In today’s world of digital effects, the role of the pickup is just to generate a reliable sine wave. You need sharp ears and a real love of guitars to hear the pickup’s distinctive character through those layers of digital chorus and distortion.

It wasn’t always like this. In the 1950s, everything turned on the raw sound of the guitar. The sound had to lunge out of the juke box and grab you by the ears. It had to be the sonic equivalent the snarling, sexy, but clean-cut guy who was spanking it. This was the sound of 50s rock and roll. It was the sound of twang.

Of all the giants of American guitars, Gretsch is most associated with that rock and roll twang. Gretsch is behind some of rock’s most iconic sounds: think of Duane Eddy and Eddy Cochrane, Bo Diddley and (less cool, but undeniably influential) Chet Atkins. Gretsch was the sound of 50s rock and roll; and the company seemed to share in the self-destructive excess of the players themselves. Gretsch only barely survived the end of the rock and roll era.Gretsch predates Gibson by a decade or so. Friedrich Gretsch, who had emigrated to the US from Germany aged sixteen, set up shop in Brooklyn, 1888. His son built up his music empire, getting into electric guitars around 1940 with the launch of the Electromatic. With a ten-storey factory on Broadway, Gretsch was big, and they built big guitars.

World War Two interrupted business. When he returned from the Navy, Fred Gretsch, Jr. (grandson of the founder) got the company stuck into new designs. Like Gibson and Fender, Gretsch wanted a cut of the growing electric guitar market.

Compared to Fender—whose names and designs were fixed on the science-fiction future as imagined by the 50s—Gretsch’s guitars can seem old-fashioned. Compared to Gibson—who seemed too proud of the instruments to land them with silly names—Gretsch can seem kitsch. But Gretsch’s designs are rooted in the look and romance of 1950s USA.

Some designs show nostalgia for America’s Wild West past. An early post-war release (1951), for example, was the 6192 Country Club, a jumbo sunburst with Dynasonic pickups. That big-bodied cowboy look is continued and developed in the later models.

Other designs reflect the 1950s romance of cars and jet planes. 1954 was Gretsch’s biggest year for new designs. This saw the 1628 Duo-Jet solid body, the 1929 Silver Jet, and the 6131 Jet Firebird. The Jets are single cutaway solid bodies, and are clearly aimed at the Les Paul market. But unlike the Les Paul, they have so much routing inside that they have the resonance of a semi-solid. Later Jets have dazzling modifications: double cutaways, sparkling finishes, SuperTron pickups, Burns vibratos and stand-by switches (though the latter is, let's face it, a switch too far).

'54 was also the year of the 6136 White Falcon. The White Falcon was originally designed as a one-off ‘dream guitar’ for a trade show, an upholstered Cadillac of guitars that you could admire but never hope to own. The design attracted so much interest that a production line was quickly set up. Dave Grohl and Neil Young both play one today.

Gretsch’s most famous design, though, was the 1620 hollow body, which, in an inspired bit of cross-marketing arranged by Jimmy Webster, became endorsed by Chet Atkins. The 1620 Chet Atkins model had a maple body finished in orange or amber-red with bound f-holes, two single-coil DeArmond Dynasonics with individual volume controls, plus tone knob, master volume, pickup selector switch, and a Bigsby vibrato. Some models have a large and rather kabbalistic letter G branded into the top, the block inlays engraved with cows and cacti, and a Longhorn steer inlay design on the head.

Chet wasn’t happy with the guitar that bore his name; he complained that the Dynasonic pickups ‘sucked the tone right out of the guitar’, and said that Duane Eddy was the only person who could get a good sound out of them. He kept pressing Gretsch to redesign.Gretsch’s second big design wave, around 1957, includes the ultra-rare White Penguin, a beautiful development of the Duo-Jet in the manner of the White Falcon, and the 6122 Country Gentleman. The 6122 was the result of Chet Atkins hassling Gretsch to make a semi-hollow body with bound f-holes and a solid block down the centre, so giving less feedback and greater sustain. The guitar he got—the 6122 Country Gentleman—later became a favourite of George Harrison (who was, it seems, less keen to honour the guitar’s link with Chet himself).

Gretsch designs are suspended between acoustic and electric, between nostalgia for the cowboy past and indulgence in the high-tech (50s) present. And that link with the acoustic is reflected in the sound: The sound is tight and powerful, with an initial kick to each note: Gretsches can growl, even played clean. With the tone set low the guitars produce jazz tones with a little more grit than a Gibson; as you ascend the frequencies you pass through blues, country, and into twanging 50s rock.

You get all that range without any processing. Yet even under blistering distortion, all the strings of a Gretsch come through clearly. It’s a Gretsch 6120 (possibly a 1622) that produced the big final chord at the end of The Who’s ‘Don’t Get Fooled Again’: the high A ringing out over the explosive distortion on the bass strings. On lesser guitars, the treble strings would be overpowered.The core of the early Gretch sound is the pickup. Until 1957 Gretsch guitars came fitted with DeArmond Dynasonics. These are powerful single coil pickups, with a solid cast bakelite bobbin and a heavy metal housing. Like the Gibson P-90, Dynasonics are sometimes mistaken for humbuckers, as they have six screws through the middle as well as the six pole pieces. The power comes from its sheer size, and the quantity of metal running through the coil. Dynasonics go deep into the body of the guitar—they look like bits out of a car engine, the underside a mass of metal rods and springs.

The secret of the Dynasonic sound is those six screws which make people think it’s a humbucker. Those screws are not for mounting the pickup on the guitar, but for adjusting the height of the spring-loaded poles. Although the mounting screws aren’t magnetised, they add to the inductance in the coil, increasing its output. The sound is raw and very clear, as powerful as a P-90 but with extra high end. All that metal gives the pickup an initial spike—that's the twang—but the strength of the pickup also tends to suck out the sustain of the strings by dampening string vibration. This was what wound up Chet Atkins, who wanted sustain without feedback, and why he thought it was better suited for Duane Eddy. But the DeArmond Dynasonic is one of the great pickups.

Towards the late 50s the Dynasonics were replaced by evolving humbucker technology in the various FilterTron pickups. These are also great pickups; thicker, like humbuckers, though with higher fidelity (‘Don’t Get Fooled Again’ is a Filtertron).

Technology was moving on, and those raw days of the unprocessed Gretsch and its postwar growl were slipping away. After the revolutions of the 1960s those 1950s rockers looked too clean-cut, too polite, too patriotic. Fingerpickin’ Chet Atkins himself was airbrushed from mainstream guitar history: George Harrison called his 1622 Country Gentleman model his ‘Eddie Cochrane/Duane Eddy’ guitar; and in the 1960s the original Chet Atkins 1620 was renamed the Nashville.

Gretsch itself took a dive in the late 60s. After three generations family-run, no descendent wanted to take it on. It was bought out by a multinational that cut corners, costs and quality. Chet withdrew his sponsorship. The company limped on to the millennium in various states of half-life, until it was bought over by Fender and the designs brilliantly revived.

Maybe the problem for the twangy guitar is exactly that the sound is distinctive of the 50s: you play a Gretsch 6120, clean, loud, digging into the strings, and people will think you’re Eddy Cochrane. Or perhaps the sound was too raw and too striking for an era of rising commercialization and digitalization. But the sound is making a comeback, and those early Gretch guitars are still loved and played by the best players around.

The decades after World War II were a battle for supremacy between the two then-giants of guitar tech: the Gibson Guitar Corporation and the Fender Electric Instrument Company. Unlike in real wars, everyone was a winner.

Gibson had spent WWII making wooden parts for the military; getting back into guitars, the corporation needed to invent something to take some of the growing electric guitar market from Leo Fender. The Gibson Corp. got stuck into R&D. One of ideas which emerged was a prototype for a pickup with six adjustable pole pieces protruding through a black plastic cover, secured to the guitar with dog-ear end lugs. In 1946, this was released as the P-90.

