Gretsch 6120

Talk about guitars, amps and other gear.

Gretsch 6120

Postby JimP » Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:10 pm

Its been a very long time since I posted here. I have a 6120 with a Bixby that is vibrating. The felt dots under the casting must have shrunk and are allowing the metal to contact the soundboard ever so slightly. Has anybody else ever had this problem? I was thinking of replacing them with cork. What do you guys think? Thanks, Jim.
JimP
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:05 am

Re: Gretsch 6120

Postby thenorm » Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:01 pm

Are you sure that will take care of the problem? I mean, does the noise go away if you press down on the main frame of the Bigsby? Guitar rattles and vibrations can be hard to track down.

If you think that is for certain the problem you could use cork or just replace the old felt pads with new ones.

Paul Yandell once posted this:
________
Another thing Chet and I did to our guitars was to anchor the spring cup on the Bigsby. We drilled a small hole through the cup and put a screw through it into the top of the guitar.
Chet said it helped the guitar stay in tune better because it stopped the vibrato from shifting.

The way Chet and I did it was to put a strip of masking tape on each side of the vibrato to mark it then take it of and drill a hole in the center of the spring cup. If you do it be sure you drill the right size hole for the screw you are going to use then put the vibrato back on and line it up and drill the hole in the top for the screw and then screw the screw down tight and string up the guitar. I think Bigsby put the play in the vibrato so a person could align the vibrato up on different guitars.
___Paul Yandell
_____________

I did ths to my guitar with no ill effect. You have to make sure the strings center on the fingerboard before you do this though.

Anyway, if the noise is in the Bigsby that might quiet it down some.
thenorm
 
Posts: 482
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:29 pm

Re: Gretsch 6120

Postby JimP » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:36 pm

Norm,
Thanks for responding to my post. I have torn a piece of matchbook cover and placed it under the Bixby and that would fix the problem so I know for sure that is where the buzzing is coming from. But boy, does it ever change things. First off, it changes the tuning. Secondly, the guitar is louder. I had to turn the amp down after experimenting with this. I guess there is more sustain when the sound is not being lost in the vibration. The "knuckles" where the rotating bar is are so close to the guitar's top that you can't see any air between them. I doubt you pass a 5 thousandths feeler gage between them! I will ultimately do what you and Paul suggest and screw the spring base down to the top. In the short term, I may try to find some cork dots at Lowes. Thanks again, Norm. Jim
JimP
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:05 am

Re: Gretsch 6120

Postby thenorm » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:10 pm

You're on the right track and yeah, a firmer contact with the top should make for more sustain.

Screwing it to the top is an option some might be afraid of but it makes perfect sense. You just need to be sure everything lines up before you place your screw.
thenorm
 
Posts: 482
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:29 pm


Return to Guitars and Equipment

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests

cron