Great going, Six. It's great to hear that you can dial it back to the right point. I'd rather have that convenience than to max it out and still not get enough of the right sound.
It's kind of ironic to see both stomp boxes and software plugins get their share of praise and suspicion these days. I believe in using what works. This JangleBox is definitely on my list. For a whole different guitar and a more contemporary sound, I'm looking at some of the Satriani stomp boxes from Vox. Ice 9 and the Satchurator are the ones that have my attention at the moment.
mhschmieder wrote:I was wondering about that -- thought maybe you had a custom model.
Yes, the Gretsch pups have a long history even on this one particular model. It's hard to keep up with them all. I hadn't played my 6119 since last summer, so the Duo-Jet humbuckers were fresher in my mind than they probably should have been.
A brief history of the 6119 models:
The first issue had one FilterTron pup by DeArmond, and of course one volume knob and one tone switch. If you run into one of these, just know that they are very rare:
6119 original (restored)
Another version
6119 with a (Rickenbacker?) toaster pickup
Another-- single pup at the neck position
***
1959, Chet Atkins' influence played a huge role. By 1962 the body was thinner and a
"zero fret" was added. These were the first ones with the Hi-Lo single coil pups. This was Harrison's model.
There were minor changes for a good while (more info below). FilterTron humbuckers of a variety appeared on various models. By the 70s, it was the Baldwin era with more minor changes. The old 6119 Tennesseans got real f-holes, a new model number of 7655, but retained the pair of (updated ?) FilterTrons. Apparently, the 6119s with closed f-holes were temporarily retired.
The 90s brought back the 6119 model number. The former code name of "Tennessean" was renamed "Tennessee Rose" with a few more semi-minor but significant modifications. Still, the pups were FilterTrons, probably updated yet again.
It was 2002 when the 6119
HT became the "official" reissue model on which the Hi-Lo pups were brought back for the first time. I'm *now* sure that this is the one I have (because a 1959 Hi-Lo vintage is out of the question).
For a detailed history of the Gretsch pups,
CLICK HERE.
Just FYI-- The Monkees (Naismith) used Gretsches with SuperTrons. Instead of screw polepoints, they used thin bars. The idea was to offer higher output so that signal wouldn't close off so quickly during note-bending.
Anyone interested in Gretsch collecting?
THIS is a great site with lots of info on serial and model numbers.
Don't mind me. I'm just making up for lost time by losing the time already lost!