Chords for The Guitars of Chet Atkins
Tempo:
110.35 bpm
Chords used:
D
G
C
Abm
Db
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
As it would happen, some interesting instruments wandered into the shop today,
and they all relate to Chet Atkins, and we figured we would celebrate that and share them.
Everybody had seen Chet Atkins in the very early years,
playing a variety of instruments from D'Angelico's to the early Gretsch 6120s
that Webster at Gretsch helped design with Chet's input.
But they were never entirely designed the way Chet wanted them,
and I think that stuck in his craw a little bit.
But they evolved from 54 and 55 on through the early 60s,
and in 1959, Gretsch evolved to the 6119 as the lower end of the Chet Atkins endorsed guitars.
They still had the hillbilly signpost that Chet later said he always hated,
but they are partial center blocked, and in this case, one Filtrotron pickup.
And from Chet's perspective, this was perfect,
because he only used the rear Filtrotron pickup position,
so why in fact even bother with anything else?
It also made it possible, because of his [D] famous thumb pick,
that the thumb pick had plenty of room to move without touching the fretboard or the pickup.
[G] It was a natural.
[C] [Abm] This one is a 1959, somewhat faded with time.
It was a lot redder originally,
and is the same guitar that was featured on Chet [Db] Atkins' 1959 [Eb] workshop album.
[N] It's also important to note on that same album cover,
in the background, sitting backwards against the amp,
is the black Gretsch 6120, known as Dark Eyes,
that he probably recorded more hits than anything else on.
As the 60s came around, the design evolved further.
Chet didn't want the feedback, so there's more of a central block,
and the F-holes are gone altogether, and this time just painted on in black.
This 6120 is the single-cut version that inspired George Harrison to get a guitar just the same.
George Harrison later said in an interview, when asked why he bought that particular guitar,
he said with astonishment for the question,
well, Chet Atkins, of course.
As Chet moved into the 70s and 80s, he followed a classical line,
[Ab] and he had toured with the Boston Pop Symphony.
The use of a classical guitar with a symphony behind him
created an unbelievable feedback problem,
because he could only amplify the classical by putting a [N] microphone in front of it,
and of course, it's so responsive, vibration-wise,
that you turn the amp up too much and it feeds back terribly.
He took the Les Paul approach, and he asked for Gibson,
who was his endorsee, no longer Gretsch at that point,
to build a solid-body nylon that he could use in touring.
And they tried one, but of course the sustain was too long,
and they still make some today, but it does not have the classical response.
With input from Kirk Sand, a luthier out in California,
and Mike Volz at Gibson, luthier at Gibson,
they came up with this design, which is carved from a single piece of mahogany,
completely hollow and classically braced,
again, no sound hole to thwart feedback, and it worked like a charm.
The guitars have a West German pickup system,
and controls a little different than anybody had seen before.
Chet went on with Gibson to redesign the Country Gentleman,
and this is an example of what they came up with.
A much thinner body, a truly solid center block all the way down.
The F-holes are back because feedback is no longer an issue
with the solid block, but [C] the whole proportion of the guitar was changed
so that the lower bout was increased so that Chet, who is around 6 feet tall,
[G] when he places his hand, the thumb pick falls directly in between the pickups.
If you try this on just about any other guitar,
you will almost always hear the clicking of the [Am] thumb pick on the front pickup.
[D] The natural spot [C] here, [G]
further [D] back.
[N] This was the height, in my opinion, of the Country Gentleman.
Thank you for these, Chet.
and they all relate to Chet Atkins, and we figured we would celebrate that and share them.
Everybody had seen Chet Atkins in the very early years,
playing a variety of instruments from D'Angelico's to the early Gretsch 6120s
that Webster at Gretsch helped design with Chet's input.
But they were never entirely designed the way Chet wanted them,
and I think that stuck in his craw a little bit.
But they evolved from 54 and 55 on through the early 60s,
and in 1959, Gretsch evolved to the 6119 as the lower end of the Chet Atkins endorsed guitars.
They still had the hillbilly signpost that Chet later said he always hated,
but they are partial center blocked, and in this case, one Filtrotron pickup.
And from Chet's perspective, this was perfect,
because he only used the rear Filtrotron pickup position,
so why in fact even bother with anything else?
It also made it possible, because of his [D] famous thumb pick,
that the thumb pick had plenty of room to move without touching the fretboard or the pickup.
[G] It was a natural.
[C] [Abm] This one is a 1959, somewhat faded with time.
It was a lot redder originally,
and is the same guitar that was featured on Chet [Db] Atkins' 1959 [Eb] workshop album.
