Gretsch 6120-BSHR-TBW Brian Setzer Signature Hot Rod (Japan, 2015)

Rockabilly / swing icon Brian Setzer has won 3 Grammy awards, headlined both Woodstock and the Montreal Jazz Festival, sold over 13 million records, won the Orville H Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award and even been animated to appear in The Simpsons! His unique blend of swing and rockabilly has achieved something very rare, attracting both awe-struck guitarists with its technical virtuosity and toe-tapping listeners who simply enjoy the tunes. It was thanks to this readily accessible form of guitar mastery that Gretsch picked him up for a series of gorgeous signature hollow-bodies, including this absolutely un-put-down-able Hot Rod.

Hand made in Japan, this masterfully built maple bodied rock/blues box exudes class. The 1959 style trestle braced flame maple body looks great in its stylish two-tone “tuxedo” finish. The neck is also maple, topped with an ebony fretboard and paired with reliable Schaller locking tuners. The fretboard’s edges are rolled with flawlessly finished jumbo frets which make clear riffs and lightning fast licks a breeze. The neck has a very comfortable slim C profile and has been professionally set up in store for an effortlessly low action. There’s also a Bigsby tremolo which is loads of fun and combines with an Adjusto-Matic bridge (with pinned rosewood base) for flawless tuning stability. Tonally, this guitar combines classic archtop tone (with enhanced projection thanks to the enlarged F holes) with a slightly hotter output from the pickups than you might expect. This gives a bright, lively tone with a tight, punchy low end. The tonal controls are pretty simple with just a three-position pickup toggle switch and master volume control with treble bleed circuit. When a guitar sounds and feels this good you really don’t need to do much to the controls and we found that we didn’t have any trouble getting the sounds we wanted from this pleasantly simple set-up, leaving us more brain space to focus on playing.

This awesome electric guitar is in great condition apart from some buckle rash to the back of the body which can be seen in the rear closeup. Other than this there is no cosmetic damage and only extremely minor fretwear. It also comes with a Gretsch hard case (near mint condition) and its original lifetime warranty from Gretsch and certificate of authenticity. If you’d like to take this beautiful instrument for a test drive then call in to Finale Guitar between 10-5 any day except Wednesday, or check out now to arrange affordable postage anywhere in the UK.