From its size you might think it’s a humbucker: it’s roughly twice the size of a standard Fender pickup. In fact, the P-90 is single-coil—but it’s a big coil. It comes in three main shapes: the “soap bar,” a rectangle in which the mounting screws are positioned between the pole screws (leading some to think that it has eight pole pieces; it doesn’t); the “dog ear,” where the mounting screws are in extensions to the ends of the cover; and a humbucker casing allowing you to retrofit a P-90 to a guitar routed for humbuckers (such as the Les Paul Standard).

Soap bar P-90 pick in 1952 Gibson Les Paul
Dog ear P-90 in 1961 Gibson ES-330

Gibson needed something which would compete with Fender’s crisp, clear pickup tone. To grab the market, it needed to be technically as good, but with a different aesthetic. Two main lines in guitar sound evolution date from this tech war: the translucent, wiry tone of the Fender, as opposed to the fat Gibson sound. We can trace the evolution of the sound through the solo on the Beatles’ “Tax Man”—that’s McCartney armed with P-90s—versus the leaner sound of Hendrix’s Fender pickups on Are You Experienced? We can go on, if we dare, to contrast Guns’n’Roses fat lead guitar sound with Eric Clapton’s modern-day crystalline semi-clean blues. Jazz went for Gibson early on; one of the P-90’s older sisters was named after Charlie Christian, a fan of the sound.

Inside the P-90 there’s a large, flat coil with adjustable steel screws as pole pieces, and a pair of flat alnico bar magnets lying under the coil bobbin. Adjusting the pole pieces, screwing them closer to or further away from the magnet, alters the signal strength and tone. The sound is distinct: it has the single-coil clarity and responsiveness, but the sound is thicker than Fender’s crisp and snappy single-coils. It still has some single-coil twang, but with more punch in the midrange. P-90s age gracefully over the decades as the alnico magnets weaken. An older P-90, being slightly demagnetized, has a slightly softened sound; wiser, if you like. Some specialist pickup makers will build you a P-90 with pre-demagnetized magnets: a bit like wearing pre-aged jeans. I say, buy your P-90s now; enjoy in retirement.

In the rush to compete with Fender, Gibson made technical compromises which led to what some consider a drawback. The P-90 is susceptible to the 60 Hz hum induced in its coil by external electro-magnetic fields. All single-coils have this property, but the power of the P-90 makes it worse: having around 2,000 more turns of wire in its coil than Fender single-coils, the P-90 produces a relatively larger amount of hum. You don’t have to see this as a drawback, of course: remember John Peel’s defense of the surface noise of vinyl: “listen mate, life has surface noise”. It goes damn well for hum as well. Gibson didn’t see it this way, however, and by the early 50s was looking to replace the P-90 with Seth Lover’s new humbucker design.

Clearance time here at Just Great Guitars – vintage Gibson, Vintage Gretsch

As you guys are probably already aware, Just Great Guitars proudly offers an unbeatable range of specially chosen guitars at phenomenal prices. And that’s not just a cheesy company line - feel free to have a nose around the main site and you’ll see for yourself the diverse selection we have on offer.

 

As well as making sure we only offer unique, rare and quality guitars, we also like to keep things fresh. We’re about to add some more great guitars to the range, and we know you’re going to love ‘em. If you would like an alert whenever we add new guitars, do subscribe here: JGG RSS feed

We are getting ready for a new shipment of vintage guitars and amps, so we’re making BIG price reductions on a select few items to clear some space. Was there ever a better time to buy? Not ever!

 

‘71 Gretsch Country Gent 6122 - Previous price: £2,895 Sale Price: £2,099

You’re always onto a winner with a pre-Baldwin Gretsch, this one in a classy walnut shade. The FilterTron pickups are a particularly desirable feature and have an unmistakable sound. Check the link for more info and to see all the fine details.

 

‘76 Gretsch Country Gent - Previous price: £2,799 Sale Price: £1,999

Another phenomenal Chet Atkins, and this one goes the extra mile. It’s an outrageously elegant Chet Atkins County Gent (and yep, it’s got the original Chet pick guard) and plays like a dream.  It’s nearly a grand off Denmark St price and it’s a lovely playing guitar, priced to move!

 

‘95 Gibson ES- 335 Reissue - Previous price: £1,895 Sale Price: £1,299

It’s had a neck repair (which we’ll guarantee for life) hence the excellent price. This is not going to hang about! Classic Gibson reissue features and sounds, great vintage sunburst and nickel finish.

