One of the Very First Duo Jets - (ca. August, 1953).

This late Summer 1953 Duo Jet with a 13 1/4-inch-wide, 2 inch deep guitar weighs just 7.80 lbs, has a fat nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a wonderful medium-to-thick neck profile and a scale length of 24 1/2 inches. Chambered mahogany body, triple-bound pressed arched top with black plastic laminate, mahogany neck, and white-bound Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 original 'small'  frets and inlaid pearloid block position markers. Single-bound, dark brown maple faced headstock with inlaid pearl Gretsch "T-roof" logo. Individual open-back Grover StaTite tuners with oval metal buttons and hexagonal bushings. Two single-coil DeArmond pickups with outputs of 3.13k and 3.05k. Four-layer (white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard. Four controls (three volume, one tone) and one three-way selector switch. The potentiometers are dated "134 304" (Centralab, January, 1953). Earliest style plain-top chrome plated brass control knobs with cross-hatch pattern on sides. Earliest style Melita Synchro-Sonic bridge which is 'anchored' directly into the top, and chrome cut-out "G-hole flat" tailpiece. Original two-layer white on black plastic neck heel cover. This is one of the very first Duo Jets, with a silver cut-out Gretsch 'Drum' logo on the bass side of the tailpiece, the Melita bridge anchored directly into the body, a four-ply 'white' pickguard and, as with the very early Gibson Les Paul's, no printed Gretsch identification label in the control cavity. Usually the serial number is etched roughly onto the back of the large control cavity cover. On this very early guitar there is an 'X" etched onto the underside of all three control covers and a pencil "X" on the underside of the top (visible inside the large control cavity). This very rare guitar is in exceptionally fine and totally original (9.00+) condition. There is some minor belt buckle wear on the back of the body, some edge wear to the lower edge, and the face of the headstock has a small (cosmetic only) crack across part of the dark brown maple veneer, otherwise this is as fine an example as one could ever wish to find. Housed in the original Gretsch four-latch straw-colored hardshell case with burgundy velvet lining and Gretsch silk banner (8.75).