Super Rare Cadillac Green Duo Jet

This 'super-rare' 13 1/4-inch-wide semi-solid body Cadillac Green guitar weighs just 7.30 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 24 1/2 inches. Chambered mahogany body, pressed arched top with black plastic laminate, one-piece mahogany neck with a medium thick profile, and bound ebony fretboard with 22 frets and hump-block pearl position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl Gretsch "T-roof" logo. Two-layer (black on white) plastic truss-rod cover. Individual Grover StaTite open-back tuners with oval metal buttons. The top of the guitar is triple-bound and the headstock and fretboard are single-bound. Two single-coil DeArmond pickups with outputs of 3.32k and 3.10k. Clear Lucite pickguard painted gold from the underneath and engraved in black from the underneath with the Gretsch "T-roof" logo. Four controls -- two volume and one master tone on lower treble bout, one master volume on treble horn -- plus one three-way pickup selector switch on upper bass bout. Gold-plated "Arrow-through-G" knobs with cross-hatch pattern on sides. Inside the control cavity is a rectangular orange, gray, and white label with the model number ("6128 'G' ") stamped in blue and the serial number ("25545") stamped in black. The pots are stamped "615 7033" (ROC early fifties). Melita Synchro-Sonic bridge and gold-plated cut-out "G-hole flat" tailpiece. Gold-plated 'armrest' on top bass edge. A couple of the pearl hump-block markers have shrunken very slightly and there are two very small marks on the back of the guitar and one tiny surface chip on the treble horn. Otherwise this is a totally original and near mint (9.25) example, almost as rare as it's 'rich' cousin, the White Penguin. Complete with original 'Gretsch' polishing cloth and case key. Housed in the original Gretsch two-tone gray hardshell case with five latches and purple plush lining (9.25).

Only a handful of Cadillac Green Duo Jets were produced between 1956 and 1957. The 15th color plate in Jay Scott's The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Company shows a photograph, and the following caption… "An extremely rare 1957 Cadillac Green Model 6128 Duo Jet. Seldom appearing on Duo Jets, more common on Country Clubs and standard on drum sets, the Cadillac Green finish option was always accompanied by gold-plated metal parts."