 

‘69 Gibson EB-3 Bass - Previous Price: £1,995 Sale Price: £1,299

How about this vintage mahogany EB-3, which is guaranteed to turn heads with its classic SG-shape? The sound is uncompromising too - this guitar has seen a lot of love over the last forty years, now it’s your turn.

 

 

60s Telestars by Kawai – Previous price £350 and £400, now just £199!

You’ve got to love these Japanese made axes - they’ve got a lot of character without ever looking like they’re trying too hard. The sparkle bodies have a lot of pizzazz and make for great stage guitars. We’ve got a double pup model and a single, both for just £199 - you can’t really go wrong at that price.

As always, if you see something you like the look of and just want to check before you treat yourself, don’t hesitate to contact us or sales at justgreatguitars dot com.

It’s the turn of another decade, giving bloggers, BBC journalists and Jimmy Carr yet another opportunity to compile a lengthy ‘top ten best whatever of the last decade’ list. And who are we to argue?

Today we’re doing something similar by taking a look forty years back through the mists of musical history. Sandwiched rather neatly between 1969 and 1971, the year 1970 stands as a monolith in which a lot happened in the world of music. Here are some of the musical high and low notes of that year:

- The Beatles release Let it Be before finally shutting up shop after ten long years of kicking everyone’s ass.

- Organisers decide it will be a great idea to hold one of the biggest festivals ever on the Isle of Wight, attracting 600,000 people (the island’s population is usually under 100,000.) The line-up went down brilliantly, the cleaning up afterwards did not.

- Murderer Charles Manson releases his first and only album. Critics agree he should have stuck to his day job.

- Black Sabbath release both their self-titled LP and Paranoid. No bats were harmed this time around.

- Simon and Garfunkel go their separate ways after releasing the Bridge Over Troubled Water record. The title track goes on to win around seven thousand awards, all of which are deserved and if you disagree you’re simply wrong.

- Jimi Hendrix unsuccessfully attempts to breathe red wine. Later that year Janis Joplin fights a heroin overdose. The heroin overdose wins.

- I ordered a pizza last night, and the doorbell went fifteen minutes later. I opened the door and Diana Ross was standing there. “What the hell is this?” I cry. Ross double checks the order, looks back at me and says “I thought you ordered a thin and crusty supreme?” HA! Thanks very much, I’ll be here all night. Anyway, 1970

- the year Diana Ross went off on her solo career.

- Jimmy Buffett finally summons enough motivation to stop bumming around on a beach and start recording.

1970 was also the year in which Ireland first won the Eurovision song contest, but as this is a music blog we won’t go into that here. What we will talk about today however is Eric Clapton, since 1970 could arguably be his most fruitful year and certainly his most tumultuous.

Make no mistake about it - here at Just Great Guitars, we love The Clap (in a manner of speaking.) He’s not only an innovative guitarist, singer and songwriter, but he is a genuinely fascinating fellow and man does he have good taste in guitars! Clapton was pretty much a Gibson man in the early days, favouring his ES-335, Les Paul Standards and SGs in the Cream/Yardbirds era before switching to Stratocasters as he broke out solo. If you‘re not familiar with how Clapton made his Gibsons sing and want a good introduction, look no further than the main lick in Cream’s ‘Sunshine of your Love,’ - an innovative and at the time unique method of turning the tone down to zero and maxing out everything else (with some clever palm muting and wah-wah deployment.) This is the kind of velvet sound you frankly can’t get with a crappy guitar/amp.

 

 

Clapton enjoyed a fairly unhampered rise to success playing with a variety of line-ups throughout the 60s. By the end of the decade he actually became tired with the spotlight constantly aimed at him and made steps to sink into the background. This I can imagine - through interviews with the guy he always comes across as a very modest and unassuming man. In order to get out of the glaring limelight of his main band, Blind Faith, he left to play in the sidelines of Delaney and Bonnie. Why Eric Clapton then released his first solo album titled ‘Eric Clapton’ with a big picture of Eric Clapton on the sleeve is a bit of a paradox, but we’ll just go with it. It was a good record.