[N] It's also important to note on that same album cover,
in the background, sitting backwards against the amp,
is the black Gretsch 6120, known as Dark Eyes,
that he probably recorded more hits than anything else on.
As the 60s came around, the design evolved further.
Chet didn't want the feedback, so there's more of a central block,
and the F-holes are gone altogether, and this time just painted on in black.
This 6120 is the single-cut version that inspired George Harrison to get a guitar just the same.
George Harrison later said in an interview, when asked why he bought that particular guitar,
he said with astonishment for the question,
well, Chet Atkins, of course.
As Chet moved into the 70s and 80s, he followed a classical line,
[Ab] and he had toured with the Boston Pop Symphony.
The use of a classical guitar with a symphony behind him
created an unbelievable feedback problem,
because he could only amplify the classical by putting a [N] microphone in front of it,
and of course, it's so responsive, vibration-wise,
that you turn the amp up too much and it feeds back terribly.
He took the Les Paul approach, and he asked for Gibson,
who was his endorsee, no longer Gretsch at that point,
to build a solid-body nylon that he could use in touring.
And they tried one, but of course the sustain was too long,
and they still make some today, but it does not have the classical response.
With input from Kirk Sand, a luthier out in California,
and Mike Volz at Gibson, luthier at Gibson,
they came up with this design, which is carved from a single piece of mahogany,
completely hollow and classically braced,
again, no sound hole to thwart feedback, and it worked like a charm.
The guitars have a West German pickup system,
and controls a little different than anybody had seen before.
Chet went on with Gibson to redesign the Country Gentleman,
and this is an example of what they came up with.
A much thinner body, a truly solid center block all the way down.
The F-holes are back because feedback is no longer an issue
with the solid block, but [C] the whole proportion of the guitar was changed
so that the lower bout was increased so that Chet, who is around 6 feet tall,
[G] when he places his hand, the thumb pick falls directly in between the pickups.
If you try this on just about any other guitar,
you will almost always hear the clicking of the [Am] thumb pick on the front pickup.
[D] The natural spot [C] here, [G]
further [D] back.
[N] This was the height, in my opinion, of the Country Gentleman.
Thank you for these, Chet.
Key:
D
G
C
Abm
Db
D
G
C
_ _ _ _ _ _ As it would happen, some interesting instruments wandered into the shop today,
and they all relate to Chet Atkins, and we figured we would celebrate that and share them.
_ _ _ _ _ Everybody had seen Chet Atkins in the very early years,
playing a variety of instruments from D'Angelico's to the early Gretsch _ 6120s
that Webster at Gretsch helped design with Chet's input.
But they were never entirely designed the way Chet wanted them,
and I think that stuck in his craw a little bit.
But they evolved from 54 and 55 on through the early 60s,
and in 1959, _ _ _ _ Gretsch evolved to the 6119 as the lower end of the Chet Atkins endorsed guitars.
They still had the hillbilly _ signpost that Chet later said he always hated, _ _
but they are partial center blocked, and in this case, one Filtrotron pickup.
And from Chet's perspective, this was perfect,
because he only used the rear Filtrotron pickup position,
so why in fact even bother with anything else?
It also made it possible, because of his [D] famous thumb pick,
that the thumb pick had plenty of room to move without touching the fretboard or the pickup.
[G] It was a natural.
_ [C] _ _ [Abm] _ This one is a 1959, somewhat faded with time.
It was a lot redder originally,
and is the same guitar that was featured on Chet [Db] Atkins' 1959 [Eb] workshop album.
_ [N] It's also important to note on that same album cover,
in the background, sitting backwards against the amp,
is the black Gretsch 6120, known as Dark Eyes,
that he probably recorded more hits than anything else on. _ _ _ _
As the 60s came around, _ _ the design evolved further.
Chet didn't want the feedback, so there's more of a central block,
and the F-holes are gone altogether, and this time just painted on in black. _ _ _ _ _ _
This 6120 is the single-cut version that inspired George Harrison to get a guitar just the same.
George Harrison later said in an interview, when asked why he bought that particular guitar,
he said with astonishment for the question,
well, Chet Atkins, of course.
As Chet moved into the 70s and 80s, _ he followed a classical line,
_ _ _ _ [Ab] and he had toured with the Boston Pop Symphony.
_ The use of a classical guitar with a symphony behind him
created an unbelievable feedback problem,
because he could only amplify the classical by putting a [N] microphone in front of it,
and of course, it's so responsive, _ vibration-wise,
that you turn the amp up too much and it feeds back terribly.
He took the Les Paul approach, and he asked _ _ for Gibson,
who was his endorsee, no longer Gretsch at that point,
to build a solid-body nylon that he could use in touring.
And they tried one, but of course the sustain was too long,
and they still make some today, but it does not have the classical response.
