Review of the Gretsch 6118T 140th Anniversary Guitar
limited edition in 2 Tone Platinum Silver and Blue
Gretsch 6118T 140th Anniversary Guitar -
made for 1 year only - a collector's limited edition guitar -
this guitar is seriously under the radar!
Priced at £2500-£2900 in the UK new, this one was priced used
at £1699 and then reduced to £1499 in a sale so made it a real bargain!
The Gretsch 6118T 140th Anniversary Guitar -
a guitar packed with top-drawer features!
The glorious blue colour changes hue as the light sources change -
here the neck looks lighter, although they are the same colour!
In 1985, 40 years ago, I bought my first Gretsch guitar, a 1974 Viking and 40 years on my latest Gretsch guitar is appropriately being the 40th anniversary of that purchase, a Gretsch Anniversary model - namely this 6118T Double Platinum 140th Anniversary model guitar.
Late in 2024, I was looking to buy a 6118 Anniversary in 2 tone green, but they were hard to find, so I went for a 5420T in 2 Tone green which I purchased. Then I saw this 6118T advertised on youtube, which looked interesting.
The 6118T as purchased
This 6118T version is a special 1 year only production guitar, a 140th Anniversary Platinum model made in 2022 for the 2023 anniversary. The guitar as befits the Anniversary model theme has a 2 tone colour scheme, in this case Platinum Silver top and and a (Blue Stone) Platinum back, neck and sides. The paint is metallic with a slight sparkle to the finish.
In the plush lined case
The finish is in nitro cellulose rather than the more widely used Polyester epoxy paint. It is a flawless finish and the metallic pearlised paints really look fantastic. I have other Gretsches with thin poly finishes and these allow the guitar to remain vibrant. In my mind too much store is put in the nitro finish as the holy grail, I have guitars in both finishes and they sound equally great. The rub is the woods need to be good quality and the finish thinly applied. My 1975 Stratocaster had a thick poly finish!
The rear view of the Platinum Blue paint
The Binding is a parchment white colour that blends in nicely to the paint. The neck and headstock feature binding which is usually absent on the 6118T and Player series 2-tone Green Anniversary model guitars (some Japan 6118's prior to 2003 had neck binding reflecting the c.1961-2 style binding which you can see on the Brian Jones 6118 guitar).
The wood used on this guitar's top is a departure for Gretsch 6120 shaped guitars from the customary Maple - in that it is Adirondack Red Spruce which is often used on Martin and Gibson guitars as a guitar top tone wood.
Inside the body is a modern take on the Trestle Bracing assembly based on the style of 1959 bracing, connecting the back to the top and providing extra strength and tone transfer.
The FT-67 Filtertron pickups are Gretsch's own pickups -
they have pearlised internal cover plates
On the top of the body we have a pair of FT-67 Filtertron pickups modelled on the Baldwin era 60's pickups which have a trebly sound, almost single coil-like and quite bright. The Bigsby is a B6CP string thru type unit. Having a number of guitars with the B6C with the pegs on for the string ends I find the old B6C easy to string, this B6CP string through bridge was more fiddly to string I found and the job took far longer to do.
The string ball ends get pulled into the bar on the B6CP too which might make removal less straightforward if they get corroded in, although this string seating might give more tone transfer.
The pickup mounts and pickguard are made in blue transparent plastic and the pots all have 'Falcon' style jewel insert control knobs which are stylish. The neck side features pearlised markers not the usual red side marker dots as found on many of the Japan guitars.
The rear view of the blue paintwork -
the blueness and darkness varies according to the light source
The neck is the usual 12" radius often found on most of the 6120 style arch tops bar the Brian Setzer Hot Rod model guitars which are 9.5", the back of the neck is a U shape and very comfortable to play, being topped with an Ebony fretboard which has bound sides. Many of the upper bracket Gretsch guitars have gone to Rosewood from Ebony, so the board being Ebony is a nice touch.
The tuning machine heads are Gotoh locking units as used on the Player series and the Brian Setzer Hot Rod guitars. These are nicely engineered units with a good ratio. These feature adjustment in the turn resistance by the screw in the key end.
