

 Nut:  Brass

 Tuners:  Gotoh diecast, gold

 Pickups:  Two, Dyna Sonic single coil with adjustable pole pieces, gold

 Controls:  Master volume, master tone, volume control for each pickup, 3-way pickup selector

 Scale Length:  24 1/2 inches

 Neck Width at Nut:  1 11/16 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout:  15 7/8 inches

 Body Depth:  2 7/8  inches

 Weight:  7.5 lb