Possible Refinish of Gretsch G5120 Electromatic.

Greg · 2012-04-29T14:24:17+00:00

Hello GuitarForum.co.za! This is my first post here, so I thought I'd at least try make something useful. I've recently bought a Gretsch G5120 Electromatic...

Possible Refinish of Gretsch G5120 Electromatic.

singemonkey

Erm... I think this is what you were looking for:

Greg

I love that caddy green but since I've got nickel hardware and nickel pickups I think I'll got for a matte black Setzer Hotrod look, , which also has TV Jones or a Silver Phoenix.

Also, with regards to cosmetic stuff, I might get a Gretsch Bigsby Bc3.

Like so:

And thats a $2500 guitar that, probably about $2800 after tax!

AlanRatcliffe

A goth Gretsch! Who'da thunk? ?

Greg

Here is the work I had done.

I'll save up for a refinish of the top in matte black one day, but for now, it sounds awesome and will most likely be my go to guitar alongside my strat for touring.

Swapped the plastic rubbish nut for a bone one:

TV Classic at the Neck and TV Classic Plus at the bridge (very happy with these):

Moral of the story: If you buy/own an Electromatic, BUY TV's!

singemonkey

Nice. And good advice. They seem like nice guitars for the price - and you can't fault the looks. I'm sure they sound pretty damn good with those tv jones pickups too.

Greg

And here's the finished product:

Alterations:

Plastic Nut converted to Bone Nut
Swapped "Gretsch Buckers" for TV Classic (Neck) and TV Classic + (Bridge)

The guitar now has a satin finish on the top, which looks and feels great!

vic

Now THAT looks like a Gretsch !
Personally I'm glad you did not go for the black ?

Norman86

Niiiiice Greg ?

singemonkey

Vic wrote:
Now THAT looks like a Gretsch !
Personally I'm glad you did not go for the black ?

+1

Not going to take the pinstriping off the head? It looks great mate. It's great when a mid-priced guitar is good enough that you can mod it to work as a pro guitar.

I saw you post on Facebook that you can leave the 6120 safely at home.

It raises an interesting question for me of when some very desirable guitars become just too expensive to haul around gigs. I know I baby my Gibsons just because I'm all too aware of their value. It's not that I haven't gigged the LP, and I will again in the future. It's just that I am constantly nervous about it being nicked or dinged when it's out at a show.

Greg

singemonkey wrote:
Vic wrote:
Now THAT looks like a Gretsch !
Personally I'm glad you did not go for the black ?
+1

Not going to take the pinstriping off the head? It looks great mate. It's great when a mid-priced guitar is good enough that you can mod it to work as a pro guitar.

I saw you post on Facebook that you can leave the 6120 safely at home.

It raises an interesting question for me of when some very desirable guitars become just too expensive to haul around gigs. I know I baby my Gibsons just because I'm all too aware of their value. It's not that I haven't gigged the LP, and I will again in the future. It's just that I am constantly nervous about it being nicked or dinged when it's out at a show.

Thanks! I thought I'd leave it as a memento ?

I paid R7000 for it initially, the pickups set me back a pretty penny and then the work to have them fitted, new bone nut, top reworked means I've spent R12-13k in total. Which I'm not entirely happy with, but the end result has been well worth it!

I'm not one to get precious about guitars, I take good care of them, clean them after every use, but I'm quite likely to take my 6120 to gigs around town. I LOVE the sound of my 6120, I'm starting to identify it as "my sound" and I definitely use the 6120 for important stuff, TV performances etc. but from now on I'll use the 5120 for tours and festivals outside of the Cape.

It also depends how tightly the guitar is tied into the image of the band because, with Peachy Keen for example, we're a 5 piece Rockabilly/RocknRoll act. A Gretsch or a Tele are just the right sort of vibe and they add a lot to the visual aspect of our performance, so it's nice to be able to have a choice between the 5120 and the 6120. But in my another band, swapping the 6120 for a Strat is totally fine.

I think when a guitar goes over R30k or is very difficult to replace, like a vintage axe or a custom guitar, then I'd probably not take it to the DUST fest that IS Oppikoppi.

For the most part, guitars are meant to be played and I think they're happier on a stage than in a case. ?

AlanRatcliffe

Now that looks just like it should. ? Something about the orange Gretsches just makes them look right. Strange, as I think any other type of guitar in orange looks horrible.

So, did you just buff off the pinstriping or did you end up having to refinish the top?

Greg

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Now that looks just like it should. ? Something about the orange Gretsches just makes them look right. Strange, as I think any other type of guitar in orange looks horrible.

So, did you just buff off the pinstriping or did you end up having to refinish the top?

Buffed if off, the orange seems to be a stain or something, it goes quite deep apparently.

And I agree with the statement about the orange! Gretsch's pull it off, perhaps because of all the other shiney adornments!

AlanRatcliffe

Yeah - the orange is a stain AFAIK. You're lucky they didn't do the pinstripes under the clearcoats as that would have meant a refinish to remove them. ?