The control knobs are stylish and unusual
Unusually, the guitar features Schaller Strap Locks and they are a nice uprated design with larger locking collars on. Much as I like the old Gretsch screw-on strap top buttons, they are a worry as they can slip out of your hands when putting on or taking off a guitar strap and can become easily lost which is an issue if you are playing live and have no spare ones in the case! These new strap mounted locking units clip on to the strap buttons easily.
Locking machine heads by Gotoh
Hardware is chrome plated fare throughout and a Tunamatic blade saddle bridge sits on an Ebony base which has locating pins under the base feet to stop the bridge base moving about.
Also note the double anniversary inlaid logo here near the neck volute
The build quality is as you would expect from a Terada-made Japan Gretsch is superb, with faultless construction and finishing. You could pay a lot more money for this guitar and still consider this a top quality guitar. The quality is about the best I have seen.
The beautiful vibrant abalone inlaid Gretsch logo
This review instrument was a used guitar with little use and 'out of the case' I found it really nice with a slick action, the strings were old and probably the originals - these were changed straightaway after the guitar had a clean up and a set of D'Addario 10-46 strings were put on. The guitar is supplied new with 11 - 49 strings, 10's are more my style.
The sound after my clean up and new strings put on was bright, I found a buzz higher up the fretboard which wasn't the frets but found to be the Tunamatic bridge causing the problem - I suspect it was resonating and causing the issue.
I changed the Tunamatic bridge out for a Vanson Tunamatic with roller saddles that I have fitted on most of my Gretsch guitars and that solved the problem straightaway as the buzzing ceased. Brpoken spring clips on these Tunamatic bridges can cause the buzzing due to loose parts.
The Vanson did change tone as the new bridge sat lower as it is slightly taller although the string height was set to the same as it was previously and the Vanson metal alloy is different, however I had purchased the Vanson bridge some months before buying this guitar, which I then had hoped to buy, so I had the new bridge to hand when it did come my way. I am wondering if this buzzing problem was why the guitar was sold by the previous owner?
Top view of the body and the straplock button
Once I had adjusted the bridge unit height and intonation I was back in playing mode and the guitar sounded fantastic with plenty of natural sustain, the Adirondack top I think makes it ring more and you can feel the tone in the neck as you play chords. It has a nice bright sound.
The front pickup is a favourite sound of mine and sounds nice and clear, the middle position neck and bridge pickups combined sounds great too and I was looking forward to trying it out with a band. The bridge pickup on its own is quite trebly sounding but usable. On stage it sounded clear and a lot of people liked the sound when I used it with a jazz band recently.
Top quality all round
The guitar uses the pre 1957 wiring harness type design as used on the 5420T and early 6120's with single pickup selector switch layout with tone and volume pots and master volume rather than the two switch 'mud switch' tone circuitry.
I test played the 6118T through a Boss Twin Cube practice amplifier on the Jazz Chorus amplifier setting in a clean sound setting and it sounds very nice, clear and even. The change of Bridge has improved the sound to a more rounded sound. I did try the overdriven sounds from the high gain amplifier models on the Cube with the guitar, but that isn't a sound I use.
The Player's edition 6118 Anniversary in Green based on a 1960 guitar -
for comparison - I do love these 2 tone green guitars too!
This 6118T 140th Anniversary guitar is part of a limited edition lineup including a 5420T with FT5E pickups and BC60 Bigsby and a Falcon version, I am quite happy with this 6118T as it sits mid-range price wise, the 24.5 scale suits me over the longer Falcon scale and there was a big money saving too.
The guitar has a superb Gretsch hard shell case with cherry colour faux fur lining and it is quality all round.
Overall, what is my impression of the guitar? I really like it, it has a nice colour scheme, it is built very nicely and it sounds great. The limited edition cache is nice too.
Having owned a 2003 2 tone green 6118 Anniversary before, I think this one is upgraded over that and better for it, although I do like the old green 6118. The extra binding on the neck and F holes on this guitar and the better machine heads looks and works better, it makes the guitar look more complete and less of a poor relation to a 6120 that the green 6118.
I recently purchased a Gretsch 5420T in 2 tone 'Anniversary Green' which you can see my upgrade work on here. This is a Chinese made 5420T and is a very nice guitar for the money.
I am glad I bought this 140th Anniversary guitar, it handles and plays very nicely and also looks great. It also marks the 151st guitar I have owned since 1983!
