After recently gracing the cover of Guitar Player, Gretsch signature artist Brian Setzer got some more coverage from Premier Guitar in their May issue. The feature story covered his bluegrass and rockabilly roots, his new album Setzer Goes Instru-MENTAL! and his love/hate relationship with vintage Gretsch guitars.
For instance, he dives into specifics about his longtime companion — a 50-plus-year-old Gretsch ’59 6120.
“I bought it a long time ago from a guy on Long Island when I lived there, and incidentally it’s a really good one,” Setzer tells PG. “Guitarists tend to romanticize vintage instruments, but the old ones are really so hit-and-miss. I rate them ‘Monday through Friday,’ Monday being the worst. With a Monday guitar, it’s like the guy working at the factory started the week with a hangover and a fight with his wife, which translated to a crummy instrument. With a Friday guitar, the guy was in a great mood and was pumped up for the weekend, so he makes a beautiful instrument. That ’59 is definitely a Friday guitar—when it’s in perfect working order, it plays and sounds incredible.”