GOLDEN AGE GRETSCH DUO JETS

As solid-bodied models began taking the guitar world by storm in the early 50s, Gretsch joined the party with the revolutionary single-cut 6128 Duo Jet and its twangsome DeArmond 'Dynasonic' single coils

- Bob Wootton

In the hagiography of rock ’n’ roll, Gibson and Fender guitars have the throne. In country, and particularly rockabilly, the big orange boxes of Gretsch are challengers. So spare a thought for an astonishingly good bit player, the Gretsch Duo Jet, which first appeared in 1953.

The 50s were a time of extraordinary change and innovation in the musical instrument industry, with the electrification of guitars being the driving force. Earlier in the 1932, the pioneering work of George Beauchamp, Adolf Rickenbacker and Paul Barth had led to the creation of Rickenbacker’s ‘Frying Pan’ A-series lap steels, and by 1936 Gibson was putting pickups on its acoustic archtops with the ES-150 following on from the EH-150 lap steel of the previous year. Indeed, after Charlie Christian picked up his own Electric Spanish guitar in around 1937, he would go on to become the first electric guitar hero when he used the new instrument to solo like a horn with Benny Goodman’s band in ’39.

With volume, however, came feedback. The first recognisable solid-bodied ‘Spanish’ (namely, fretted) guitar appeared in ’48 when Paul Bigsby – Southern Californian inventor, engineer, motorcycle enthusiast and creator of the vibrato tailpiece – built it for noted country artist Merle Travis. Bigsby’s one-offs for leading local performers paved the way for a radio repairman who, by ’49, had prototyped his Broadcaster, forerunner to the legendary Telecaster and the daddy of electric solid-bodies: Leo Fender’s success caused a frenzy among competitors.

Meanwhile, successful entertainer Les Paul had failed to curry favour in his ‘Log’ – archtop sides around a solid, electrified centre block – but suddenly Gibson embraced him, and the Les Paul model emerged in ’52.