I find choices hard to make..

webelvis wrote:

I believe it's a magic Voodoo Box, built by a hawaiian Voodoo priest, with a staue of the Tiki-God of guitar playing inside.

Any other theories??

now that is awesome, I can see the volcano of mojo building up in the band right now.

webelvis wrote:

I believe it's a magic Voodoo Box, built by a hawaiian Voodoo priest, with a staue of the Tiki-God of guitar playing inside.

Any other theories??

I'll take that line and sinker.



Mojo it is.

you guys are right. No way is it just to hold a water bottle. There's WAAAAY too much MOJO on that stage for there not to be some kind of "divine intervention."

But... is the Tiki Guitar God playing a GRETSCH? He must be, right?!?!

The question is where do I get a magic Voodoo Box, built by a hawaiian Voodoo priest, with a staue of the Tiki-God of guitar playing inside???

Yes, Off course the Tiki God is playing a Gretsch!
Perhaps Brian is the Tiki-God of guitar-playing and he just don't knows it. Weird!

Sorry, I never had the decency to thank you for you're reaction TV. Thank you very much! You gave me the missing info I needed to make a decision.
I thought I let you know that I ordered my Gretsch recently. I will be the proud owner of a black phoenix in a week or two! I'm soo thrilled and can't wait to take it out of it's case the first time..

Again, thank you very much for sharing your wisdom..!

nietsk wrote:

Sorry, I never had the decency to thank you for you're reaction TV. Thank you very much! You gave me the missing info I needed to make a decision.
I thought I let you know that I ordered my Gretsch recently. I will be the proud owner of a black phoenix in a week or two! I'm soo thrilled and can't wait to take it out of it's case the first time..

Again, thank you very much for sharing your wisdom..!

naw man, its fetish not whizdum!
..yes I am jealous!

ps. thanks to you guys, I was pushed over the edge for the magic voodoo box to actually happen. Hopefully soon, you too will be able to
have your own! 'cept its called the Nocturne and sits at your feet

Hey Tv (and others) what do you think of the fender blues deluxe reissue? And do you think it is playable in my house at a reasonable volume??

nietsk wrote:

Hey Tv (and others) what do you think of the fender blues deluxe reissue? And do you think it is playable in my house at a reasonable volume??

While these blues/hotrod series amps manufactured at Fender's mexico (even though they say USA) plant are a stage standard...they arent that
great out of the box. good replacement tubes and speaker yield a decent
and reliable gigging amp.
Having said that, you asked if you could use these amps at a reasonable
volume.. if it is a house and not apartment I would say yes but these amps are not known for "quiet" settings. My boy likes to play full tilt
but late at night I just have him play through his drive pedal to control
volume for "bedroom" SPL setting.

For an affordable home/studio/bedroom amp... I really want to steer you more towards the Fender Princeton. or vox AC15.
If you find a good used price on the blues/hotrod series then surely go
for it because then you have extra $$ for at least a speaker upgrade.
(eminence red fang,texas heat, celestion greenback/v30,weber chicago,veteran30 from warehouse spk,etc) tube upgrade for a decent amount would be JJ/tesla ECC83's in the preamp and TAD 6L6WGC-STR
..IMO

TV, you've been a great help. Your answers gave me something to hold on to when I was making a decision! And as I stated before, I find choices, especialy when it is about so much money, hard to make. You helped me to make a choice that feels right at the moment. Thank you very much. Otherwise I would have doubt it for weeks or months..

Today ups delivered 2 big boxes. One with an amp and the other with my Gretsch!!! I told my colleagues I had to go home.. I played the whole evening. I know for sure I'm gonna ask you loads of questions but for now I'm really happy!

So for now, can I join the 'league' of Gretsch owners around here??

nietsk wrote:

TV, you've been a great help. Your answers gave me something to hold on to when I was making a decision! And as I stated before, I find choices, especialy when it is about so much money, hard to make. You helped me to make a choice that feels right at the moment. Thank you very much. Otherwise I would have doubt it for weeks or months..

Today ups delivered 2 big boxes. One with an amp and the other with my Gretsch!!! I told my colleagues I had to go home.. I played the whole evening. I know for sure I'm gonna ask you loads of questions but for now I'm really happy!

So for now, can I join the 'league' of Gretsch owners around here??

what'd ya get, what'd ya get

Sorry it took me so long but finaly, this is what I got..

[img][/img]

It's a poor picture, if anyone wants to see more, ask and I'll try to post another..

Again, Thanx TV! It was a good choice!

Oh man, thanks for posting that! I would love to have a Black Phoenix!!!

just awesome! must feel great.. that is my next Gretsch... too me its THE cadillac of Setzer
guitars...lacquer finish, 17" body with trestles (normal falcons really feeedback) and like setzer
sez "just enough glitz".. what a guitar made in heaven for a vintage vox AC-30..
got to record in nashville with an older double cutaway falcon and red panel ac30.. felt like
a holy moment.

you'll be singin' hallelu all the time now

BLACK PHOENIX!!!!!

my next guitar as well.

Like Tavo said, this is the cadillac.

Very, very cool guitar.

Congrats!

