Brand: Gretsch
Instrument Categories: Archtop, Electric, Guitars, SOLD, Thinline
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. Reluctant to follow Gibson that closely, Gretsch took two steps, the first being the introduction of ‘Trestle’ bracing. This is a much heavier form of bracing that can be visually compared to a railway trestle bridge. The second was the sealed ‘ElectroTone’ body. To maintain the appearance of a traditional archtop, the F holes were added by way of paint or decal.
Here we’re looking at a Gretsch Tennessean 6119 dating to February of 1967. This is just a few months before the July 31, 1967 sale of Gretsch to the Baldwin company and the subsequent removal of production to Arkansas from Brooklyn.
This example is in overall quite good and largely original condition. The most visible change is that the original rocking-bar bridge has been replaced with a tune-o-matic style bridge for better intonation; the original bridge is included. The Van Ghent tuners are original and work well. The original Bigsby B6 with V cut looks great and works well. The electronics are similar to the 6120 or Country Gent wiring of the time, with master and individual volume controls, pickup selector, tone switch, and a Standby switch. Naturally, it has a pair of single-coil HiLo ‘Tron pickups.
The body is laminated Maple, with the neck being solid Maple with a bound Indian Rosewood fingerboard. Only the top is bound, and there is just a hint of binding deterioration on the upper bass side.
This Gretsch Tennessean 6119 looks great, plays well and definitely has the Gretsch sound!
A non-original hard shell case is included.
- Model: Chet Atkins Tennessean 6119
- Year: 1967
- Finish Walnut Stain Gloss
- Class: Vintage
- Serial Number: 27805, dates to February 1967 at Brooklyn, NY
- Country of Origin: USA
- Condition: Good
- Date Posted: 22/04/2022
- This instrument has been sold
- Consignment Item
- Including Hard case
- Instrument Weight: 7.172lbs 3.26kg
- Scale Length: 24.4in 620mm
- Nut Width: 1.697in 43.12mm
