“Chet signed the guitar 1
in ’91 and added ‘CGP’
after his signature,” says
Fred Stucky, owner of April
2011’s Guitar of the Month.
“I always thought it meant
‘country guitar player,’ so
when Brian signed it in ’92
I had him add ‘RGP’ after
his name. He asked why
and I said “because you’re
a rockabilly guitar player.”
It wasn’t until many years
later that I learned ‘CGP’
meant ‘certified guitar
player,’ so ‘RGP’ always
makes me smile when
people ask about it.”
Plenty of marquee guitarists have used the
Chet Atkins-endorsed Gretsch 6120,
including Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, and Jim
“Reverend Horton Heat” Heath—in fact, all the
aforementioned players eventually had signature
models built off the 6120 platform. But Brian
Setzer is probably the guitarist most associated
with the 24.6"-scale hollowbody. And his iconic
instrument—which features Filter’Tron humbuckers,
a flamed-maple neck with an ebony
fingerboard, and laminated maple top, back, and
sides—is of the same vintage that several collectors
in Edward Ball’s book Gretsch 6120: The History of
a Legendary Guitar call the perfect iteration of the
guitar. Setzer’s famous 1959 6120, serial number
33024, was bought in pieces and then reconstructed.
It’s the guitar he used to fuel both his initial
success in the ’80s with the Stray Cats and the
massive rockabilly resurgence that the band’s popularity
fired. And it’s been with him on virtually
every project since—from his ’90s big-band boom
with the Brian Setzer Orchestra to his current
reign as the king of modern swing and rockabilly.
Along the way, that famous orange-stained
axe has inspired many tribute projects—from
amateur home jobs to a Gretsch Custom Shop
replica. But Fred Stucky, guitarist/singer for the
Philadelphia-based garage-country band Gas
Money, had something more authentic in mind
for his 6120 project.
“I was looking for my first ’59 6120, and
I wanted it to be close in serial number to
Setzer’s,” Stucky says of the serial-number
33002 hollowbody he purchased at the Dallas
Guitar Show in 1990 for $2500. “I knew even
back then, 20 years ago, that Gretsches within
certain production batches were better than
others. That 33000 batch is pretty special. It
was the last batch of 2.75"-deep 6120s with
an enamel-faced B6 Bigsby vibrato. They also
have the light trestle bracing and, purportedly,
a slightly thinner top.” (In 1960, the 6120
was temporarily changed to a 2.5" depth and
the Bigsby was changed to a V-style version.
However, Gretsch eventually returned to the
2.75" body depth—including on current production
models—and made the enamel-faced
Bigsby an option. Many current Gretsches,
including Setzer’s signature guitars, also feature
1959 trestle bracing and top thicknesses.)
Stucky took the time modify the guitar into
a near-perfect homage to Setzer’s 6120 almost
two decades before the Gretsch company even
thought of it. (In 2007, Gretsch had a limited
run of 59 Custom Shop Limited Edition Brian
Setzer Tribute 1959 6120 Nashvilles.) “I loved
Setzer’s early-’80s dirty tone,” he explains, “so,
in an effort to mutate what he did and make it
my own, I took out the zero fret and put in a
graphite nut, added some Schaller tuners, and
removed the tone switch on the upper bout.”
(Setzer removed the tone switch on his ’59 and
moved the pickup selector switch to the vacant
spot, which gave the appearance that his guitar
lacks a pickup-selector switch.) Stucky was
even lucky enough to secure signatures from
both of the 6120’s most famous users—
Atkins and Setzer—which are located
on its top between the Bigsby B6
trem and its Volume knobs.
“Pete Townsend said his ’59
6120 was the loudest guitar
he’s ever owned—and he was
right.” Stucky says the guitar
is his main gigging axe and
that, paired with a ’58 tweed
Deluxe, it enables him to easily
cover everything from classic
George Jones to souped-up
Sun Studio-era Elvis.
“There is no equal
in tone, and it’s all I
know,” says Stucky.
“The pure magic
of these vintage
instruments
being used in the
proper honkytonk
settings is
just right.”