Glorious Gretsches
STEPHEN STERN IS HEAD OF THE GRETSCH CUSTOM SHOP AND HIS STUNNING, LOVINGLY MODDED CREATIONS TAKE THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL SPIRIT OF CLASSICS SUCH AS THE DUO JET AND WHITE FALCON TO NEW HEIGHTS. HERE HE SHARES HIS FAVOURITE TONE AND HARDWARE TWEAKS FOR GRETSCHES
How suitable are Gretsch guitars for customisation? “I believe that Gretsch guitars are among the best to customise because you can go either way: if you want to go traditional, with white nitrocellulose binding, any kind of classic Custom Colour… or you could do something new and crazy with sparkle binding and so on. You’ve got a great palette [of options] for that. It just all seems to work like that. You can really let your imagination run wild.” What are some good starting points for modding a Gretsch? “A lot of people will start by upgrading to locking tuners. With pickups, you can go any way you want. TV Jones has a wide selection of different types of Filter’Tron. Some people have put regular humbucking pickups in them – but we really haven’t had much call for that in the Custom Shop. Everything we do stays pretty faithful to tradition, but we do get requests for custom builds with tune-omatic bridges and we’ve also made guitars with stop tailpieces if you’re not into the Bigsby thing.
“When it comes to wiring, you can do things like three pickups and we have a wiring harness for that. And we’ve also done this guitar called the Super Broadkaster, which has a lot of different switching options for out-of-phase tones and that kind of thing.” Staying with pickups, what tonal options do the different types of Filter’Tron variant offer? “Our standard TV Jones is the Classic, but the latest pickup [Tom Jones has] offered is called the Ful-Fidelity. It’s an exact replica of the original pickup made by Ray Butts, who invented the Filter’Tron. Those are really nice warm, fat-sounding pickups. And then he has the Classic Plus, which you can put in the bridge to give it a slightly hotter sound. He also has the Power’Trons, which is like the next level up [in terms of output] if you’re going more for that traditional humbucking, mid-range kind of sound.” Some of the bridges that are fitted to vintage Gretsches aren’t as well suited to the playing style of modern players as others – and there have been updated versions of classic bridge designs that modders might want to consider. Which would you recommend to players looking for contemporary tone, intonation and ease of use? “I would personally stay away from the [vintage-spec] Space Control bridge – I try to talk people out of that one – but either the Rocking Bar bridge or the Synchro Sonic, which is our version of the old Melita bridge, work really well. One thing you can do with the Synchro Sonic is put low-profile screws on it – because those adjustment knobs [on the original Melita] stick way up and a lot of players like to rest their hand on the bridge while they play. So we have these low-profile screws to replace those tall knobs. And they make the bridge much more comfortable. They look very Gretsch-y too.” For many players, the 6120 is the quintessential Gretsch. How would you spec out one of those if you were building one for yourself and why? “For something like the 6120, it’s such an iconic guitar and it’s been used by so many great players from Brian Setzer to Duane Eddy. I would probably pretty much keep
“Gretsch guitars are among the best to customise – you can go traditional or you could do something new and crazy with sparkle binding and so on”
it stock, with the Gretsch orange, but I do like using figured maple on a 6120, because it looks really striking. I’d maybe fit a tune-o-matic bridge.
“Just as an aside on finishes, some [customers] will tell us if they see a car with a colour finish they like. For example, we did a guitar for a guy who wanted it in a 1955 Teal Turquoise – I think it was a Chevy colour. So those custom car colours really work well. On a Duo Jet, not only can you have custom car colours but you can have a chrome armrest, which kind of adds to the car theme, like the chrome trim on a car, you know? Speaking of flamboyant styling touches, some vintage Gretsch hollowbodies used to have a circular cushioned pad on the reverse of the body that looked like it was designed to prevent buckle rash. Do you get much demand for those and what was their purpose? “Yes, the back pad – those were first installed on guitars with a [mechanical] mute fitted. And they had to cut a hole in the back of the guitar for them to get the mute in there. Then they would put a plastic plate over the hole and then the pad would go over that. So I think it was a nice way of covering that hole.” What Gretsch model do you enjoy customising the most and why? “I’m a classic rock guy, so I’d have to say the Duo Jet, because that puts you into the same general [area] as the Les Paul. You can do a lot with it. Basically, the Duo Jet and the White Penguin are the same guitar: it’s just different headstock and binding details. But they’re made the same way. And with the Duo Jet you can lower the neck angle, put a stop tailpiece on it…
“I’m not personally a Bigsby person or a player who uses a lot of whammy bar. I’ve always had hardtail guitars. So I made a Duo Jet for myself and I jokingly called it my ‘Gretsch Paul’ [laughs]. It has a curly maple top and a ’Burst finish with a V stop tailpiece that Gretsch has. I like pretty straightforward wiring, so I don’t tend to add a lot of switches or out-of-phase tones or parallel pickup selections to my personal guitars. But with the Duo Jet, you have the option to try that kind of stuff.”
“The Duo Jet puts you into the same general [area] as the Les Paul… You have the option to try out-of phase tones or parallel pickup selections”