Edward tips his hat to the lasting legacy of one of country music's greatest with this 1958 Walnut Gretsch 6122 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman. One of the first artists to endorse a guitar company, Atkins changed more than just Gretsch history when he helped develop the Filter'Tron pickup, a noise-cancelling, dual-coil alternative to the classic single-coil.
Gretsch instruments enjoyed market prominence by the 1950s. In 1954, Gretsch began a collaboration with guitarist Chet Atkins to manufacture a line of electric guitars with Atkins' endorsement, resulting in the Gretsch 6120 hollowbody guitar and other later models such as the Country Gentleman. Electric guitars before 1957 used single coil pickups that have significant hum problems as an inherent part of their design. Frustration with the hum of these pickups prompted Atkins to collaborate with American inventor and engineer Ray Butts on the development of a new "humbucking" pickup by connecting two single-coil pickups serially and out of phase. This resulted in what may have been the first humbucker pickup (a claim lost to Gibson Guitars because Gibson was able to file a patent for their humbucker design first). Butts' design became the Gretsch Filter'Tron and was used on Gretsch guitars beginning in 1957, and is highly regarded for its unique sound properties. The popularity of Gretsch guitars soared in the mid-1960s because of its association with Beatles guitarist George Harrison, who played Gretsch guitars beginning in the band's early years.
Check out the full story of this guitar here: http://bit.ly/2O43uSV
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Check out the gear used in this video here:
- 1958 Gretsch 6122 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman
- 1959 Gretsch 6163 Executive Amp
- Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master
- Earthquaker Devices Speaker Cranker
- Divine Noise Cables
Songs played in this video:
0:00 - 0:58: I Won't Stand In Your Way by The Stray Cats
03:53 - 05:03: Maw by Chelsea Wolfe
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