Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary Review & Prices
Our Scores and Tone Evaluation
- Heavy Metal
- Hard Rock
- Jazz
- Blues
- Funk
- Country
Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary
- Made in Japan
- Expensive Wood
- Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Multi-Voicing Pickups
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
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Price: is the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary a Good Deal?
Its average competitor's price is $3100, which means that the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary is around 16% cheaper than the competition. This takes into account all guitars of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Bigsby Tremolo bridge that are made in Japan.
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Your feedback
Not all guitars are created equal, and there are many important things they won't tell you about the guitar you're buying. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our visitors who have played this guitar say. If you've played it before, help others by voting for your experience below.
Weight
VoteTuning stability
VoteNeck speed (thickness)
VoteNeck access to high frets
VoteNeck profile shape
VoteFret edges
VotePickups noise
VotePickups power
VoteIs The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary Easy to Play?
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not bad for beginners, but it could be better. 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 to get used to.
New Player Friendliness
- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Wide nut
- Short scale
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Comfortable fretboard
- Comfortable neck
Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary's construction is balanced for most hand sizes.
Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.
Scale Length
Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.
Here's the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary's 24.6" scale length compared to other common sizes:
This is similar to some of the Les Paul guitars made in the 50s, and it's slightly shorter than modern Les Pauls (24.75''). Short scales like these make the tone sound more bassy. It also makes the frets closer to each other, and bending is easier due to the lower tension of the strings. However, it comes at the cost of not letting you set the action of the strings as low without hearing fret buzz because the low tension will make the strings looser.
Remember that you can still try a thicker string gauge to increase the tension to let you lower the action.
Neck Profile
The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary's neck thickness is approximately 0.83'' (21.1mm) at the first fret, and 0.97'' (24.6mm) at the twelfth.
These measurements were taken either from the official Gretsch website, or, in case this information wasn't provided, by researching multiple online marketplaces and forums where owners of this model have posted their measurements.
It has a U type neck. This shape usually has more 'shoulders' than a C neck. It's great for guitarists who love the feel of a vintage neck. Most of them are thick, which makes it better for people with big hands. However, some of them can be thin like a C neck but with more mass to the sides for a better grip.
Fretboard Radius
When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary has a 12" fingerboard radius. Here's an image comparing this guitar's fretboard radius to other popular choices:
This is the same radius that Gibson uses in most of their guitars. When compare to the other popular radius of Fender Stratocasters, you can see that it's a lot flatter. Guitars with this radius are usually made to bring a good balance between single-note and chord playing.
Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary has the same radius across the board.
Playability compared to main competitors
Nut Width
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary has a nut width of 42.9mm (1.688''). This size is also known as 1 11/16'' and it's the most common size. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.
Frets
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.
However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.
It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.
Fret Size
Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary's frets are Medium Jumbo size. These sit somewhere between a Jumbo and a Medium fret. They're not quite as tall as a full Jumbo, so you'll still feel the fretboard, but you won't feel it as much as with medium frets. This is a good size if you want to make it easy to press the strings but would also like a little bit of ''feedback'' to know when to stop pressing so the notes don't go out of pitch.
Playability Score
Does the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary Sound Good? Tone Analysis
Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.
Wood Used in the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary
Maple Body and Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.
Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.
Pickups
This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Gretsch. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.
These are passive pickups, so you can expect a moderade level of hot output instead of the overwhelming output that distinguises active pickups in metal.
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary's configuration is SS. This is the classic Telecaster configuration and it's used mainly for playing clean or with low-gain distortion. It doesn't give you as much versatility as a Strat SSS configuration, but you might like the cleaner look of a guitar body with fewer pickups.
More guitars with the same pickups
Versatility
It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, guitarists tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your guitar for.
It has a Multi-Voicing option. This means the pickups can change their output, tone, or sound.
Diagram
What music genre is the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary good for?
As a 6 strings, Hollowbody guitar with SS configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Jazz or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this kind of guitar.
Sound Score
How well is the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary Built?
Where is the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary Made?
Knowing where the guitar is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive guitars are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.
The Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary is made in Japan. You should expect a high-quality guitar with excellent quality control. It can be compared to guitars made in the US, which is why they're also expensive.
Bridge
Bigsby B6C Vibrato Tailpiece with Gretsch Logo: This is a classy bridge that will make any guitar look vintage. It's a subtle tremolo, so it won't change the pitch of the strings too much and is very friendly with classic Jazz and other retro genres. The big disadvantage is that it's difficult to change the strings and setup correctly.
Also, if it's not well done, this type of bridge can cause your guitar to get out of tune often. For this reason, it's often better paired with roller saddles.
Nut Material
Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure the guitar stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.
In this case, the Gretsch G6118T-60 Vintage Select Edition '60 Anniversary has a Bone nut. This material is one of the highest quality you can get. It provides excellent sustain and tune stability if cut well. The only disadvantage is that it's an organic material, so it's not consistent. Two different bone nuts, even if made from the same bone, will probably sound slightly different. However, bear in mind that this is only relevant when playing open strings.
Neck Joint
The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.
This guitar has a Set neck joint. This type of neck joint consists of using different pieces of wood for the neck and the body of the guitar. Both pieces are then glued together. This is more expensive to make than a bolt-on neck, but it's cheaper than a neck-through guitar. Some people believe that this gives more sustain than a bolt-on neck due to both pieces having a 'better connection' than with bolts. Still, it's something difficult to prove.
However, this type of neck joint does have the disadvantage of not allowing you to easily swap the neck for another. This makes this type of neck joint less mod-friendly.
Build Quality Score
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