NGD - Gretsch G6136TCST-R White Falcon!

[surfreak]

Here's my new lady, a Stephen Stern masterbuilt Gretsch 6136T White Falcon relic.
Unlike the regular white Falcon, this one is made in the US at the Fender Custom Shop by Stephen Stern.

I really love the way it looks, sounds and plays, those SD Dynasonic pickups are great, sort of in between a Tele bridge single coil and a P90, really loud and powerful but very sensitive to your picking.

It cost me an arm and a leg, but truthfully it is such a well made instrument that it makes all my other guitars, including the expensive ones, look and feel like toys in comparison....

Anyway, here you go:

[Misanthrope[ALWT]]

By god, please tell me that fine work of art plays as smoothly as the 12k it's worth.

[surfreak]

Well, if you ask me, and I own this thing, no guitar made on Earth is worth 12k, if you look at it objectively. But I don't regret buying it one bit: it looks wonderful, plays exceptionally smooth, sounds amazing and it inspires me to play better.

OK, the actual street price is much less than 12k, but still very expensive, and as an investment on my playing ability, it's worth it.

[Misanthrope[ALWT]]

I agree completely man but holy shit, that's just a serious amount of dough.. how much did you get it for, anyway? I couldn't help but notice the dings in the finish, especially on the headstock, and I'm interested in how that affect the price.

[surfreak]

Well, the dings and the wear are supposed to be there, and you actually pay MORE for that! This is the Relic version, with artificial aging, which means dings, scratches, finisch check spider lines, yellowed lacquer, faded hardware etc.

It's a bit like buying faded jeans vs dark blue ones, and it's supposed to make a guitar look like it's been played for 50 years. Some people love it, some hate it. I obviously like it!

[Misanthrope[ALWT]]

I don't get that at all.. I'm into the whole process of personally instilling the soul of an old, trusted guitar by beating the shit out of it myself. But hey dude, to each his own!

[tonemonster]

good goobalee goo!!!!!!!! WOW! that is beautiful!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!

[Rupe]

I'm not a relic fan by any means but I love White Falcons and this is about as good as it gets without going vintage...and quite frankly I'm confident that this one is built much better than any of the old ones were. Congrats on a very cool score

[j2379]

nice, hows it stay in tune. did all the white falcons have those pups, i thought they had filtertrons?

[Snoogans]

If only it had a Floyd...

Just kidding! The only word for that baby is MAGNIFICENT. I was never a fan of hollowbodies, but I'm really starting to see the appeal these days. I guess that's what listening to Brian Setzer and Horton Heat does for you!

[Hellbat]

That's one nice looking Love Removal Machine.

[skorb]

awesome!!

love those.

how's it handle distortion?

[straycat]

Stunning is all I can say!

[surfreak]

awesome!!

love those.

how's it handle distortion?

Well, I'm about 3 months into the honeymoon now, and I can say it sounds very "different" with high gain amps. it is a very resonant and lively instrument with a lot of twang and attack, so the distorted tones sound very raw and in your face, pretty much the opposite of a typical "metal" solid body with EMG's.

Unwanted feedback at high volume can be a problem with high gain though, that's the drawback of a trestle-braced, highly resonant top. So in a live setting I think it's at its best in the clean to medium distorted range, and if you need a more modern distorted tone, a good compressor works great: I use a Keeley 2-knob and it's just what I need to tame the attack a bit whilst preserving the fundamental tone and harmonics.

The Dynasonics are high output pickups, so it does overdrive more easily than a typical Strat or a Tele would, but it is by no means a "metal" guitar. I've recorded a couple of test tracks on my home studio (just a fairly standard Logic Studio setup, with some hardware outboard to warm up the signal a bit and serious mics!), and it sounds really great when I double-track a typical metal rhythm part which would otherwise get lost in the mix.

I would track the main part with my Steinberger GL2S with EMG, which sounds really compressed and crunchy, and then give it space in the mix by double tracking the White Falcon with medium gain, dry, with the SM57 a bit closer to the center of the speaker and the large diaphragm ambient mic a bit closer to the amp than usual.

[SignoftheDragon]

That's one nice looking Love Removal Machine.

My thoughts exactly. Saw the Cult last year, and spent half the show drooling over Billy Duffy's hollowbody. Ian's voice doesn't have the stamina it used to have, but the guitar hooks were potent as ever.

Nice score!