1989 Gibson Country Gentleman for sale on Ebay

[Ray Bohlken]

I was looking at the Ebay auctions and found this Gibson Gent with no reserve and a $1.00 starting bid. It might work out to be a good deal for some body. I was hoping to find a CGP or a 6122-1959 auction like this. No joy for me.
Ray

http://cgi.ebay.com/1989-Gibson-Chet-Ad ... 35b1112911

[thenorm]

'no reserve'

This could be interesting.

My crystal ball sees a sniping war going on the last thirty seconds of the run.

[Vidar Lund]

I wonder if anybody has tried to replace the Gibson humbuckers with Filter/Supertrons to get a more Gretsch- and Chet-like sound.

[thenorm]

I think Paul Yandell did and said it was less than satisfactory. Someting like it didn't sound like either one to any great degree. (that's my characterization)

In any case, he didn't reccomend it.

That block of wood in the center of the gibson makes a lot of difference. If you want to make the Gibson sound like a Gretsch, well, it would question why did you opt for the Gibson to begin with?

In any case, TV Jones makes Gretsch style pickups that will drop into a humbucking cavity quite nicely.

Here's something from my Paul Yandell archive about Chets' tone:
___________

I remember sometimes when we, the band, would do a sound check for a concert. The band would go to the hall and set up and Chet would come a little later.
I would set Chet's amp and delay and get his guitar and tune it and play it though the house system then I would do the same to mine.
Then Chet would arrive and pick up his guitar and it always amazed me. Nothing and been changed except it was Chet playing his guitar! It was completely different sound than when I had played it. It was because Chet had the touch and soul that made him what he was. Once Chet broke a string and he took my guitar and played it. And again it was the same sound as his.

______

It's in the hands...and the ear...and the soul...

[Mike Nye]

Is it just me. or does a Gibson CG sound EXACTLY like an ES335 ? ? ?

I know that a Gretsch CG has some SERIOUS TONE in comparison ! ! !

[thenorm]

Three more quotes from my Yandell arcive:

___________

I remember one time, after he went with Gibson, saying to him something about recording with the old Country Gentleman and he didn't want to. I think he felt it was dishonest to use it after going with Gibson. One day, years after he went with Gibson and I was playing a Gibson Country Gentleman too, I was over at his office and I said,
" You know Chet that Gibson Country Gentleman doesn't have as good of tone as your old Gretsch Country Gentleman." He replied "Well, don't tell anybody."

____________

The Filter-Tron pickup is 4k ohms which is the main reason it has the sound it has. It doesn't have a great amount of output compared to a Gibson humbucker. Ray Butts designed them that way. Ray was a musician and was concerned about how things sounded. A Gibson pickup is about 8k and has a thick heavy sound with a lot of output. If you want tone the Filter-Tron has it. If you want output the Gibson has it.

______

I put some TV Jones Nashville Classic pickups in one of my Gibson Country Gentleman’s out of curiosity and it didn't sound anything like the Nashville Classic.
Probably , I think, because the guitars are made differently. The block on the inside and the different tops affect it.

___

[Mike Nye]

Probably , I think, because the guitars are made differently. The block on the inside and the different tops affect it.

The sustain block does just that . . . SUSTAIN ! ! !

Tonal resonance is the ULTIMATE trade-off for sustain . . .

[thenorm]

Final quote from Paul on the difference between the '59 and other electrics:

I think when Chet quit playing his ‘59 he lost a lot of tone. That guitar had the greatest tone on the treble strings when he played up the neck.

[Ray Bohlken]

I have some video of the 1991 CAAS convention and there was a player, who's name I can't remember right now, who had replaced the Gibson CG pickups with Ray Butts custom pickups and they sounded a little "Gretsch like" in the Gibson. It was a good sound but it was not the 6122-1959 sound, though. I am going to rummage through my videos and see if I can find the player's name. I found some videos on Youtube where folks had swapped the humbuckers out of the Gretsch 5120s and an electromatic solid body, so I guess that might be a viable authentic "Gretsch" sound.
Ray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPM1vhY5GkE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p29QN4yc ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrvxyW_O ... re=related

[Ray Bohlken]

Well Folks, the auction was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available, so I don't guess we'll find out what it would have sold for. I don't get things like this!
Ray

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 1veJo%253D