The original 6121 line ran from 1954 until 1963. It started with two DeArmond single-coil pickups which were replaced with humbuckers in 1958. The body was a two-piece unit consisting of a maple top and mahogany back, while the mahogany neck featured a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard. The hardware consisted of a gold Bigsby vibrato, volume and tone knobs on the lower bout, master volume control on the cutaway, and the pickup selector switch on the upper bout. An optional gold pickguard with Chet Atkins' signature was also available.

In 1957 Gretsch removed the "G" brand from the headstock and replaced the block inlays with humptops. A bar style bridge was added in 1958 along with thumbnail inlays. In 1959 the G6121 changed significantly by going to the zero fret construction and adding a bone nut. 1961 saw the last major change in the original line when the 6121 became a double cutaway.

During of the Baldwin years Gretsch attempted to bring back the G6121 Chet Atkins and the 6130 Roundup with disastrous results. After a short time they put both models back on the shelf where they remained dormant until Fender bought the company in the late 1990s. Today there are several different types of G6121s designed to take us back to the original Chet Atkins model. The most recent incarnation, the G6121-1959 is a nearly flawless replica except for the fact that it uses FilterTron pickups.