 

In the spring of 1970, Derek and the Dominos was born. Clapton and a few friends, all of whom were playing in the Delaney and Bonnie band, hooked up to form this new group after becoming sick of Delaney and Bonnie’s constant squabbling. It featured Bobby Whitlock on keys, Carl Radle on bass and Jim Gordon on drums.

The origins of the name ‘Derek and the Dominoes’ are unclear. All likelihood suggests the moniker was originally intended to be ‘Eric and the Dynamos’, but Clapton didn’t want to include his name for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to play semi-anonymously to get away from the aforementioned fame gained through his prior bands. Secondly, Clapton had penned the lyrics to the infamous ‘Layla’ which he intended to release through the band - as an unrequited love song aimed at his buddy George Harrison’s wife, his reason for removing himself  self-explanatory.

After many recording sessions with the collaborative help of Duane Allman and a couple of Les Paul Standards, Derek and the Dominoes released Layla and other Assorted Love Songs in 1970, Eric Clapton’s defining achievement and one of the greatest records ever produced…

…and it flopped. Big time.

 

 

Critics panned it, nobody bought it and George Harrison and wife Patti Boyd weren’t super impressed by Clapton’s love declaration. Clapton didn’t take this outcome well, and by ‘not well’ I mean he decided to see if a two-year long heroin and alcohol addiction would do anything to improve his mood.

The rest of the band also fell one by one, as Dominoes are apt to do - Allman was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, drugs got the better of bassist Radle and Jim Gordon went insane and decided that murdering his mother with a hammer was a good course of action.

If it wasn’t for Pete Townshend and others, we could be sat here wondering what Clapton would have achieved if he hadn’t died at such a young age. Thankfully, we don’t have to - Townshend intervened, Clapton kicked heroin and went on to legendary heights (and the Layla LP finally got the recognition it deserved a couple of years after its release.)

Tragedy didn’t stop hounding him, with relationship troubles, alcohol abuse and the accidental death of his son Conor in ‘91 (which must have had an unimaginable effect on him.) However, it was 1970 which was the year that was to either make or break Eric Clapton. Luckily for us all, history got it right this time and it ultimately made him.

 

 

Now watch the video:

Don't feel bad. We've all done it at one time or other.

For those who don’t know, Denmark Street, London's Tin Pan Alley, is home to half a dozen or so guitar shops. Andy’s Guitar Shop at the far end was perhaps the most famous, as it was in business seemingly for ever, but went into receivership in 2007.

The problem faced by the shop-keepers on Denmark St is the rent and business rates. Rents there are much higher  than anywhere else in central London, which is already expensive, largely because the property is owned by one individual. Think about the game Monopoly. If you own all the shops on one street you can charge what you like, and the owner certainly does like to charge. This is partly why Denmark St prices are so high and perhaps why the shops themselves are so shabby – huge overheads to meet every day and hard-nosed landlord.

There are plenty of colourful stories about Denmark St, people 'taking guitars off the wall' because they couldn't get their money, guitars being stolen from one shop and sold to another - no questions asked. The stories may or may not be true, but the street certainly has more than its fair share of characters and there's usually a buzz to the place. Pop and rock stars abound - go there, be inspired, but do be careful. (Or in the words of Pete Townshend - "Pray: We Don't Get Fooled Again").

Of course, Denmark St shops aren't all bad and we exaggerate for your entertainment. There are some beautiful guitars for sale and some very knowledgeable people working there. Indeed, our very own luthier and repair guru Graham Noden is there in his basement, underneath Andy’s old shop. ("Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Graham's business remains unchanged although the shop now has new owners.)

 

 

Nice picture of Mark Ronson and a vintage natural Epiphone Century guitar.

Check out the thinline Epi Century fitted with dead cool Bigsby on the JGG site at: http://www.justgreatguitars.com/product/Electric/Thinline/Archtop/59-Epi-Century-wBigsby.aspx

Both from 1968, both cherry red, the Gibson on the left is a 335, the one on the right a long-neck 330.

