1970 Gretsch Viking 6187 Vintage Hollowbody Electric Guitar Sunburst, Complete & Clean w/ Case, Strap
$4,799.99
$4,799.99
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Up for sale, a 1970 Gretsch Viking in exceptional condition and in perfect working order, 100% original save for a new nut, and complete with the original hardshell case and strap. Introduced as a feature-rich instrument at the top of Gretsch's model range, the Viking was slotted neatly between the Falcon and the Country Club in Gretsch's top tier offerings. With a full 17" lower bout, 25 1/2" scale, the Viking’s premium features include a tuning fork bridge, T Zone tempered treble frets, and SuperTron humbuckers
The Viking was the first guitar to offer Gretsch's SuperTron humbuckers, and as the successor to the FilterTron, the SuperTron features blades rather than pole pieces for greater inductance and excellent volume retention between strings. Offering a distinctly "Gretsch" tonal profile with the snap and attack of the fully hollow maple body and the midrange character and push that these humbuckers provide, the neck position SuperTron is clear and muscly with great articulation, while the bridge position is slightly hotter, offering tight lows and an overarching punchy quality. The guitar also features Gretsch's Floating Sound Unit bridge, which is a smooth roller design coupled with an actual A440 tuning fork mounted between the top and back of the body, purportedly designed to offer enhanced sustain and overtones. This design does ultimately achieve a more ringing, rich acoustic sound, and the Bigsby response is perhaps the greatest beneficiary, as the response is extremely smooth and fluid, given the additional break angles provided by the fork design. This Viking weighs 8lbs 13oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 11-49 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.
Neck Specs:
-Wood: Maple
-Shape: Medium C, full shoulders, measuring .850” 1st fret, .940” 12th fret
-Fretboard: Ebony, “neo-classical” thumbnail inlay to octave, offset dot inlay at upper frets (denoting “T Zone”)
-Frets: Slender, leveled and crowned, no wear, "Tempered Treble” (slightly angled forward on treble side beyond fret 12)
-Scale Length: 25 1/2”
-Nut: 1.650”, bone (modern), zero fret
-Tuners: Grover, “kidney” buttons
-Serialization: Five-digit stamp, January, 1970 build date
Body Specs:
-Wood: Maple, parallel tonebar bracing
-Pickups: SuperTron humbucker x2
-Controls: Master Volume, Independent Volume x2, Three-way pickup selector, Three-way Tone switch, Three-way Kill switch
-Hardware: Bigsby B6G vibrato, Tuning Fork, Space Control bridge, flip-up mute assembly
-Plastics: One-ply gold plexi pickguard
-Marquetry: Bound F holes, leather back pad with gold trim
The gloss Sunburst finish presents very cleanly, with original multi-ply binding that is in truly remarkable shape, given the reputation of Gretsch binding in this era. Both the front and back binding is notably stable and clean, with one filled-in chip on the lower bout back binding and some stable checking along the treble-side cutaway. There is a tiny bit of localized finish wear on top where the bridge was at one time repositioned forward in lieu of using the tuning fork, and a few minor finish chips and scuffs on the body as a whole. The neck profile has a couple small areas of finish loss, shallow and smooth to the touch
The original hardshell case is included, along with a vintage strap and Gretsch string pack (not pictured).
The Viking was the first guitar to offer Gretsch's SuperTron humbuckers, and as the successor to the FilterTron, the SuperTron features blades rather than pole pieces for greater inductance and excellent volume retention between strings. Offering a distinctly "Gretsch" tonal profile with the snap and attack of the fully hollow maple body and the midrange character and push that these humbuckers provide, the neck position SuperTron is clear and muscly with great articulation, while the bridge position is slightly hotter, offering tight lows and an overarching punchy quality. The guitar also features Gretsch's Floating Sound Unit bridge, which is a smooth roller design coupled with an actual A440 tuning fork mounted between the top and back of the body, purportedly designed to offer enhanced sustain and overtones. This design does ultimately achieve a more ringing, rich acoustic sound, and the Bigsby response is perhaps the greatest beneficiary, as the response is extremely smooth and fluid, given the additional break angles provided by the fork design. This Viking weighs 8lbs 13oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 11-49 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.
Neck Specs:
-Wood: Maple
-Shape: Medium C, full shoulders, measuring .850” 1st fret, .940” 12th fret
-Fretboard: Ebony, “neo-classical” thumbnail inlay to octave, offset dot inlay at upper frets (denoting “T Zone”)
-Frets: Slender, leveled and crowned, no wear, "Tempered Treble” (slightly angled forward on treble side beyond fret 12)
-Scale Length: 25 1/2”
-Nut: 1.650”, bone (modern), zero fret
-Tuners: Grover, “kidney” buttons
-Serialization: Five-digit stamp, January, 1970 build date
Body Specs:
-Wood: Maple, parallel tonebar bracing
-Pickups: SuperTron humbucker x2
-Controls: Master Volume, Independent Volume x2, Three-way pickup selector, Three-way Tone switch, Three-way Kill switch
-Hardware: Bigsby B6G vibrato, Tuning Fork, Space Control bridge, flip-up mute assembly
-Plastics: One-ply gold plexi pickguard
-Marquetry: Bound F holes, leather back pad with gold trim
The gloss Sunburst finish presents very cleanly, with original multi-ply binding that is in truly remarkable shape, given the reputation of Gretsch binding in this era. Both the front and back binding is notably stable and clean, with one filled-in chip on the lower bout back binding and some stable checking along the treble-side cutaway. There is a tiny bit of localized finish wear on top where the bridge was at one time repositioned forward in lieu of using the tuning fork, and a few minor finish chips and scuffs on the body as a whole. The neck profile has a couple small areas of finish loss, shallow and smooth to the touch
The original hardshell case is included, along with a vintage strap and Gretsch string pack (not pictured).
