this thread is reserved for rockabilly guitar discussion ( Gretsch guitars, Setzer guitars, etc)

[TAVO]

Tom Jones of Tvjones.com was kind enough to share this about Brian Setzer's guitar and his set up
of them for Brian Setzer.

"Brian's guitars are standard Terada Hotrods. They are sent to my shop and I go over them for Brian (since August of 1993). If re-fretting is necessary I usually use Stew Mac #141, or #152. I detail the overall feel of each guitars action - I'm kind of anal, but it pays off. I feel it is necessary to take it to a different level. I adjusting the truss rod, make sure the first few frets (in front of the nut) are not taller than the rest of the frets (can explain later), detail the depth of the nut slots (Delrin/actyle nut material), lower the top profile of the nut (if the strings are buried they can cause tuning issues), detail the depth of the bridge saddles to match the radius of the fingerboard, remove the pick guard (on most - not all), make sure the Bigsby arm is loose enough to drop without strings attached (arm should fall free - no friction), intonate (in playing position), and re-adjust pickups to work with each guitar (fine tune TV Classics due to tonal differences of each guitar, or have replaced with prototype designed pickups). They are pretty much stock guitars. The Terada factory does a superb job producing consistent guitars.

Thank you, TV Jones
"

[greasertom]

did you see premier guitar's rig rundown of setzers stuff? the main tech was really cool but didnt know much about the history of setzers guitars.

[ArtDecade]

Is that issue on the stands? If not, can you elaborate a little?

[greasertom]

Is that issue on the stands? If not, can you elaborate a little?

I actually saw it on youtube. I cant post links yet, but if you search brian setzer rig run down you'll find it. Its about 20 minutes long and really cool.

[mshehan]

If it's the video I saw I was slightly puzzled. He seemed to know less about the guitars than some fans - or he didn't want to elaborate. Not sure?? I'll have to watch it again to see if I was missing something.

[greasertom]

If it's the video I saw I was slightly puzzled. He seemed to know less about the guitars than some fans - or he didn't want to elaborate. Not sure?? I'll have to watch it again to see if I was missing something.

yup thats it. i thought the same thing. he seemed like a great tech but the last guy we'd want on a rig run down

[TAVO]

ya I have non Setzer friends send me that video, like they found something exciting and its actually
the opposite. Its "De-information"

[greasertom]

yea its funny cuz the one on social distortion was really cool, they interviewed mike ness and johnny 2 bags and they were very informative. but setzers dude was like "I think Brian was in a Rockabobby band called the stray ducks or whatever..."

[TAVO]

you think maybe Setzer threatened to tune him up if he spilled the beans and so he had
to pretend to be jackie cool shoes? fahgeddabout it

[greasertom]

im not gonna lie, i was really hoping they would show a pedal board and i would see a "you know what" preamp

[TAVO]

while that would be nifty, setzer only rolls with that Space echo

[Tom E.]

I read a lot about these guitars spec and I know that one have the pinned bridge, Sperzel locking tuners, different body depth, trestle bracing on the Setzer models, TV pickups, body finish bla bla bla etc... But in term of sound, did anybody can tell me if you can see a difference between those guitars!? Let say that I put TV pickups on the 6120 Chet Atkins... Should I get a G6120 Brian Setzer kinda sounding guitar!?

Sorry for my english

[TAVO]

well... I watched brian setzer play a '59 gretsch on stage and after the show
I got to hold it. It wasnt a brian setzer model, it was just a vintage gretsch
that was massaged into shape by tvjones. yes it was the best
gretsch I've ever strummed and brian told me there is nothing better
than a '59 gretsch. He's right.

[mshehan]

I would really like to play one. When I was teaching high school (a few years ago) one of my students told me about his grandpas guitar collection. He had several older 6120s in it. They thought they were late 50s-early 60s. The grandpa had passed away, and the family had decided to keep them hoping the grandkids would learn to play. A couple vintage 6120s, a White Falcon, a couple Teles, a Les Paul Deluxe (late 60s) and a Les Paul Recording....they would have motivated me to play. I've seen less impressive collections in Hard Rock Cafes!! The grandma said her husbands favorite was the Falcon, but he played the 6120s more. Such cool guitars - Brian is right!!

[Tom E.]

Hey Tavo, what a Setzer's fret job looks like!?

[TAVO]

Hey Tavo, what a Setzer's fret job looks like!?

I'll try to get a picture of my fretboard in the morning which is suppose to be close.. 6105 dunlop stainless steel fret wire, a bit shaved off the top with bulbous ends. Makes the guitar a tad brighter on fret strings.

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