These big 33s share identical body and neck shapes. The 330 is a hollow-body guitar with chrome-covered single-coil P-90 pickups. The 335 has humbucker pickups, Kluson deluxe tuners and a solid block through the body. Both fingerboards are inlayed with blocks, but the 335 has a headstock inlay.

Playing them, the 330 has that slightly raw / woody / rich P-90 sound that just oozes vintage tone (think Beatles - after all this is the same guitar as the Epiphone Casino used by John Lennon / Noel Gallagher). It's a light and comfortable guitar to wear for hours on end as the crowd demands more and more.... By this date in manufacture, Gibson had altered the body/neck set-up of the 330 to match that of the 335, giving players access to the higher frets. Not that that was such an inspired move, as the 330 has always been more suited to rythym playing and rythym players aren't usually drawn to frets higher than the 16th.

So we pick up the 335, and although it looks similar, its clearly a different beast. It's noticeably heavier - that solid block is very solid - there's more air inside the body than in a Les Paul, but a padded strap is a must-have for playing a stand-up gig. So, if the neck's the same, what's the big difference? Humbuckers. These pickups have got serious output. Way louder than the P-90s and the bridge pick-up can do some very serious rock. The block was originally there to reduce feedback, but it does produce a lot more sustain as well. What do you get with lots of high output, clear access to frets 16-21 and sustain? Lead rock guitar guitar of course, which is why the 335 has become such an important and iconic guitar.

 

A pair of Vintage Gibson ES-125 TC guitars

(1963 and 1962 from left to right)

Here's a fun little quiz - which one is worth (a lot) more?

Some clues: both have wonderfully unfaded, original cherry sunburst finishes; metal bridges were an option and do not affect value; pickguards are 'nice to have' and affect value only marginally.

Have fun...

Our Friends at Raven Black have asked us to let you know about the Exposure music awards

Attention Artists, especially Jazz artists

EMA® is all about New Talent Discovery
Not a Glorified Battle of The Bands…
And not pay-to-play in Disguise
 
Run by new development Record Label Raven Black Music; promoters and champions of raw underground talent
RBM via EMA are targeting heartland Britain to find great Bands to work with and offer Artist Development Contracts
“We see lots of amazing bands and the main things they need are: Gigs / Advice / Exposure, along with routes to market”
Says Dean G Hill CoFounder of Exposure Music Awards! along with fellow Brit Martin Brown of The Orange County Music Awards
“We think it’s important that we ensure that all bands who make the commitment of registering with us get opportunities from the outset”
 
Registrants: are instantly eligible for Exposure Music Showcases
Nominees: get selected for support slots on promo tours such as The M4 Tour / The M5 Live / The M6 Riffs
Winners: along with the Usual & Useful Studio Time type main prize, the best of the winners get offered unique and innovative Artist Development Contracts;
 
Raven Black Music work hand in hand with the Artist to Promote & Distribute their recorded music to the World, and also help them gain Synchronisation deals, etc
 
Tracks from all the Winners, some of the Nominees and a sprinkling of worthy Wild Card Entries then get selected for a Special Industry Compilation called ‘Chaos & Glory’

It's been a long time between me wanting to write a blog to accompany this site and actually getting around to installing the blog engine. Now I have it up and running, and I have to write the customary first post, I've forgotten what I wanted to say!

But that's mainly 'cos I'm tired. I've been working really late (or should that be early?) to get things done ready for my trip this week to the good ole US of A to buy some more of their wonderful vintage guitars.

Actually, I go with some apprenhension. The exchange rate I locked into is 1.44 (it was 1.65 when I was there last november and I was whining then!) But I know the country is going to be depressed. At least they have a new and popular president, but the folks I've been speaking with are telling me "this is a depression - I'm getting depressed". It was starting to fell that way in November, but I fear it's going to be much worse this time.

What does that mean for buying vintage guitars? Well, maybe it means I'll meet more people who are feeling forced to sell instruments because they need the money, and I wont be able to help them out like I could in the past when I had a strong currency. On the other hand, I'm hoping to meet some people who are selling guitars they've had for many years, and just want to take advantage of the massive appreciation over the past 15 years. Anyway, we shall see and maybe I'll post right here on my shiny new blog