NVGD : 1968 Gretsch 6119 Tennessean

[Salfaromeab]

Great guitars, HiLoTrons are super underrated!

[luau]

Congrats! That's a beauty.

[BMWRider]

Congrats on the Tennesseean! I had one of the reissues when I was gigging regularly, but ended up flipping it because it was too close in tone to the lead guitarist's Tele (turned out that my amp was not giving a good indication of the real sound of the guitar). I still have my Double Annie from those times, always liked the sound and playability of a Gretsch.

[Telliot]

I’m really digging this thing. The Hilotrons are interesting pickups and hard to describe, but they cut through the mix nicely and have a certain sparkle about them that’s very charming. The Compton arrived today and as I expected, the sound improved pretty drastically. The chambered brass mellowed out the harsher frequencies while warming the tone and increasing the volume and sustain.

Very nice addition but of course the designer in me wishes there wasn’t a chunk of brass among all the aluminum hardware.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Jonesie]

Hilotrons are fun. I briefly had a 60s Corvette with one of them in the bridge and I was surprised at how great it sounded, as I'd always heard they were massively underpowered.

[Telliot]

I’d heard that too, but I’ve also read they want to be super close to the strings to maximize their effectiveness. One I got the heights and the individual screws sorted to balance everything out it really came to life.

[Maggieo]

Congrats on a fine, fine, guitar and catching a dream, Todd!!

[jthomas]

She's a beaut, eh. Agree very much about the wood on the guitar's top. Stunning.

[Surfysonic]

Congrats! Love the Tennessean - if I were to get a vintage Gretsch, it would be the Tennessean or a Country Club. Very nice, Telliot!

[CaptainCrunch]

I have a similar-vintage Clipper that had a weird Teisco-ey bridge pickup added on, which gave me permission to replace it with a real HiLoTron. Great guitar, incredibly friendly neck - like a comfy old pair of shoes is very apt. Makes me feel like a better player than I am.