What guitar did Chet use for Mr. Sandman and Silver Bell

Discussion of history's greatest guitar player.

What guitar did Chet use for Mr. Sandman and Silver Bell

Postby mark reinhart » Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:37 am

I'm still hard at work on my Chet book, and I've thought of a question I'd like to throw out to all of you. Does anyone know for sure if Chet used his legendary modified Gretsch 6120 to record "Mister Sandman" and "Silver Bell"? It seems like a pretty safe bet that he did record those songs with that guitar -- after all, he was using it at the recording sessions for his album A SESSION WITH CHET ATKINS, and those sessions were held at the same time as the "Sandman" and "Bell" sessions. If anyone has any thoughts regarding this question, I would be interested to hear them.
mark reinhart
 
Posts: 70
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 7:13 pm

Re: What guitar did Chet use for Mr. Sandman and Silver Bell

Postby Norm » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:15 am

This is how it looks to me.

Innovations seldom have sharp edges...by that I mean, suppose something was released or made in a given year. Just exactly when in a given year is usually unspecified. Something made in the last few weeks of a given year doesn't have as much weight as if it were made at the beginning of a given year.

It would appear that the two songs were both released around 1955. That would mean DeArmond equipped 6120. The sealed top experimental wasn't built until 1956 according to Joe Carducci. The thing is, that guitar probably came equipped with DeArmond's.

Ray Butts entered the scene in 1954 with his echosonic amp. Those color films (which include the Dark Eyes guitar) were made over a long period 1955-57 and in those Chet plays Sandman with a DeArmond equipped 6120 as well as two guitars with the Filter Tron prototypes. He may have started using the white topped prototype after Gretsch gave the go ahead in the boardroom to build the pickup but before they actually used the Filter Tron in production with the bigger metal sheild we see today which went into production probably in 1957 and appeared on the 1958 Gentleman, This would have given Chet some time as having the only operational anti hum pickup in the business.


"...The Gibson "paf" is the world's second humbucker guitar pickup, invented by Seth Lover in 1955 as an engineer for Gibson and began use in mass production guitars in 1957. It is commonly mistaken for the first humbucker pickup due to Gibson's popularity and the earlier patent filing date. While the first humbucker pickup in use, and issued a patent, was actually the Gretsch Filter'Tron pickup prototypes, designed by Ray Butts in 1954 at the request of Chet Atkins for his Gretsch 6120 (1955 introduction)(Filter'Tron production also starting in 1957)..."___WikiPedia
...that's how it looks to me...The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station. Your mileage may vary...

Audio samples: http://www.youtube.com/user/acountrygent/videos
That should do it.
Norm
 
Posts: 1333
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:36 pm
Location: redwood city ca

Re: What guitar did Chet use for Mr. Sandman and Silver Bell

Postby Norm » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:22 am

On A Session With Chet Atkins Chet used his first 6120 and the Ray Butts EchoSonic amp. It was the same guitar he used in the video of Mister Sandman.
__Paul Yandell, CGP
...that's how it looks to me...The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station. Your mileage may vary...

Audio samples: http://www.youtube.com/user/acountrygent/videos
That should do it.
Norm
 
Posts: 1333
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:36 pm
Location: redwood city ca


Return to Mister Guitar, Chet Atkins

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 33 guests