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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
1959 Gretch 6128
This instrument came from Nashville and was played to death. Some frets had broken off, not worn out. The neck was loose. The fret board needed to be planed. The wiring was screwed up but the pickups worked well. The original bridge and tuners were shot. Nothing had been touched since it was manufactured. I replaced the wiring harness, pots, knobs, switches, bridge, and tuners. All acid etched and reliced to match the originals. The neck needed to be planed with new frets installed as well as a new zero fret and hand carved bone nut. After all that it became a tone monster. Same pickups that Malcolm used on every AC/DC recording you ever heard. They were not designed for that. They were designed for Jazz/Country. This particular set is #17. This guitar acoustically is absolutely amazing. It is not only louder than any electric I have ever played but the harmonics just scream off of it with ease. Bigsby needed love but stays in tune even after some heavy use. Major Nashville mojo.
Before
Played it hard.
Original bridge, knobs, Bigby arm and pickguard.
Neck wear
All I did was smooth this out. Didn't want to disturb that Nashville mojo.
Original Tuners
Completely shot. I was able to find the exact tuners from Waverly and acid etched them to match the way these look.
Just Broken.
You can tell if you are able to zoom in some how. The frets are in 2 pcs. The bone nut is in 3 pcs. Someone had glued them all into place.
Original Harness.
This was a huge job. Getting into a teeny weeny cavity and removing all of this in one piece is a artform in itself. Replacing it with a hand wired piece of wiring art by Rsm is another thing all together.
Zero Fret
Zero fret has divots which made the string height to low and created buzzing all down the neck.
New Bridge and Saddle
Roller Bridge install
The ebony saddle is the most important part of the install. The flat bottom has to be contoured to match the top curve of the guitar. It has to be done in location so that it seats exactly where your going to leave it after you install it. The bridge is from TonePro and has been acid etched to match the patina of the rest of the guitar. This allows the Bigsby to work flawlessly. Never goes out of tune.
Tuner install
Thank you Waverley for all of your help.
Waverley built these tuners for this job to create a direct replacement with a better ratio. I then acid etched them to match the patina and wear pattern that was on the old tuners almost exactly. Or at least as humanly possible.
Harness install
How to put something round in a square hole.
This takes gumption. Tones of trial and error. You have to build the new harness outside of the guitar and then feed everything into it. Pots and switches already on the harness just like the old one you see. The knobs where so worn that they rattled when you played the guitar so they were replaced as well as the switch buttons. That way the old harness was complete. The knobs and switch buttons as well as the switch stems are all acid etched and reliced to match the originals including the wear patterns.
Neck plane
Flat like the planet Earth.
When I am done this operation you can lay a flat edge down the neck and you will not see light under it. Neck radius is 12inch just like the original.
Fret install
Fret Level, Crown , Polish
Its a little jagged for my liking but to each his own. The customer is always right. The ebony fret board turned out perfectly flat. These frets are Cryogenically treated for maximum wear resistance and are still the same size as the original.
Nut and zero nut
Nut job...
The zero nut is now stainless steal and the nut is hand carved bone for tone. Stainless is not easy to work with and it was a challenge to get the string height correct at the first fret. I always use and recommend bone for tone.
enjoy the show
1959 Gretch 6128
What a incredible instrument. This thing does everything well. It sounds amazing playing any kind of rock. From Rush, AC/DC to Ted Nugent. They had no idea that these pickups would rule the rock and roll world but they did. Malcolm is a master of groovacious riffs and you have tapped your feet to the sound of these for decades. So I would like to thank Chet for developing these for country and jazz players and Malcolm for turning that upside down. Its not what you use its how you use it.