An Early '60s Jet Firebird

This 13 1/2-inch-wide guitar weighs 7.20 lbs. and has a nut width of just over 1 5/8 inches and a scale length of 24 1/2 inches. Chambered mahogany body with three-ply binding, pressed arched top with red finish, one-piece mahogany neck, bound ebony fretboard with 22 frets plus zero and neo-classic inlaid pearl thumbprint (half-moon) position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl Gretsch "T-roof" logo. Individual open-back Grover StaTite tuners with oval metal buttons. Two patent-number Filter'Tron pickups with gold plastic surrounds and outputs of 3.92k and 3.80k. Reproduction black plastic pickguard with Gretsch "T-roof" logo in white. Three controls (two volume on lower treble bout, one master volume on upper treble bout) plus two three-way selector switches on upper bass bout and a standby switch on lower treble bout. "Arrow-through-G" knobs with cross-hatch pattern on sides. Original Space Control bridge on ebony base and bent flat-arm Burns vibrato tailpiece with black plastic tip with "Gretsch" engraved in white. All hardware gold-plated. The original printed label which is normally affixed to the back of the control cover on the back of the guitar is no longer there, but the serial number ("46037") is engraved as usual on the face of the control cover. With the original gold-trimmed Gretsch black pad on the back of guitar. At one time the tuners had been replaced, but the originals are now back on the guitar -- the only evidence of this are six tiny and very unobtrusive holes that have been filled on the back of the headstock. In addition, it appears that an additional strap button was fitted at some time on the heel of the guitar -- this has also been removed and filled. Apart from these very minor imperfections and the changed pickguard, this is one of the cleanest early '60s Jet Firebirds that we have ever seen, with virtually no playing wear. Housed in the original Gretsch two-tone gray hardshell case with burgundy plush lining (9.00).

"In 1962 major style changes occurred [in the Jet series] which continued on the line until the re-introduction of the single-cutaway body style in 1970: gold-plated metal parts replace chrome, a gold pickguard engraved with a black 'Gretsch' block letter logo supplants the Duo Jet's and Silver Jet's white pickguard, and a gold-plated Burns vibrato tailpiece anchors the Jets' 24 1/2 inch scale length instead of the previous 'G'-cutout, chrome tailpiece. Most notably in 1962 the company expanded its 'spotlight sparkle'-top line to include not only the Silver Jet but a panoply of other shimmering Model 6129s available at no greater cost than the $350 Model 6128 Duo Jet: the gaudy, Romanesque Gold Sparkle, delicate-lilac Champagne Sparkle, a deeper, wine-colored Burgundy Sparkle and squeezable Tangerine Sparkle. All double cut-aways are extremely rare and few of any color other than Silver Sparkle were made. 1962 also saw the introduction of the standby switch on all electric models" (Jay Scott, The Guitars of the Fred Gretsch Company, p. 101).