Gretsch 5120 Modification

Gretsch 5120 Modification

By Pappy

The 5120 from Gretsch is in a good position.  It’s expensive enough to be taken seriously, it’s cheap enough to be attainable, and the “Electromatic” on the label puts people right at ease when it comes to the idea of modifying it.  Some people wouldn’t think to do such a thing to a pro-line Gretsch, but don’t hesitate in the slightest to do the same thing to the 5120.

And why should they?  It’s got good bones!  I’ve seen a lot of customized 5120s and they usually follow a certain pattern.  There is usually aftermarket pickups (usually of the TV Jones variety), and there was a while there when people were trying to make reproduction Stray Cat lookalikes.

I always thought it would be cool to replace the stock humbuckers, which are OK, but nothing insanely special, with a pair of Wide Range Humbuckers from the Creamery and then use push/pull pots on the independent volume knobs to split the pickups.  That way I can make it as meaty as I want to, or I can get that tone that only single coils have.

I also always thought it would be cool to have a Piezo in there.  I guess Larry’s Parker really did me in on the idea of a Piezo in a guitar because I didn’t care at all about them before I got my hands on his guitar.  Add a stereo output so I can set up one amp to be the dirty amp and one to be the acoustic amp and I’d be in tonal heaven.  I like songs that have acoustic breaks in them and the idea of just changing channels/turning off your distortion/etc seems a little… well, I don’t think it’s the best you can do.

But the idea of flipping a switch all the way down (or up) and having the signal move to a completely different amp with an amazingly different sound… that sounds pretty appealing!

And then there’s always the idea of keeping both signals going to beef up your mix and add an acoustic to the mix without actually adding an acoustic.  Not a bad idea at all in some applications.

Well, a buddy of mine must have had a similar idea because he went out and found the best Piezo bridge that would fit his 5120 bridge base and started wiring it up!  His goal was to modify it in a way that was reversible which is why his switch is located inside the F-hole.  Check out the link to read about how he did it and be sure to watch the videos and listen.  Not only is this guy an AMAZING player, but the sounds he’s getting through the STOCK pickups and the Piezo bridge are out of this world.  This makes me want to get a 5120 and bust out the soldering iron!

Click here to see what I'm talking about!

XXX---XXX

This post is brought to you by Flatline Guitars, a small guitar company that dedicate themselves to making the absolute best guitar possible and delivering amazing tone, amazing feel for an attainable price. I have a Delta 90, myself and it's quickly rising to "#1" status! Click the above link to find out more!