1959 Gretsch Chet Atkins
6120 Hollowbody
BY CHRIS KIES
Plenty of marquee guitarists have used the Chet Atkins-endorsed Gretsch 6120,
including Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, and Jim
“Reverend Horton Heat” Heath—in fact, all the
aforementioned players eventually had signature
models built off the 6120 platform. But Brian
Setzer is probably the guitarist most associated
with the 24. 6"-scale hollowbody. And his iconic
instrument—which features Filter’Tron humbuckers, a flamed-maple neck with an ebony
fingerboard, and laminated maple top, back, and
sides—is of the same vintage that several collectors
in Edward Ball’s book Gretsch 6120: The History of
a Legendary Guitar call the perfect iteration of the
guitar. Setzer’s famous 1959 6120, serial number
33024, was bought in pieces and then reconstructed. It’s the guitar he used to fuel both his initial
success in the ’80s with the Stray Cats and the
massive rockabilly resurgence that the band’s popularity fired. And it’s been with him on virtually
every project since—from his ’90s big-band boom
with the Brian Setzer Orchestra to his current
reign as the king of modern swing and rockabilly.
Along the way, that famous orange-stained
axe has inspired many tribute projects—from
amateur home jobs to a Gretsch Custom Shop
replica. But Fred Stucky, guitarist/singer for the
Philadelphia-based garage-country band Gas
Money, had something more authentic in mind
for his 6120 project.
“I was looking for my first ’ 59 6120, and
I wanted it to be close in serial number to
Setzer’s,” Stucky says of the serial-number
33002 hollowbody he purchased at the Dallas
Guitar Show in 1990 for $2500. “I knew even
back then, 20 years ago, that Gretsches within
certain production batches were better than
others. That 33000 batch is pretty special. It
was the last batch of 2. 75"-deep 6120s with
an enamel-faced B6 Bigsby vibrato. They also
have the light trestle bracing and, purportedly,
a slightly thinner top.” (In 1960, the 6120
was temporarily changed to a 2. 5" depth and
the Bigsby was changed to a V-style version.
However, Gretsch eventually returned to the
2. 75" body depth—including on current pro-
duction models—and made the enamel-faced
Bigsby an option. Many current Gretsches,
including Setzer’s signature guitars, also feature
1959 trestle bracing and top thicknesses.)
