Gretsch: 5 Legendary Players - Swee Lee Blog

“The Great Gretsch Sound” they state. The unmistakable snap and twang, or the warm, round but brilliant sound - Gretsch guitars were correct at the forefront of the rock ‘n’ roll era in the 50s and provides been an essential section of guitar history since. Alongside the great brands like Gibson, Martin and Rickenbacker, Gretsch was among the unique American guitar manufacturers, having been founded dating back to 1883. The legendary models - the Light Falcon, Tennessee Rose, Nation Gentleman and the Duo Plane have grown to be cultural icons of American design. The selling point of these guitars provides seen countless players use them for their sound. Here are just 5 of the many legendary Gretsch players who captured our imaginations… The initial Nation Gentleman and poster boy for Gretsch, this quiet, finger-picking virtuoso called Chet Atkins was a pioneer during his day - mastering the artwork of playing chords and the melody simultaneously, and married country, jazz and classical playing designs into his very own Nashville Sound.

Gretsch worked as well as Chet Atkins in the 50s to build up a line of guitars, with the Country Gentleman being probably the most recognised. It was a stylish, luxurious semi-hollow guitar, installed with FilterTron pickups instead of the DeArmonds that were on most Gretschs throughout that period. If Chet Atkins rescued nation in the 50s, Brian Setzer brought a rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll revival in age hair and glam metal. With his electrifying trio The Stray Cats, Brian Setzer strutted his way to stardom with his mixture of jazz, blues and nation. Behind Brian Setzer’s exuberant sound was an orange ‘59 Gretsch 6120 he bought from the classifieds. Setzer was so enthusiastic about Gretsch, he collaborated with the brand to produce the first Gretsch Brian Setzer in 1993 and hasn't looked back. Today, there are more than half a dozen Brian Setzer signature Gretstchs. Possibly the ideal rhythm guitarist to grace the phases of rock, Malcolm Youthful was the backbone behind AC/DC’s finest works.

3 chords - simple, and definitely perfect, Malcolm Young was the learn of rock rhythm guitar playing. His famous ‘63 Gretsch Jet Firebird was given to him by his older brother, George Young, and in true rock and roll fashion, he stripped the reddish finish, gutted the center and throat pickups and stuffed socks in the cavities to reduce opinions. Gretsch guitars were seriously responsible for launching Rock ‘n’ Roll. Their quintessentially American looks and sound had been favoured by the 50s Hellcats. Among these early rebel rockers was Eddie Cochran. He purchased a whole new orange 6120 hollow body and went on to enjoy it on hits like Summertime Blues and C’mon Everybody. Cochran was proficient in the guitar, as well. He hot-rodded his guitar with “dog ear” P-90 pickup in the throat for a fuller sound. He was also one of the first to ditch the wound G-string on the guitar, opening up the way for the big bends rock and blues music therefore greatly desired. Beatlemania changed the span of music history. And when there’s one guy who’s single-handedly in charge of Gretsch’s soaring sales, that might be George Harrison. most famous rock guitarists with the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 wielding a Gretsch Country Gentleman was viewed by 73 million people, skyrocketing the brand’s popularity. George Harrison was an enormous lover of Gretschs and performed a lot more throughout his career, offering in countless Beatles recordings. At that time, every guitarist in a rock band needed a Gretsch - from the likes of Brian Jones to Lou Reed. Swee Lee is the single distributor for Gretsch Guitars in Singapore. If you want to realize why legends swore by these guitars, head down to Swee Lee’s flagship store at The Star Vista and play several licks on a Gretsch.

The preamp tube that's located the furthest from the power tubes will generally have the greatest influence on the tone of the amp; and the preamp tubes which are closer to the power tubes will have the least influence on the tone. So you could put reduced Tung Sol or Mullard in V1, but a more affordable JJ or a Chinese tube might make more feeling in V2. Even though you find a long plate as well noisy for any of those positions, a long plate tube might still make a good stage inverter tube for the V3 placement (or whichever position is normally closest to the power tubes). 6l6 power tubes not only possess different size plates, in addition they come in different size bottles. You can find essentially three (3) types. The most typical OEM 6l6 may be the Sovtek 5881WXT, which is sort of an anomaly. The Sovtek is usually a short plate tube in a high bottle.

It's called a 5881 but it's rather a 6l6. It can handle high voltages just like the other 6l6's but it has the lower result of a 5881. And you may view it branded both ways. Sovtek calls it the 5881WXT but Groove Tubes offers it as a 6l6GC, Fender calls it a 6l6GC, and a Mesa Boogie markets it as a 6l6GC STR. Whatever the name, the Sovtek is a very reliable, inexpensive tube, but it doesn't have the very best tone. The only true small bottle 5881 currently in production may be the Tung Sol 5881 reissue that's also made by Sovtek. Like the Sovtek 5881WXT, the Tung Sol offers lower output than most 6l6's. But when it involves tone, there is absolutely no evaluation. The tone of the Tung Sol can be head and shoulders above the 5881WXT. The issue is, unlike the Sovtek, the Tung Sol evidently cannot manage the high voltage of all modern tube amps.