Gretsch guitars have always had a rather unique look, particularly back in the 1950s and early ’60s when real men played manly “Western-style” guitars with (just as a for instance) a big stylized “G” branded right on the top of the instrument. One such guitar is the G6121W – also known as the “Roundup.” There’s nothing subtle about this baby. You start with a mahogany body and neck, then add an arched maple top, dual DynaSonic single-coil pickups and a polished Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. The rosewood fingerboard comes complete with vintage “wide-block” position markers engraved with such Western motifs as cows and cactus. Naturally, no Gretsch guitar with this much flash would be complete without a genuine “Western orange” stain. The company originally called this amber red, but in typical Gretsch fashion, this was described in its sales literature and ads as “the color of a Flagstaff sunset.” It’s hard to fathom how a company based in Brooklyn, New York could know what a Flagstaff sunset looked like. But it’s these little touches that make the Roundup so endearing to those who fully appreciate its distinctive visual statement.