With input from Kirk Sand, a luthier out in California,
and Mike Volz at Gibson, luthier at Gibson,
they came up with this design, which is carved from a single piece of mahogany,
_ completely hollow and classically braced,
again, no sound hole to _ thwart feedback, and it worked like a charm.
_ _ The guitars _ have a West German _ pickup system,
and controls a little different than anybody had seen before.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Chet went on with Gibson to _ _ _ _ redesign the Country Gentleman,
and this is an example of what they came up with.
A much thinner body, _ _ a truly solid center block all the way down.
The F-holes are back because feedback is no longer an issue
with the solid block, but [C] the whole proportion of the guitar was changed
so that the lower bout was increased so that Chet, who is around 6 feet tall,
[G] _ when he places his hand, the thumb pick falls directly in between the pickups.
If you try this on just about any other guitar,
you will almost always hear the clicking of the [Am] thumb pick on the front pickup.
[D] The natural spot [C] here, [G] _
further [D] back.
_ [N] _ _ This was the height, in my opinion, of the Country Gentleman. _
_ _ Thank you for these, Chet. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
and they all relate to Chet Atkins, and we figured we would celebrate that and share them.
_ _ _ _ _ Everybody had seen Chet Atkins in the very early years,
playing a variety of instruments from D'Angelico's to the early Gretsch _ 6120s
that Webster at Gretsch helped design with Chet's input.
But they were never entirely designed the way Chet wanted them,
and I think that stuck in his craw a little bit.
But they evolved from 54 and 55 on through the early 60s,
and in 1959, _ _ _ _ Gretsch evolved to the 6119 as the lower end of the Chet Atkins endorsed guitars.
They still had the hillbilly _ signpost that Chet later said he always hated, _ _
but they are partial center blocked, and in this case, one Filtrotron pickup.
And from Chet's perspective, this was perfect,
because he only used the rear Filtrotron pickup position,
so why in fact even bother with anything else?
It also made it possible, because of his [D] famous thumb pick,
that the thumb pick had plenty of room to move without touching the fretboard or the pickup.
[G] It was a natural.
_ [C] _ _ [Abm] _ This one is a 1959, somewhat faded with time.
It was a lot redder originally,
and is the same guitar that was featured on Chet [Db] Atkins' 1959 [Eb] workshop album.
_ [N] It's also important to note on that same album cover,
in the background, sitting backwards against the amp,
is the black Gretsch 6120, known as Dark Eyes,
that he probably recorded more hits than anything else on. _ _ _ _
As the 60s came around, _ _ the design evolved further.
Chet didn't want the feedback, so there's more of a central block,
and the F-holes are gone altogether, and this time just painted on in black. _ _ _ _ _ _
This 6120 is the single-cut version that inspired George Harrison to get a guitar just the same.
George Harrison later said in an interview, when asked why he bought that particular guitar,
he said with astonishment for the question,
well, Chet Atkins, of course.
As Chet moved into the 70s and 80s, _ he followed a classical line,
_ _ _ _ [Ab] and he had toured with the Boston Pop Symphony.
_ The use of a classical guitar with a symphony behind him
created an unbelievable feedback problem,
because he could only amplify the classical by putting a [N] microphone in front of it,
and of course, it's so responsive, _ vibration-wise,
that you turn the amp up too much and it feeds back terribly.
He took the Les Paul approach, and he asked _ _ for Gibson,
who was his endorsee, no longer Gretsch at that point,
to build a solid-body nylon that he could use in touring.
And they tried one, but of course the sustain was too long,
and they still make some today, but it does not have the classical response.
With input from Kirk Sand, a luthier out in California,
and Mike Volz at Gibson, luthier at Gibson,
they came up with this design, which is carved from a single piece of mahogany,
_ completely hollow and classically braced,
again, no sound hole to _ thwart feedback, and it worked like a charm.
_ _ The guitars _ have a West German _ pickup system,
and controls a little different than anybody had seen before.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Chet went on with Gibson to _ _ _ _ redesign the Country Gentleman,
and this is an example of what they came up with.
A much thinner body, _ _ a truly solid center block all the way down.
The F-holes are back because feedback is no longer an issue
with the solid block, but [C] the whole proportion of the guitar was changed
so that the lower bout was increased so that Chet, who is around 6 feet tall,
[G] _ when he places his hand, the thumb pick falls directly in between the pickups.
If you try this on just about any other guitar,
you will almost always hear the clicking of the [Am] thumb pick on the front pickup.
[D] The natural spot [C] here, [G] _
further [D] back.
_ [N] _ _ This was the height, in my opinion, of the Country Gentleman. _
_ _ Thank you for these, Chet. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _