Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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jop
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Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by jop » Tue Aug 03, 2010 11:58 pm

I've been drooling over these for months now. Anyone have one?

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So sexy... :?

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jorgenegeland
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by jorgenegeland » Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:58 am

I don't, but I've been contemplating buying one. There's one with Duncans and Bigsby for sale here in Norway for a pretty fair price. It used to belong to Barry Ryan (Brian Setzer, Robert Gordon)

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analogsystem
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by analogsystem » Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:24 am

Whoa! What a great axe. I'm familiar with his Gretsches and his other weird fake acoustic Gibson but I've not seen that one.

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d-rock
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by d-rock » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:21 am

I played one years ago in Mars Music (maybe 8 years ago) I went into the amp room and closed the door for a long time. I think I played through a Fender Deluxe. Man that thing was just amazing. It was probably the nicest guitar I had held in my life. The playability was superb.

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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by shadowplay » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:55 am

I've had a few goes on the Country Gent version, I really didn't like it and neither did the owner who has 4 Gretsch Chets and bought it on a whim and then could hardly give it away. It sounded like a bad 335 and was muddy/jazzy and not in a good way, though you might like it as tastes are differnent. I was also poor sounding unplugged, IMO Gretsch is the only way to go. There's also the worrying spectre of crap Gibson QC making buying one a bout of Russian Roulette with cash.

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blacktiger
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by blacktiger » Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:52 am

I've never played the Gibson, but the Gretsch definitely looks nicer.

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wproffitt
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by wproffitt » Fri Aug 06, 2010 5:59 am

No, but Andrew Whiteman from Broken Social Scene has one. I've seen them live three times and his guitar tone always sounds fantastic.
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jop
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by jop » Fri Aug 06, 2010 9:20 am

Yeah, that's where I got it from (months ago, in May). I stood right in front of him thinking: 'man, that is one awesome guitar'. :)

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skip
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by skip » Sat Aug 07, 2010 12:22 pm

cool guitar
I'm glad there are a lot of guitar players pursuing technique as diligently as they possibly can, it leaves this whole other area open to people like me.
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brianeharmonjr
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by brianeharmonjr » Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:10 pm

That is one of the few Gibsons I've jonesed for over the years. That, an ES-175D, and an LP Recording.
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by zombiebarbie » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:37 am

I have one. I am actually trying to sell mine.

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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by fuzzjunkie » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:52 am

I also prefer the Gretsch, but I have a friend that played one in the band Fastball. I would say it had a 335ish souns with his set up. Maybe a bit deeper, but lacked the Gretsch sparkle and twang.

I remember a show when they were just starting out and someone grabbed it off the stage and ran out the door. Half the bar chased him down the street to get it back! The band didn't have a clue what happened...wait, where'd everybody go? AP picked up the story and it made the national news.

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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by Tycho » Sat May 07, 2011 6:50 am

Reviving an old thread...I have one of these in wine-red. I bought it nine years ago before I really had any idea what I was doing. I thought about selling it over the years, but I've grown to love it. I once read a review that described it as a cross between a 335 and a Gretsch 6120, and that's about right, except that it has two features that won't be found on either of those guitars, namely a 25.5" scale length and a very wide and flat fingerboard (1-3/4"). I now have a 6120, and the Tennessean is very different from it.

I mostly play rock, with occasional excursions into Chet Atkins-style fingerpicking. The Tennessean is great for the latter, although for the real Chet sound you need the 6120 with its Filtertrons. If I ever learned how to play jazz, I think the Tennessean would be great for that too.

BTW, unlike the Country Gent, the Gibson Tennessean never came with a Bigsby. You can see that the Bigsby on the BSS guy's Tennessean is an added mod; note the holes on the body where the original tailpiece was. I've occasionally wished my Tennessean had a Bigsby, but I wouldn't add one. They aren't making these guitars anymore, so I prefer to keep it stock.
Last edited by Tycho on Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by clik » Sat May 21, 2011 7:34 pm

Store near me has one; played it the other day. OMG. Really, really, really nice!

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MT
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Re: Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean

Post by MT » Sat May 21, 2011 7:46 pm

I've loved these guitars since Robert Smith starting using them around the Wish tour.

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