I grabbed this one on eBay today. It almost certainly will require some work, but I've always wanted a Gretsch I can bang around in -- the musical equivalent of an old pickup truck.
On the other hand, it may become the foundation for some manner of gentle restoration/customization project, which would cause it to be babied like the rest of my menagerie. If so, I'll just give up on the old pickup truck idea forever. 
Paul/FF909
Paul that looks sweet! Enjoy it as a old one you can customize.
Looks super cool and a bit quirky but I really like it. Let us know how she plays when you get it.
Nice find, I had thought that they were all orange. Enjoy your pickup truck, even if you decide to turn it into an Escalade. 
Yes, it is a sure candidate for personalized/customized touches. Its vintage value was minimized a long, long time ago, according to the seller -- the left-hand conversion was effected back in the '60's.
In fact, the seller told me that the Bigsby is also a righty converted to lefty (!!); some undesired hack-and-bolt modifications occurred there; I'll replace it with a factory lefty.
And I'm not so keen on black guitars: it was refinned from orange to black when it was lefty-ized, so another refin is likely. As a fan of those Great Gretsch Two-Tone color schemes, a blank canvas is most welcome to finally own!
Color combo suggestions welcome!
Paul/FF909
What about a lefty Monkees guitar? Might be kind of cool.
Hey, dmanlow,
That's an interesting idea. Thanks! I'm an old Monkees fan from a million years BC, and the first Gretsch I owned was a late-'60s or early '70s Streamliner, which was pretty much the same guitar as the Monkees model. So I must have some affinity!
This new-to-me baby could end up sharing a number of features with the Monkees model. To wit:
I had the thought just a few hours ago that using SuperTron pickups (standard on the Monkees model) on this guitar would be a good alternative if the stock FTs proved not to be sufficiently inspiring (not very likely, but one never knows until one fires it up).
I plan certainly to add thumbnail inlays to the lefty side of fretboard (also standard on the Monkees model, even the righties, for some reason -- back then, double inlays were common on all lefthanded Gretsches, as they added the second set of inlays to already-completed righthanded fretboards).
A custom pickguard is completely inevitable (paging Dr. Setzer, paging Dr. Setzer...). It probably won't be say "The Monkees," but some one-off graphic or another will appear on it.
Paul/FF909
FF909 said: A custom pickguard is completely inevitable (paging Dr. Setzer, paging Dr. Setzer...). It probably won't be say "The Monkees," but some one-off graphic or another will appear on it.It could say almost anything of 6 or 7 letters and if you scrunched them into the shape of a guitar it'd look Monkee-ish.
This is, in my humble opinion, a great idea. As a collectable the 6120DC is a bit of a fallen angel by virtue of having been refinished in black so it's prime for some interesting mods. Adding thumbnail inlays to the opposite side adds both function and helps in the Monkees conversion. Add a transparent red finish and you are on the next train to Clarkesville.
Actually, the Monkee-killer for me is the red finish. Too pedestrian!
Plus, I don't think I could do a transparent finish in any hue without the control-knob-hole-plugging on the righty-side becoming obvious -- very undesirable to me. I'm pretty sure that an opaque finish will be mandatory.
But we'll see. I just won it this afternoon, and it's in Canada, so I anticipate it being at least a week before I see it live & in person. It may be just ducky in black!
If it goes all project on me, I'll track its progress here.
Paul/FF909
In Canada?I must intercept!!!!
How bout this for an idea....An oversized interesting image of the Monkey car in all its glory laid down on the body and clear coated,and on the back a classic photo of a young Mike Nesmith.That would be coooool
FF909 said: Actually, the Monkee-killer for me is the red finish. Too pedestrian!Now that I think about it the Monkees model was opaque red, not transparent. How about the only Cad Green Monkees model complete with the one-off optional mute?Plus, I don't think I could do a transparent finish in any hue without the control-knob-hole-plugging on the righty-side becoming obvious -- very undesirable to me. I'm pretty sure that an opaque finish will be mandatory.
i had this guitar bookmarked...almost bid on it. but i have 3 project guitars in the works now that i'm painting.
glad to see it went to someone that will give it some TLC. let us know what she's like.
Sounds to me like a prime candidate to become a Dudley Doright guitar.
I like Mark's idea of the only double cut 6120 in Caddy Green
But i think a nice two tone would also be very fitting,not to many of those in double cut form either.
Be sure to post some more pics when she arrives at her new home Paul
I actually tried the proposal in Japan.
Hi, Kenta,
That's a nice job, there! I approve heartily!
I've been horribly neglectful of this thread, and it's my guitar and project! Yeesh... I've been busy on other pressing matters, have done a few things with the guitar and have more to come but have not taken the time (I'm pretty sure I haven't had the time) to take pics yet.
The quick of it: it had a right-handed Bigsby that was hacked, bolted, and somehow or another reversed to appear (and work) left-handed. That's been replaced by a proper lefty Bigsby (a B6 as on Kenta's, not a model-correct "Gretsch-by" V-cut). The tone switch (next to the master volume knob) tip had been replaced by a strap knob(!); all switch tips and knobs have been replaced by fresh 'uns, as have the pickup covers. The old FilterTrons sound just as good as TV Classics so they're staying put.
It may be going to a luthier tomorrow for a new nut (the original is still on there, with slots opened up to accommodate the reverse-order strings -- not optimal), thumbprint inlays, move the tone switch next to the pickup selector switch, and maybe a few other tweaks. Mr. Setzer will be supplying me with new fake f-holes (and I'm sure he'll provide me with a custom pickguard if I ask him real nice), and Curt is being lined up to repaint. I think I'm going to go with the Lotus Ivory and gray combination, unless someone talks me into some other two-tone. The guitar came with a terrible little Tuna-magic bridge; it now has a bar bridge.
As an as-was instrument, it played pretty well and sounded pretty great. It had flatwound .013s on it, which were a bit much, even for me. I'm confident that it will be a major favorite once everything is done.
In-progress pics soon...
Paul/FF909
Hi FrequentFlyer909,
Thank you for reading and Please allow to be hard to read my strange sentence.
Unfortunately the left-handed replacement parts which is available to get in Japan is only /GT453 Nashville #6120-60L Pickguard / /GT454 Tennessee Rose #6119L Pickguard/ and Bigsby(Not V-cut).
About a matter of transparent finish, After all an outline shows them. So the Lotus Ivory and gray combination is wise choice.
I look forward to that I can watch your cool gretsch without the tun-a-magic!
