And the mahogany bodies were less chambered, making them heavier than the original '50s version and Jets being manufactured today. Players have described the Filter’Tron pickups from this era and being less twangy with more of a grittier growl. Priced at $1,400, this new version wasn’t an exact replica of a late-'50s Silver Jet (it had a wider Baldwin-era headstock with horseshoe inlay and an Adjusto-Matic bridge for example), but it was close enough for Gretsch fans. In the fall of 1989, nine new Gretsch electrics from their golden era of the '50s and '60s were unveiled, including the 25-year return of the G6129 Silver Jet. Starting basically from scratch, it would take five years before a new generation of glistening (and sparkly) Gretsch guitars would be available. Gretsch-the great-grandson of Gretsch founder, Friedrich Gretsch, and his wife and business partner, Dinah-bought the family business from Baldwin in 1984, their first priority was resuscitating the existing Gretsch drum business.

With little buyer interest in hollow-bodies and sales tanking, the Baldwin Company (who had purchased Gretsch in 1967) ceased guitar production in the early '80s. 1989: Gretsch Sparkles Once Againįor most of the 1980s, no Gretsch guitars were produced. It would be another 25 years before it would return, but it was worth the wait. Few of these new colors were produced and are very rare today.īy 1964 with sales slumping, the Silver Jet disappeared from the Jet lineup. This is the first time Fasold has shared the photographs of his ultra-rare Silver Jet, which is not for sale but is part of the Black Book Collection and archives.Īlso new were the Space Control Bridge, a three-position tone-selector switch, and Neo-Classic thumbnail position markers on the ebony fingerboard.įollowing Gibson’s double-cutaway styling lead, Gretsch’s Jet lineup changed from a single-cutaway to double-cutaways in 1961.Ī year later, Jets featured a Burns Vibrato Unit and also introduced more sparkly drum finish color options including Gold, Champagne, Tangerine, and Burgundy. As you can tell from the photographs, it is quite a time capsule. Ball was kind enough to put me in touch with its owner, Nathan Fasold, of Black Book Guitars in Portland, Oregon.įasold shared that he was contacted by the granddaughter of the owner a few years ago and was floored by its condition and originality. Meet the Earliest Documented Silver Jetĭuring the writing of this article, Gretsch guitar authority Ed Ball shared the news with me that the earliest documented Silver Jet-the first known example from 1953-had surfaced. At least one left the factory with a silver sparkle finish. They tried it, it looked cool, and the early Duo Jets featured a piece of glossy Jet Black Nitron drum finish glued onto its slightly arched top.īut not all Jets in that debut batch of 100 made in late 1953 were black. Legend has it that Webster, walking through the drum department at the Gretsch factory one afternoon, saw a worker gluing sparkly drum material onto a wooden drum shell and asked if the same could be done to a solid body guitar top. With its heavily chambered mahogany body and glued-on top, the 13.5-inch single-cutaway Duo Jet looked like a solidbody but was more of a semi-solidbody guitar in reality. 'Duo' for its two single-coil DeArmond Dynasonic pickups and 'Jet' to reflect the latest in space-age technology.

Drumming Up a New Look for Their Guitar BusinessĪfter watching Fender and Gibson grab an early lead in the new solidbody electric guitar war, Gretsch answered in the fall of 1953 with the introduction of the Duo Jet. It was on the seventh floor, where Gretsch guitars and drums were manufactured, that Jimmie Webster, Gretsch’s chief guitar designer and brand ambassador, saw an ingenious way to distance the look and glitz of Gretsch guitars from their conservative-looking competition. The rest of the building was rented out to other businesses, creating a regular cash flow for the successful Gretsch family real estate business. And around the same time, cross-pollination in the musical instrument manufacturing world took place at the Gretsch factory in Brooklyn, New York.Įven though the block-long Gretsch Building was a huge 10-story structure, the Fred Gretsch Manufacturing Company only needed to occupy one-and-a-half floors in the 1950s. When it started back in the mid-'50s, rock 'n’ roll was a cross-pollination of many diverse musical styles: blues, swing, rhythm and blues, country-even gospel. There was once a day when musical genres rarely, if ever, mixed. It’s a term often used in the flower and plant world, but it can be used just as much, if not more, in the music world. Photo via Nathan Fasold of Black Book Guitars in Portland.Ĭross-pollination.

Tangerine sparkle pro jet