A Unique 1967 Gretsch 6120 Finished in Sea Foam Green with Green 'Paisley' Sides

1967 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Nashville Hollow Body.

This 15 1/2 inch-wide, 'thinline' 2 inch deep, hollow-body guitar weighs just 7.00 lbs. Double-bound laminated maple body with painted f-holes with white border. Three-piece maple/ebony/maple neck with a nut width of 1 11/16 inches, a standard Chet Atkins scale length of 24 1/2 inches and a very comfortable medium-to thick profile. Rosewood fretboard with 22 original medium-jumbo frets plus zero fret and neo-classic inlaid pearl thumbprint (half-moon) position markers. Light-brown mahogany-stained headstock with inlaid pearl Gretsch "T-roof" logo and rectangular gold-plated plaque engraved "Chet Atkins / Nashville / Model" secured by four pins and covering the white pearloid plastic horseshoe inlay. Two-layer (black on white) plastic 'bullet-shaped' truss-rod cover secured by three screws. Serial number "47272" impressed into back of headstock. Individual open-back Grover StaTite tuners with oval metal buttons. Two patent-number Filter'Tron pickups with gold plastic surrounds and outputs of 4.31k and 4.41k. Gold Lucite pickguard with pantograph-engraved Gretsch "T-roof" logo and "Chet Atkins" signature in black and "Nashville" beneath.  Two volume controls (one for each pickup) plus a three-way stand-by switch on the lower treble bout, one master volume control on the upper treble bout, plus two three-way selector switches (one pickup selector and one tone) on the upper bass bout. Single string damper with the original black sponge pad (dried out), the rectangular hole lined with red felt, and original black felt pad under damper control knob. Gretsch "Arrow-through-G" knobs with cross-hatch pattern on sides. The potentiometers are stamped "137-6640" (CTS, October 1966). Aluminum Bigsby bar bridge and aluminum V-cutout B-6 Bigsby ("Gretsch by Bigsby") vibrato tailpiece with pivoting arm. Original black vinyl and cloth 'protector' pad with gold trim and eight push-button fasteners on the back of the guitar. All hardware gold-plated. Complete with the original Gretsch gold and black vinyl guitar strap. Housed in the original Gretsch four-latch, shaped two-tone gray hardshell case with burgundy plush lining (9.00).

This guitar was purchased from the original owner's family who have owned the guitar since the sixties and told us that the guitar had always been 'green'… We have thoroughly examined every part of this guitar and in our opinion the guitar was refinished in Sea Foam Green with green 'Paisley' sides sometime after 1967 and possibly by the Gretsch factory. We say this because the serial number is the correct font, none of the soldering joints have been touched, and the white lines round the faux 'f' holes are just too good. Also the guitar shows correctly under ultra-violet light. Whatever the story - this is a superb example of a 1967 6120 that plays and sounds just as it should. The color may not be to everybody's taste but if you want a real vintage 6120 and you want to stand out on stage - then this is the guitar for you…

"In 1962 a profound change occurred in the Model 6120 Chet Atkins Hollowbody: the company introduced its Electrontone hollowbody design, a two-inch-deep, 15 1/2 inch-wide (not 16" as the catalog noted) double cutaway body with replica, not real, f-holes painted on the guitar. So, the Model had been converted from a true f-hole, single cutaway, hollow guitar to a simulated f-hole, double cutaway, semi-hollow instrument" (Jay Scott, The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Company, p. 83).