Swap

Browse >>

Swap

Browse >>

Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood

Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman

VS

Playability

70

Sound

74

Build

74

Value

58

Score

73

FIND IT ON:

Playability

67

Sound

70

Build

77

Value

56

Score

71

FIND IT ON:

Set a price alert

Set a price alert

Had

Have

Want

Add to Compare

Had

Have

Want

Add to Compare

Side to side spec comparison >

Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood vs Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman

Price History Comparison

Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood Prices

• New from $4,350 >>
• Used from $3,100 >>

SET PRICE ALERT

Set a price alert for the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood We'll send you an email if we find the price you want

Email

Price

From To

Also send me news, reviews, tips and exclusive offers and promotions from FindMyGuitar.

Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman Prices

• New from $3,499.99 >>
• Used from $3,429.99 >>

SET PRICE ALERT

Set a price alert for the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman We'll send you an email if we find the price you want

Email

Price

From To

Also send me news, reviews, tips and exclusive offers and promotions from FindMyGuitar.

These are affiliate links. We may earn a fee if you purchase after clicking. These prices are prone to error. Make sure you're buying the right product after clicking on a link from our site. We are not liable if you buy the wrong product after following these links. As an Amazon Associate site we earn from qualifying purchases.

Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood is probably the better product overall with its final score of 73 compared to the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman's 71 score, although not by a lot.

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood wins when it comes to sound, playability, value for the money. On the other hand, the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman has the upper hand when it comes to build quality.

If you got small hands, you'll probably feel more comfortable playing the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood is the better choice.

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman meets only 1. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in Both

Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.

Woods Used in the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood

Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.

Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.

Woods Used in the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman

Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.

This wood has beautiful patterns only found in specific types of maple.

Winner: Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman.

Pickup Configuration

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood has an SSS configuration while the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman has HH pickups.

SSS is perfect for players who like to play clean. The definition you get between notes and the crispiness is unmatched by most other configurations. You can still use it for distortion, but you won't get the same kind of output and power compared to a humbucker, and the hum they produce also makes them less adequate for high gain.

On the other hand, Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.

Pickups Quality

Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.

However, the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.

Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.

Winner: Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood gives you 5 switch options while the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman gives you 3. This means that the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve

Neither of them come with some kind of coil split or pickup mod option. This makes both lacking in terms of versatility.

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood compares to the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood is built in United States while the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman is made in Japan.

The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.

Japan has a long history of high-quality guitar building. Little has changed in terms of their manufacturing and quality control over the years. Many guitars made in this country can be compared—and even beat—others made in the US.

Winner: Tie

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

In this case, both have Bone nuts. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood's brige is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.

On the other hand, the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman's is a Bigsby Tremolo. Bigsby tremolos are built differently than regular tremolos. They have a stiffer arm, which is something a lot of people like because the arm won't wiggle around a lot. On the other hand, this type of tremolo is more complicated to restring and it might not be as newbie-friendly as other simpler tremolos.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman.

Tuners

Both come with regular tuners. The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood's are Vintage-Style while the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman's are Grover Imperial with Butter-Bean Buttons

Winner: Tie.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood has a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.

On the other hand, the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman comes with Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.

Winner: Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Final Build Quality Scores

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman has the wider nut with 44.5mm (1.75'') vs 41.9mm (1.65''). This is a 2.6mm (0.1'') difference

This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.

Scale Length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

In this case, both have a scale length of 25.5".

This is the scale used in most Stratocasters. It's slightly longer than the typical 24.75'' size found in Les Pauls, and it's one of the main reasons why Stratocasters have such a bright sound in general. A longer scale also means that the strings will have higher tension. This will help you get lower action without suffering fret buzz, which will also be helpful when playing in lower tunings without having to increase your string gauge.

However, this also means that there will be more separation between frets, which can make it more difficult to play. Also, bending the strings will require more strengths due to the increased tension, but remember that a tremolo guitar will offset this difficulty.

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

In this case, both have different neck shapes:

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood has a C type of neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

The Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, on the other hand, has a U neck. This is also referred to as ''baseball neck'' because of its shape. It's usually thick, which is why some people with big hands like it. However, they can also be thin, similar to a C shape, but with more shoulders for a better grip.

Fretboard Radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

In this case, the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood is the only one with a compound radius. This is a huge win because it will give you the best of both worlds: a more curved radius in the first few frets for chords, and flatter as you come closer to the body for soloing.

Hand Size Comfortability

Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman favors large hands more than the Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood.

Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood:

Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman:

Fret Size

The Fender Custom Vintage Custom 1959 Stratocaster Rosewood has Medium frets, which should be taller than the Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Edition '59 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman's Vintage frets.

Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.

Final Playability Scores