ShakeNBake

Good old search function leading me to the right places.

I just did a trade: My Epi LP for the 5120. Piano black.

I'm not too concerned with the looks just yet, and as it's my 1st step into the hollowbody foray, the original pups can stay for now.
The Bigsby as a bit of corrosion around the spring on the tremolo arm and the tailpiece.
Where would I start hunting for a bridge and nut?

This guitar's been standing idle for a long while.
So I'm thinking strings, intonation, nut and a means of cleaning up the Bigsby?
Oh and the clear pickguard will have to go.

I liked the look of the matte black finish in the pic posted earlier....

Anyway - leaving cosmetics out of it.

Where could I purchase a good nut, pickguard and bridge locally? Or would I have to import?
I could likely fit those myself - but I'd also prefer some face time with someone in the know or even get an idea of whom to speak to and what the associated costs would be for a barebones setup.

Greg

ShakeNBake wrote: Good old search function leading me to the right places.

I just did a trade: My Epi LP for the 5120. Piano black.

I'm not too concerned with the looks just yet, and as it's my 1st step into the hollowbody foray, the original pups can stay for now.
The Bigsby as a bit of corrosion around the spring on the tremolo arm and the tailpiece.
Where would I start hunting for a bridge and nut?

This guitar's been standing idle for a long while.
So I'm thinking strings, intonation, nut and a means of cleaning up the Bigsby?
Oh and the clear pickguard will have to go.

I liked the look of the matte black finish in the pic posted earlier....

Anyway - leaving cosmetics out of it.

Where could I purchase a good nut, pickguard and bridge locally? Or would I have to import?
I could likely fit those myself - but I'd also prefer some face time with someone in the know or even get an idea of whom to speak to and what the associated costs would be for a barebones setup.

Welcome to the Gretsch club!

You can get a nut made locally like I did, should cost too much.

The Bigsby and the pickguard will be hard/impossible to come by and you'll most likely have to order those.

I can highly recommend the TV Classics! They've given my 5120 new life and Brian Setzer has TV's in ALL of his guitars if I recall correctly.

AlanRatcliffe

Greg wrote: I can highly recommend the TV Classics!

+1. I have a guitar here at the moment with a TV Classic and a Classic + and they are wonderful. They do everything from clean jazz and country through rock 'n roll to classic rock and do it all well...

Chabenda

Greg wrote: And here's the finished product:

Alterations:

Plastic Nut converted to Bone Nut
Swapped "Gretsch Buckers" for TV Classic (Neck) and TV Classic + (Bridge)

The guitar now has a satin finish on the top, which looks and feels great!

What a beaut!!!

rikus

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: +1. I have a guitar here at the moment with a TV Classic and a Classic + and they are wonderful. They do everything from clean jazz and country through rock 'n roll to classic rock and do it all well...

Do tell!! What guitar / style of guitar are the TVs residing in at the moment? I’m getting closer and closer to a tele build and TVs are neck in neck with WRHBs at the moment…

AlanRatcliffe

Rikus wrote: Do tell!! What guitar / style of guitar are the TVs residing in at the moment?

A Cort Sunset I:

ShakeNBake

Greg wrote:
ShakeNBake wrote: Good old search function leading me to the right places.

I just did a trade: My Epi LP for the 5120. Piano black.

I'm not too concerned with the looks just yet, and as it's my 1st step into the hollowbody foray, the original pups can stay for now.
The Bigsby as a bit of corrosion around the spring on the tremolo arm and the tailpiece.
Where would I start hunting for a bridge and nut?

This guitar's been standing idle for a long while.
So I'm thinking strings, intonation, nut and a means of cleaning up the Bigsby?
Oh and the clear pickguard will have to go.

I liked the look of the matte black finish in the pic posted earlier....

Anyway - leaving cosmetics out of it.

Where could I purchase a good nut, pickguard and bridge locally? Or would I have to import?
I could likely fit those myself - but I'd also prefer some face time with someone in the know or even get an idea of whom to speak to and what the associated costs would be for a barebones setup.
Welcome to the Gretsch club!

You can get a nut made locally like I did, should cost too much.

The Bigsby and the pickguard will be hard/impossible to come by and you'll most likely have to order those.

I can highly recommend the TV Classics! They've given my 5120 new life and Brian Setzer has TV's in ALL of his guitars if I recall correctly.

Thanks ?

I myst say that this past week and a a bit has me gobsmacked by the tone from this guitar.
And I can only imagine what it'll sound like with a nice set of TVJones'. ?

Whom would you recommend to for the nut?

Also - a bit of weirdness - likely due to age - is that the neck pickup has died on me.
That or the selector is faulty or a little wiring issue.

Anyway - not a biggy right now.

Oh, about the Bigsby.
What kind of metal are they made of?
Is sandblasting an option?
Or just go new?

Also - what would be the best sites/options to look at for ordering parts needed?

TIA