In the summer I turned ten, I discovered the Stray Cats.

From that moment I was hooked on rockabilly, and the Gretsch 6120 became the guitar of my dreams — one I knew I had to own someday.

At sixteen, I worked part-time jobs and saved every yen, calling music stores across the country one by one, until I finally found a 1993 6120-60.

This was an era before the internet, before social media.

The day it arrived, I drilled a hole into a dice I'd gotten as a magazine giveaway back in elementary school, and fitted it onto a control knob.

"I want the same tuning pegs as Brian Setzer."

Without even knowing the product name, I kept calling music stores across the country, and finally tracked down the Sperzel Trimlok.

Chasing that vintage tone, I installed a Tom Holmes Filter'Tron — at the time, practically the only replacement Filter'Tron pickup available. This was before TV Jones ever existed.

I swapped the bridge for a Tune-O-Matic, and the saddle for titanium.

Piece by piece, I shaped it into a 6120 that was mine alone.

Later, I finally got the 1959 Gretsch 6120 I had always dreamed of.

Even so, the 6120 I first brought home at sixteen remains, to this day, the one guitar that means the most to me.

A 6120 is never just a guitar.

Every single one carries its own life, its own memories, its own sound.

That's exactly why I decided to build this site.

Famous artists. Professional musicians. People who simply play for the love of it.

A place where Gretsch 6120 owners around the world can leave a record of their guitar and its story.

That is 6120.jp.

Stay tuned.