Richard Fortus’ Gretsch G6636-RF White Falcon This is immediately apparent in the taut neck pickup sound, which is crisper than its sister’s and more articulate. In contrast to its hardtail twin, the White Falcon’s full scale takes things back to more familiar tonal territory. This reviewer has owned and loved (deeply) a single-cut White Falcon for many years and, with sentimentality set to one side, it is clear that the Fortus signature model is a superior instrument both ergonomically and, most egregiously, sonically. The results are distressing on a personal level. Swapping guitars, we plug in the full-scale, Bigsby-equipped White Falcon. On its own, it is a great sound for bluesy La Grange-isms.Īll this hints at good things to come from the bridge ’Tron and, a flick of the safely positioned toggle – given Fortus’s propensity for breaking his thumb on shoulder-mounted switches, he elected to keep the thing out of harm’s way – unleashes a gratifyingly chewy voice that kicks imperial measures of ass. Richard Fortus’ Gretsch G6636-RF White Falconīoth pickups together provide an exuberantly hollow honk, which we imagine would be the very thing to allow a certain top-hatted lead guitarist to express himself pentatonically while feeling supported in both the treble and bass registers. The neck pickup is detailed, and while more than capable of delivering a soaring lead tone – yes, on a Gretsch – it also shines with fat, ringing chords and we even get some tasty 7th and 9th arpeggios in there without things turning to mush. It’s the Gretsch sound with a touch of Gibson 335 and it absolutely rocks. The richness and complexity we’d expect from a shorter-scale instrument are all there but balanced with a quick response. The agony of choice bites hard but, after a moment’s gentle perving, we begin with the shorter-scale Black Falcon straight into a cooking tube amp – just as nature intended. We select our longest strap and begin testing. The only other control is a selector switch located deep on the lower bout. All the knobs are ruby encrusted, as we’d hope. The controls are arrayed with practicality in mind, with volume on the lower cutaway and tone on the lower bout. There’s a pair of Fortus’s Filter’Trons, voiced to compliment the thunder of a Slash-powered Les Paul loaded with PAFs. Richard Fortus’ Gretsch G6636T-RF Black Falconīy Gretsch standards, the hardware is spartan. The fretboard inlays are limited to pearl thumbnails on the bass edge and a subtle white double coachline, while the silver Grover tuners are a lot less shouty than the gold art deco Imperials usually found on this headstock. More classic 1950s than Baldwin-era Gretsch, they are positively brooding with deep tortoiseshell binding and scratchplates that suits both white and black models and coincidentally ensure that the position markers are actually visible (which isn’t a given when stage lights hit sparkly binding). Richard Fortus’ Gretsch G6636T-RF Black FalconĮven to a dispassionate observer these are beautiful guitars. The Black Falcon, meanwhile, comes with a hard tailpiece and a bend-friendly 24.6-inch scale length. We take a moment to cool down after that erogenous revelation and bask in the knowledge that the White Falcon is full-fat, with a 25.5-inch scale and a Bigsby B6 as per Fortus’s explicit instructions. In a modern rock exploration of natural dualities, each of the Fortus Falcon models has a distinct personality dictated by that most sexy of specifications: scale length.
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