Rick, TV and Brett Thank you for the cool reactions. It is soo nice to hear from people who understand why I had to invest my hard earned money in this 'caddilac'! The people I talk to about guitars, as I wrote earlier in this thread, discouraged me to buy the mighty Phoenix. I'm glad I did and again, you helped!
Just have to add: all three of you are welcome to drop by and play the phoenix any time you want!!

nietsk wrote:

Rick, TV and Brett Thank you for the cool reactions. It is soo nice to hear from people who understand why I had to invest my hard earned money in this 'caddilac'! The people I talk to about guitars, as I wrote earlier in this thread, discouraged me to buy the mighty Phoenix. I'm glad I did and again, you helped!
Just have to add: all three of you are welcome to drop by and play the phoenix any time you want!!

how can you not love the 17" lower bout? the 25.5 telecaster/strat scale ( i could go back
to 10's) the increases mass of the headstock?!!! awesome...

one tiny complaint..just one..WHY would gretsch put grover tuners on a bigsby..WHY!!! (or rather why would setzer let them do the dumb stuff they always do to falcon type guits) I love
grovers on an acoustic, love em on stop tail guitars..but the guitar NEEDS sperzel locking
tuners. A spectrasonic doesnt really need them because there is literally no break angle across
the nut like most gretsch guitars. It has straight string pull but a Gretsch hollowbody has
break angle at the nutt and saddles.. to places of fun for strings to bind.

Let us know how tuner's goes for you after an inspired bigsby wanging of sleepwalk or some
rev horton pedal steel bends.

some more pictures of it man..closeups.. we need some guitarnography

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

one tiny complaint..just one..WHY would gretsch put grover tuners on a bigsby..WHY!!! (or rather why would setzer let them do the dumb stuff they always do to falcon type guits) I love
grovers on an acoustic, love em on stop tail guitars..but the guitar NEEDS sperzel locking
tuners. A spectrasonic doesnt really need them because there is literally no break angle across
the nut like most gretsch guitars. It has straight string pull but a Gretsch hollowbody has
break angle at the nutt and saddles.. to places of fun for strings to bind.

Let us know how tuner's goes for you after an inspired bigsby wanging of sleepwalk or some
rev horton pedal steel bends.

Yes, this was the same thing I was thinking! I was realy afraid this would mean she would go out of tune constantly. And the first couple of weeks it worried me a lot.. She kept getting out of tune, especialy one particular string, and not alone after using the bigsby. But now it stays realy well in tune! Better than I expected.
Are these sperzels made in the same shape/style as the one's that are on now? I couldn't find them. (went and look for them when i got irritated with the out of tune guitar.. )

I will post some pictures when I find the time to make them..

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

Let us know how tuner's goes for you after an inspired bigsby wanging of sleepwalk or some
rev horton pedal steel bends.

some more pictures of it man..closeups.. we need some guitarnography

the tuners are oke but not super. The guitar tends to go out of tune more then I expected. I think it has a lot to do because I put other strings on her. Can anybody tell me what the stock strings on gretsch guitars are? I have the idea I have to change the intonation but I'm afraid to.
The action is oke but I really miss it that I'm not able to check and do something about it.. I think I would need somebody to show me how it's done before I could do it myself..
You asked me for pictures more then a year ago. Sorry. I'll try to post pix when my newest Gretsch arrives.. Last week I ordered a 6022c. Man I can't wait to get my hands on that beauty..

Greetz Nietsk

gretsch uses 10g strings on their guitars although that phoenix is a 25.5 scale so its not gonna stay in tune very well unless you step up to 11g strings. I use 11g on my gretsch guits cant imagine using flimsy 10g

From my experience of my black pheonix, it holds its tuning really well with the stock tuners, and i am am one big tremelo bashing mofo.
I too had worries about the tuners being non-locking but as long as i took my time restringing it properly when tthe strings needed changing and kept the bigsby lubed up, touch wood its never knocked out of tuning once

I like the 11's as well. My concern in considering a Black Phoenix was the tuners. To Nietsk's question: are there locking tuners available that are compatible with the Phoenix? Does he have any options on modifying either the tuners or the intonation?

yours must have an incredibly well cut nut, good deal!
The only 2 guitars in the world I wouldnt have non locking tuners on would be a tele and an acoustic.
Having said that, I was a cheapo in hotrodding my sons Gretsch 5122 w/
tvjones classic and cts vol pot, I grabbed a set of grover sta-tites I had and put them
in place of the stock crap tuners and now the guitar works great with its licensed
version of a bigsby. imagine that

I get shivers up my spine when I see a Phoenix. Even the Phoenix motif'd Billy-Bo gives me shivers...MMMMhmmm.

then I see talk about a red panel AC30...double MMMMhmmm.

two things I would *like* to own someday...

I'm Incinerator wrote:

I get shivers up my spine when I see a Phoenix. Even the Phoenix motif'd Billy-Bo gives me shivers...MMMMhmmm.

then I see talk about a red panel AC30...double MMMMhmmm.

two things I would *like* to own someday...

that dead winters billbo with the falcon headstock is BAD ASSS!!

ps. would you like your blondeshell in vox red tolex and diamond grill cloth? heheh

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

I'm Incinerator wrote:

I get shivers up my spine when I see a Phoenix. Even the Phoenix motif'd Billy-Bo gives me shivers...MMMMhmmm.

then I see talk about a red panel AC30...double MMMMhmmm.

two things I would *like* to own someday...

that dead winters billbo with the falcon headstock is BAD ASSS!!

ps. would you like your blondeshell in vox red tolex and diamond grill cloth? heheh

That it is! I think that Blue Billy-Bo is pretty great too. I think the Billy-Bo really lends itself to a great platform for colors. Like a classic chevy or classic caddy!

No...that would look kind of goofy on a fender inspired amp! I think seafoam tolex and oxblood or wheat grillcloth would be tons better! Maybe Sparkle red tolex and silver grill? Besides, I think Korg won't let that brown diamond grillcloth fly?