Country Gentleman Mutes

[albertgen]

Wonder if anyone ever uses those mutes on the double cutaway Country Gentleman? Seems kind of silly they ever went to the expense of putting them in since most people just use their hand to dampen notes. Must be something to it , they are still putting them in. I have to admit it does look pretty cool on the new ones. Happy New Year pickers! Al

[craigdobbins]

They'd come in handy on "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter" and "Nashville Cats."

I think Chet used his double-cutaway Nashville with the single mute on "Steeplechase Lane." (The original version, from the Yestergroovin' LP. He's holding the guitar in the fold-out photo inside.) He used that guitar some both for live performances and recording in the late 60's/early 70's. There's a tape of Chet recording "Steeplechase Lane" with quite a few false starts. You can hear Chet telling Jerry when to switch the mute in and out, so apparently Jerry was working the mute while Chet was playing.

That orange double-cut Nashville (6120) was the guitar I longed for when I was a kid. I'd go in the local music store and just stare at the guitar. Sometimes they would even let me play it for a while.

Craig

P.S. Happy New Year, everyone.

[Norm]

Those mutes were one of Jimmie Webster's ideas. I have a feeling if you could find the patent on them his name would be on it. There were a couple other guitar companies that used mutes...Hagstrom comes to mind... but none of them lasted as an idea because the mute material had a tendency to rot over time.

Chet was not a fan. I suppose he may have used the Gretsch mutes a time or two but the understanding I have is they had to take out some of the top bracing in the Gents to accomodate the mutes and that, in turn, affected the sustain.

Chet's design input on the 6122 Country Gent was pretty much done by 1957-8. Everything after that, the double cutaway, the mutes, etc. were done without discussion with Chet by Webster and Gretsch. He did get them to use the larger Grover tuning buttons but that's a hardware choice, not a design factor,

[Mike Nye]

Yah . . . Jimmie Webster sure was responsible for crappin' up alotta guitars . . .

What do those mutes do, that you can't do with the palm of your hand ? ? ? Just one more thing to loosen up and rattle . . .

and, remember those Floating Sound Units on White Falcons and I believe Vikings? Whatta load o' Crap ! ! !

[Norm]

His "best" idea was a thing called a "Tone Twister. It was a gadge that you clamped on the harp section of guitars with a floating bridge and a tailpeice. The idea was you clamp this thing on the harp section behind the bridge. Thing had a handle on it and was supposed to be a poor man's Bigsby. Sold cheap. Broke a lot of strings.

It was his idea to put a padded back on those double cutaway guitars, too. Some say the idea was to cover the access port but I always thought the thing was dumb. You pay over 600.00 for a guitar you would think you would want to see the wood grain on the back. Other companies had plastic port covers, why not Gretsch? But Noooooo... let's drill ten holes and put snaps on the back of my guitar so I can put this tacky pad on it. That will make all the Les Paul owners jealous!

And in all my years playing onstage in endless saloon bands I never heard anyone say "Gee...I wish someone would make a big pad for the back of my guitar. My hip gets sore from it rubbing on me while I play all night."

Sorry for the rant but J. Webster was no friend of guitars. He was smart to make Fred Sr. hire Chester Atkins as an endorser though...

I saw him demo a White Falcon at a NAMM show back in the sixties when he was the only guy doing that two handed tapping style and I have to admit it was impressive. Not enough to make me want to try it but impressive nontheless...

He could play but he had the design sense of a goat.

[Mike Nye]

It was his idea to put a padded back on those double cutaway guitars, too. Some say the idea was to cover the access port but I always thought the thing was dumb. You pay over 600.00 for a guitar you would think you would want to see the wood grain on the back. Other companies had plastic port covers, why not Gretsch? But Noooooo... let's drill ten holes and put snaps on the back of my guitar so I can put this tacky pad on it. That will make all the Les Paul owners jealous!

And in all my years playing onstage in endless saloon bands I never heard anyone say "Gee...I wish someone would make a big pad for the back of my guitar. My hip gets sore from it rubbing on me while I play all night."

The primary purpose of the pad was to cover the white plastic access cover that covered the access port used to install the mute mechanism . . .

[Norm]

I understand that, Mike. I'm not so sure I buy into that as an rationale that really holds water.

Thing is, other guitar companies had access ports covered by plastic plates too and they didn't see fit to cover the entire back of the guitar with screws, snaps and a pad. The Les Pauls and some of the Fenders have access plates on the back and no one thought it necessary to cover the back with a pad.

I just think the padded back was a bad idea that Webster pushed through when he advocated the mutes and the suits bought into it. I personally think the backpads are an idea that has no real merit.

The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station

[Mike Nye]

I understand that, Mike. I'm not so sure I buy into that as an rationale that really holds water.

I just think the padded back was a bad idea that Webster pushed through when he advocated the mutes and the suits bought into it. I personally think the backpads are an idea that has no real merit.

The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station

Well, I've seen alotta really nice guitars over the years that were in MINT condition, other than the belt buckle gouges on their backs . . .

I myself; will take a factory installed pad over buckle damage any day . . . but, that's just me . . .

[Vidar Lund]

My impression was that one of the the intentions with back padding was to avoid belt buckle wear, but if so why not do it on all guitars? My 6130 Roundup has three access ports and no padding of course, and my Nashville Classic has none of anything. I could have wanted an access port to be able to reach its innards, however. By the way, C. F. Martin sells leather covered belt buckles that prevent buckle wear. That works fine.

[Norm]

It's a matter of personal taste and lack of choice I guess.

I don't like buckle rash either but I personally think the pads are not an improvement and if I had a choice I would definitely opt out of the pad.

The buyer has no choice. If your model comes with the pad you're stuck with it.

Buckle rash usually means the owner spent a lot of time playing standing up. The implying time spent playing in bands so the rash is like facial lines. Marks of a lived life.

btw, my old 61 6122 has no buckle rash. I'm second owner on a well played 51 year old guitar. Buckle rash is not an automatic thing.