The 6122 Country Gentleman is considered by many to be one of the holy trinity of Gretsch guitars, along with the 6120 and White Falcon. Although it lacks the cowboy cool of a G-branded 6120 or the dazzle of the Falcon, it has an elegance (and some would say playability) the others lack. The fact that George Harrison played one doesn’t hurt, either.
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In late 1960 the body, like many Gretsches, was trimmed down to about 2” thick, but the next major change came in ‘62, when the Gent adopted Gretsch’s new “Electrotone” double cutaway body. The ‘62 and ‘63 models were identical, and it was one of these that Harrison made famous. After ‘63, Gents changed again, gaining a “Country Gentleman” logo on the pickguard, a SuperTron pickup instead of a FilterTron by the neck, and different tuners, among other changes.
The SuperTron was dropped in ‘67, rosewood replaced ebony on the fingerboard sometime in the late ‘60s and Gretsch, under Baldwin control, beginning dropping features to keep costs down.
In 1970 the ebony fingerboard re-appeared, but the Gent was obviously a Baldwin creation by this time, with its oddly shaped pickguard, and in the early ‘70s the model was re-designated 7670.
Atkins owned the rights to the “Country Gentleman” name, and in 1978 he jumped ship to Gibson, taking the name with him. Gretsch renamed it Country Squire and soldiered on briefly, before changing the name again to “Southern Belle”.
The 7670 Southern Belle model makes an interesting side note to the Country Gentleman legend: As Gretsch foundered under Baldwin’s ownership, production was eventually moved to Mexico, where at least one Gent was reportedly made.
By some reports, production moved to Mexico in 1978 or ‘79, but according to others no guitars came out of Mexico until the early 80s, possibly as late as 1984 or ‘85. Either way, Chet Atkins had left Gretsch, so the Gents were offered as the Southern Belle model.
According to Gretsch mainstay Duke Kramer, only about 100 Southern Belle/Country Gents were made, all in Mexico. The guitars that were made are beautiful examples and are at least up to the standard of the Arkansas-made guitars. The business and distribution side had simply become too chaotic for them to be successful.
The 6122 Country Gentleman is considered by many to be one of the holy trinity of Gretsch guitars, along with the 6120 and White Falcon. Although it lacks the cowboy cool of a G-branded 6120 or the dazzle of the Falcon, it has an elegance (and some would say playability) the others lack. The fact that George Harrison played one doesn’t hurt, either.
None
In late 1960 the body, like many Gretsches, was trimmed down to about 2” thick, but the next major change came in ‘62, when the Gent adopted Gretsch’s new “Electrotone” double cutaway body. The ‘62 and ‘63 models were identical, and it was one of these that Harrison made famous. After ‘63, Gents changed again, gaining a “Country Gentleman” logo on the pickguard, a SuperTron pickup instead of a FilterTron by the neck, and different tuners, among other changes.
The SuperTron was dropped in ‘67, rosewood replaced ebony on the fingerboard sometime in the late ‘60s and Gretsch, under Baldwin control, beginning dropping features to keep costs down.
In 1970 the ebony fingerboard re-appeared, but the Gent was obviously a Baldwin creation by this time, with its oddly shaped pickguard, and in the early ‘70s the model was re-designated 7670.
Atkins owned the rights to the “Country Gentleman” name, and in 1978 he jumped ship to Gibson, taking the name with him. Gretsch renamed it Country Squire and soldiered on briefly, before changing the name again to “Southern Belle”.
The 7670 Southern Belle model makes an interesting side note to the Country Gentleman legend: As Gretsch foundered under Baldwin’s ownership, production was eventually moved to Mexico, where at least one Gent was reportedly made.
By some reports, production moved to Mexico in 1978 or ‘79, but according to others no guitars came out of Mexico until the early 80s, possibly as late as 1984 or ‘85. Either way, Chet Atkins had left Gretsch, so the Gents were offered as the Southern Belle model.
According to Gretsch mainstay Duke Kramer, only about 100 Southern Belle/Country Gents were made, all in Mexico. The guitars that were made are beautiful examples and are at least up to the standard of the Arkansas-made guitars. The business and distribution side had simply become too chaotic for them to be successful.
The Gretsch-GEAR database includes 21 different models
and 294 examples
in the Country Gents & Southern Belles family, including
Chet Atkins Junior, Country Classic, Country Classic I/Country Gentleman I, Country Classic II/Country Gentleman, Country Classic Junior, Country Classic Special, Country Gentleman, Gentleman, Players Edition Country Gentleman, Southern Belle, Vintage Select Edition '59 Country Gentleman, Vintage Select Edition '62 Country Gentleman
and
Vintage Select Edition '62 Country Gentleman 12-String
models.
Guitar models in the Country Gents & Southern Belles group
The classic 6122 is among Gretsch's best loved models. While it was a Chet Atkins model -- and arguably the one with which Atkins was most involved with the design -- many remember the Country Gentleman best for its use in the hands of George Harrison.
Like the 6122-12 twelve-string, only in a striking natural amber finish, the 6122-12-AM was offered in two limited runs. The first, in the late 90s, consisted of about 13 guitars. A second run in the 2000s added 22 to the total.
Paul Yandell was both friend and sideman for Chet Atkins for more than 25 years and is one of the world's leading fingerstyle players in his own right. He recalls how he helped the 6122-1959 come to life as a tribute to his longtime friend: <blockquote> I wanted to reproduce ...
The 6122-1962 Country Gentleman was a modern-era recreation of the model made famous by George Harrison, right down to the twin mutes. They differ from the 6122-II in that they have a mud switch and the neck joins the body at the 14th fret rather than the 18th. Note that ...
Introduced in 2016, The Vintage Select '62 Country Gent 12-string features TV Jones Classic pickups, Gretsch Squeezebox capacitors, Electrotone body with simulated f-holes, Adjustamatic bridge, G-cutout tailpiece and a Walnut stain gloss urethane finish.
For some time Gretsch could not use the "Country Gentleman" name. During this period, most Gents were known as Country Classics. The II refers to the double-cutaway model. There was also a 6122-S single-cutaway Country Classic I. In the very early revival years, the 6122-II was simply known as the ...
A one-off "Dynasonic Gent" authorized by Mike Lewis and Joe Carducci of FMIC, and built at Terada in 2008 to the dream specs of GDP member Proteus. Formally presented in July 2009 at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention in Nashville by Fred Gretsch "as a token of appreciation" for ...
The 6122-QT appears to be a limited-run model made strictly for the Japanese market, in which a standard early-90s 6122-I got a very nice quilted wood body, and a more debatable choice of translucent pea-green paint. While they weren't originally offered in the US, over time some have made a ...
A short-run special model circa 2004-2005 that was a more vintage-correct Country Gentleman than the 6122-62. The SP had string mutes and TV Jones Classic pickups.
Introduced in 2016, The Players Edition Country Gent features Gretsch High-Sensitive Filtertron pickups, 2.25" thin body with ML bracing and open f-holes, Gretsch Squeezebox capacitors, no-load tone control, pinned rocking bar bridge, string-thru B6 Bigsby tailpiece, Graphtech Tusq XL nut and a Walnut stain gloss urethane finish.
Introduced in 2016, the Vintage Select '59 Country Gent features an Electrotone body with simulated F-holes, tiger-flame maple top in lacquer walnut stain finish, one TV Jones Supertron pickup and one TV Jones Supertron Classic Plus pickup, Grover Imperial "butterbean" tuning machines wire-arm B-6 Bigsby and pinned bar bridge. This ...
Introduced in 2016, the Vintage Select '62 Country Gent features an Electrotone body with simulated F-holes, walnut stain finish, TV Jones Classic pickups, Grover Imperial tuning machines, dual string mutes, B-6 Bigsby and pinned bar bridge.
A short-run special model circa 2004-2005 that was a more vintage-correct Country Gentleman than the 6122-62. The TSP had string mutes and TV Jones Classic pickups.
The Chet Atkins Junior is an unusual and extremely rare little guitar. So rare, in fact, that we're unable to even confirm the model number. What we do now is that the Junior was made somewhere from 1969 to 1971 (although probably not all those years) and appears to be ...
As Gretsch fell on hard times in the late 70s and Chet Atkins left for Gibson, the venerable Country Gentleman became the Southern Belle. Emasculation jokes aside, it was essentially the same guitar as a Baldwin-era Country Gent. Most were made in Mexico at the Jaurez plant, and were stamped ...
