Gretsch G6115T-LTD15 Red Betty

The Red Betty is a Terada built Limited Edition in the Professional Collection range of which it is believed less than 100 were built. The Japanese factory has a solid reputation for the quality of the finishing – this is testimony to that. A fine quality fixed Bigsby avoids the common tuning instability where the floating units like to slide around the curve top. This Bigsby behaves impeccably.

As with most Limited Editions, there is a slight departure from the traditional, and the Seymour Duncan A5 P-90 at the bridge gives this model a raw gritty edge that you would have to spend a fortune with TV Jones to obtain. The mid range howl from the Seymour Duncan works well clean and driven – judicious use of the volume control can tame it slightly, but you never forget what you have in there. The neck pick-up is more familiar – a High Sensitive ol’ fashioned Filter’Tron that has just the right output not to dominate the bridge unit. Mix them together and the nice wide spread encourages some delicacy – balancing them with the volumes reveals a familiar versatility.

The Centre Block Junior body is small and nimble enough to get energetic with; the Bigsby doesn’t make the guitar unbalanced. This tips the scales at 3.5kg (7lbs 12oz).

In Gretsch fashion, we do not have a tone control – the independent volumes and a treble-bled master volume offer plenty of variation. The present tone toggle will give you the extremes. Flick the tone toggle up on the bridge P-90 and you are almost at boomy Eldred mod mode. Flick the toggle down and we get very nasally – almost a cocked wah effect. The toggle has more interesting effects on the mixed position – toggle up and a darkness covers the tone – never muffled, just takes the sparkle away. The toggle positions takes the neck pick-up from thumping jazz to subtly treble trimmed. Ultimately, this guitar’s general tone is identified by the P-90 in the bridge. Significantly darker than the usual Filter’Tron, and packing a huge punch.

This guitar has seen only a few hours playing – the original owner bought it as a piece of art. Complete with case which contains straplocks and the tools.

There is one solitary issue with this guitar which you may see in the photos. Terada used flat top pick-up surrounds on a curve top body. Whereas many are simply not screwed down fully so not to stress the plastic, this one has been, and the bridge facing edge has cracked. This is an aesthetical issue – the surround itself maintains its integrity. It is the one and only flaw.