Now in its 70th year, the Duo-Jet was one of the first of the new breed of electric guitars, at the very beginning of the rock'n'roll era. Introduced in 1953, the Duo-Jet was ready and waiting when the likes of the legendary Hank Garland needed a cool axe for the Elvis Presley sesssions he'd been booked to play. Presley's 'Little Sister', '(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame' and 'A Fool Such As I' all feature Garland's Duo-Jet. (Garland played on dozens of hit records for artists including the Everly Brothers, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Marty Robbins and Roy Orbison)
George Harrison
We've mentioned George Harrison at the front, and down through the years other big name Duo-Jet players such as Bo Diddley, Malcolm Young, Pete Townshend, Sara Quin, (Tegan and Sara), Chris Cornell, Peter Frampton, David Gilmour, Steve Marriott, Jason Isbell, Jack White, Chris Cheney, Wayne Kramer and scads more have cemented the guitar's place in history.
Neo-Classic
Beginning with a chambered Mahogany body, (it's been a chambered body, right from the start), and a carved maple top, the single cutaway design may look Les Paul-ish, but that's about all the two guitars have in common. From Gretsch's famous FilterTron pickups to the "Neo-Classic" thumbnail position markers, and the classic Bigsby B3 tremolo, the Duo-Jet is clearly not a Les Paul.
Purely Gretsch
Other purely Gretsch features include individual volume control, with master volume, (located on the treble horn); special 3-way tone switch circuitry, (bass boost, straight thru, and a subtle high-frequency roll-off); plus silver plexi pickguard with Gretsch logo and matching silver pickup rings.
One piece Mahogany neck, (soft C-profile)
12" radius Ebony fingerboard, with Gretsch's Neo-Classic thumbnail position markers and aged white binding
Medium-jumbo frets
Grover Sta-Tite tuners
3-way pickup selector switch
Tune-o-matic bridge, (the original Space Control bridge is in the case - see pic # 7
Seventy years
It jangles, it twangs, it rocks, it cool-and-mellows. Few guitars can do it all, and fewer still have lasted seventy years... that pretty much says it all!
Free courier delivery
The guitar is in Excellent- condition, with just light playwear on the front, even less on the back, and comes complete with its original, deluxe Gretsch hard shell case, plus all the original paperwork, (pics 7, 8 and main). FREE COURIER DELIVERY is included to any address in Australia. ($100 airfreight to New Zealand, $175 to the US, Canada, UK and mainstream European countries)
Weight: 7lb 10oz / 3.46kg
Just Guitars
