A Fine Original "DeArmond" Duo Jet… Just Like George Harrisons

This 13 1/4-inch-wide semi-solid body guitar weighs in at 7.50 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of 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 neo-classic inlaid pearloid thumbprint (half-moon) 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 9.19k and 9.35k. Clear Lucite pickguard painted white 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. Chrome "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") stamped in blue and the serial number ("26281") stamped in black. The serial number is also engraved on the plastic outside of the control cavity. The pots are stamped "615 7033" (ROC early fifties). Melita Synchro-Sonic bridge and chrome cut-out "G-hole flat" tailpiece. This guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. There a few tiny surface marks on the back and edges of the guitar, one very small area of surface loss (which measures 3/8 x 1/4 inch) on the top, just by the bass side foot of the Melita bridge. Housed in the original Gretsch two-tone gray hardshell case with five latches and purple plush lining (9.00).

"In 1953 Gretsch launched its first solidbody, the $230 Duo Jet. In fact, while the guitar looked like a solid and certainly recalled the general outline and visuals of the $225 Gibson Les Paul, underneath things were somewhat different. At the time, Gibson used a sturdy sandwich of mahogany and maple for the Les Paul's body, while Fender used solid ash for its Telecaster. Gretsch, however, assembled the just-over-13-inch-wide body of the Duo Jet from several pieces of mahogany, incorporating a number of routed channels and pockets for cables and components, and adding a pressed arched top as a 'lid'. The most accurate description of Gretsch's new 'solid' guitar is probably 'semi-solid'. But in terms of its look, function, catalogue description and intended place in the market, the Duo Jet was in effect Gretsch's first solidbody electric guitar…Unusually, during its early years the new Duo Jet's body had a front covered in black plastic material, as used on some Gretsch drums. The guitar's control layout marked the start of Gretsch's fondness for positioning a master volume knob down on the cutaway bout rather than with the other controls…The Jet came with Gretsch's unique two-piece strap buttons -- an early take on the idea of locking strap buttons…The model also featured the Melita Synchro-Sonic bridge" (Tony Bacon, 50 Years of Gretsch Electrics, pp. 20-21).

George Harrison bought a 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet early in 1961. "Harrison used the Duo Jet throughout the group's rise to fame, only retiring it when he acquired a double-cutaway Gretsch Country Gentleman in summer 1963" (Tony Bacon, Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, p. 164).