Gretsch White Falcon dilemma

[shadowplay]

I've been looking for a vintage White Falcon for a while and I viewed a couple of Baldwin era guitars and I didn't really like them.  I finally got a chance to play a 1960 model, which may have been for sale and while it was a really nice playing and sounding guitar the owner also had a brand new nitro finished TV Jones Falcon which was every bit as good, a third of the price and way better than the overbuilt mrk1 reissue I had.  I was pretty amazed at this guitar and very surprised that the Japanese could built a complicted guitar far closer to vintage than any current Fender.  This guitar wasn't for sale but it was really so good that I abandoned all thought of going the risky vintage route and decided to get a new nitro finished falcon and use some of the savings to buy a small handwired amp (i'm not sure my usual JC120 suits the falcon).

Trouble is I can't decide which one to get;

There are two options plus an outsider.  Both guitars are in creamy white nitro lacquer and both would fit my imagined sound, dreamy slomo twang.  A bit like this Violet Indian Purr La Perla

Option one

Filtertron equippedl G6136T-LTV White Falcon Lacquer/TV Jones is perfect out the box, i've played one and it is awsome.  Good points are the lack of any mods needed, the v cut bigsby, trestle bracing which quells feedback and a pinned bridge.

Negative points; I like Neil Young as much as the next guy but my Falcon GAS was started 30 years ago before when as a pup I saw this I want Candy.  The Neil Connection actually puts me off, I know it's stupid but it does and the thought of everyone and his dog picking it up and playing southern man will drive me mental.  Also this Falcon is slightly more restrained and I can't decide if this is a good or a bad thing.



Option Two

Dynasonic Equipped  earlier model G6136T-LDS.

Good points are; it looks fucking spectacular so it will be my front room guitar, my daughter and partner say get it andif you get a Falcon why not go the full Saddams palace on the fancywork, I adore the headsock and the flash inlays.  This style was the one Marco Pironi used in Adam and the Ants and I remember loving the way it looked so much even though the music left me a bit flat.  Also in those days Falcons were so super rare and exotic.

Negative Points.

The pickups I fear aren't as accurate as the guitar so I imagine having to get Curtis Novak to rewind them or fit the TV Jone Filtertrons that are in Dynasonic cases.  I am usually 100% single coil but I want some depth with my twang and I fear the stock dynas which have a rep for brightness might be too close to my Jazzmaster.  The second snag is the bridge might need pinned, I have an old Double Anniversary and untill the bridge was pinned it was a pain in the arse.  People will still play Southern Man.

I really like the idea of this but frankly once it arrives the thought of sending the pickups off is too much to bear.



Both guitars are pretty much the same price 2400GBP (rrp is more like 3400) before I haggle.

I'm also tempted by a BLack Phoenix which has the vertical logo and nitro finish but it's not a Falcon.

Any thoughts or experiences with these guitars would be very much appreciated.  I don't buy a lot of guitars and tend to buy keepers, i've had my Jag and JM since 88 and hope this Falcon will be with me as long.

[Atticus]

This one is the balls! Buy this one!


Otherwise go for the upper one. Filtertrons are awsome.

[shadowplay]

Can't do double cut, they are nice for other folks but not me.  Also they are poly finished and I want the creamy Nitro one.

Thanks anyway

[Jaguar018]

I like the second one more. I like the bigger fret inlays. I was not too happy with the filtertrons on my Japanese sparkle jet (so I realize that doesn't have much to do with the REAL deal, but still)

Other thing I wanted to point out: the hollow body, when combined with single coils will counter potential Jazzmaster sound-alike.

ALSO: if you've waited 30 years, what's so bad about waiting a few more months for fixed up pickups? I'd do that in a heartbeat.

[fuzzking]

Option one
Also this Falcon is slightly more restrained and I can't decide if this is a good or a bad thing.

good thing, very good thing IMHO. 

[shadowplay]

Option one
Also this Falcon is slightly more restrained and I can't decide if this is a good or a bad thing.

good thing, very good thing IMHO. 

I'm a professional minimalist in every other way, usually I hate gold hardware on guitars (actually gold anything is a no go)  but when it comes to Falcons the shock and awe seriously corrupts me, it makes me feel like Tutankhamun!

[Soochdaddy]

I've never been a fan of the dynasonics.  Option #1 is my vote.

[therizzla]

White Falcons... If Liberace played guitar... 

[analogsystem]

they are both beautiful but I'd go for option number 1.

The thumbnail inlays are so classic on a gretsch and I like the aged white more than bright white.

I also am normally not that into gold harware, but once you go into White Falcon territory, you may as well go all the way!!!

ps have you considered the black falcon?


I like white more.....but there is something cool about the black one.  I have seem some with chrome too.

[skip]

listen man----- you have to get the white falcon-------
and the first reason is because of the reason you are resisting-- Neil!
the old days are gone-- and rocking a white falcon is so cool now

but i understand where you are coming from-- they are just so white and pretty and gold-- i understand--- almost like collector guitar vs a player--
man wouldnt it be great to find a beat up old used one that just had the sound? 

some of you would kill me-- but all you would have to do is throw a sticker on the falcon and it becomes cool as hell-- it shows you didnt buy it to just look at--!!!

[d-rock]

I'd go with option 1 with the filtertrons, but that's me.

Play the one with dyna's first (or another guitar with them in it) and decide if they're right for you. It would be a shame to pump that kind of money into this guitar just to have the pickups swapped.

[glimmertwin]

I have never played Filterons, but I did spend some time with a Dyna equipped guitar and those things sound great and do NOT sound like jazzmaster pickups.  I say go with option 2...there is really no sense going subdued on a guitar like that. 

...also, when I think of White Falcon I think more of Stephen Stills than Neil Young...not sure where you get that association.  Hell, I think more about Lou Reed using a White Falcon in his Velvet Underground days than I do Neil Young. 

[Flurko]

I never thought about the Neil Young / White Falcon association. For me it's juste one of the most beautiful guitars ever !
So buy the prettiest one, cause they all sound good

[Kilgore Trout]

...also, when I think of White Falcon I think more of Stephen Stills than Neil Young...not sure where you get that association.  Hell, I think more about Lou Reed using a White Falcon in his Velvet Underground days than I do Neil Young. 

I thought he mostly used a country gent...

[StevenO]

I relate the White Falcon more so to John Frusciante than Neil Young.

Regardless of my love for Neil Young, I would choose a Neil Young reference to a Red Hot Chili peppers reference ANY DAY!