Gretsch Announces Tom Petersson 12-String and 4-String Signature Basses

Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson and Gretsch teamed up to announce a pair of signature basses at this year’s Summer NAMM show in Nashville, Tennessee. The models include the USA Custom Shop Tom Petersson Signature 12-String Falcon Bass and the G6136B-TP-AWT Tom Petersson Signature 4-String Bass.

Petersson has been testing the 12-string prototype live on the road. Available in Vintage White, the bass is a take on the company’s White Falcon bass and is their first ever 12-string model. The short-scale model features a laminated maple body matched with a “C”-shaped maple gloss-finished neck. The ebony fingerboard has a 12-inch radius and is fitted with 22 vintage-style frets and inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

Electronics include a pair of custom Seymour Duncan SuperTron pickups, while hardware includes a 12-string Space Control bridge and a Gretsch “Cadillac” tailpiece. The hardware and pickguard are gold.

The G6136B-TP-AWT is a more traditional four-string bass that carries many of the same features as the custom shop 12-string. The hardware is changed to an Adjusto-Matic bridge and the neck sports a “U” profile instead of a “C”. The pickup configuration is changed slightly as well. Petersson opted to fit the SuperTron into the middle position instead of the bridge with a new RumbleTron in the neck position.

“You can get this big, thick sound if you just want that neck pickup sound but if you want more clarity, you’ve got that one in the middle – it’s in the perfect position and then the combination of the two is just great,” the bassist writes. “That’s different than most.”

Both of Tom Petersson’s new Gretsch signature models will be available in early 2017. Price points are yet to be announced.

Gretsch USA Custom Shop Tom Petersson Signature 12-String Falcon Bass Features:

Gretsch G6136B-TP-AWT Tom Petersson Signature 4-String Bass Features: