George Harrison Signature Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-GH

As I’ve said before, I think it’s a little odd to label a guitar as a ‘signature’ model when the person who’s supposed to have signed it is dead, but I guess guitar manufacturers will keep doing it so I should just let it pass, and get on with talking about the guitar.

Update: The G6128T-GH was featured in the Best Electric Guitar Brands list.



Firstly, I will note that Gretsch have produced this special release with the permission of the Harrison family.

This guitar is modeled, in quite some detail, on one George Harrison owned and played for many years – legend has it that he called it his ‘first real guitar’ which he bought at the age of 17 from a merchant ship cook in Liverpool who originally bought the 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet in Brooklyn, New York.

George Harrison paid the princely sum of £70, but he only had £50 on him at the time and gave the owner an I.O.U for the remaining £20.

The new George Harrison Signature version has a DynaSonic single-coil bridge pickup and again a DynaSonic single-coil neck pickup.

The body has a 3-Ply Arched Laminated Maple top and Mahogany Back, with the neck being a single piece of Mahogany with a Rosewood fretboard on top.

The Bigsby tremelo has a B6C tailpiece with black “phillips-head” tremelo arm pivot bolt.

Gretsch even meticulously measured the exact position of the off-set strap bolt to get it in the exact position of the original. It also features a lightweight mid-’50s-style chambered body and all-black colour scheme.

There has been a little bit of inflation since George purchased his over 50 years ago – this one has a US MSRP of $5,000 and a UK MSRP of £2820 – given that current exchange rates make the UK price less than $3,500 I can’t understand such a huge difference in two different countries.

I found one that someone listed on eBay for $3500 but they’ve taken the sale down.

As far as I can tell, no shops have it in stock yet, so if you want one you’ll have to ask for favorite store when they’ll be getting it in stock.

Here is a video interview Sweetwater made recently with Fred Gretsch III and Joe Carducci from Gretsch guitars about the history of the original and how they came to make the new signature version – very interesting to watch:



If you’ve got your mind set on this, you’ll find more information is available at Gretsch

Related News:

Gretsch Named Best Hollow Body Guitar

Bid on Beatles’ 1962 Rickenbacker 425 Guitar

Introducing the G2220 Junior Jet Bass II, a new Gretsch Bass Guitar

Gretsch introduces new Electromatic Solid-body Guitars

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