George Harrison Duo Jet, Tribute and Signature by Gretsch



George Harrison and his Gretsch Duo Jet

George Harrison and his "first decent guitar", the Gretsch Duo Jet

Lately I've been reading a lot about George Harrison, the lead guitarist from the legendary Beatles, and his guitars. As a fan of the Dutch "Egmond" guitars, I was surprised to hear that the first guitar George Harrison bought, actually was an Egmond. After this acoustic guitar, George obviously obtained more guitars. One of his favourites was the 1957 Gretsch G6128T.

 

George Harrison's  "ol' black Gretsch"

It's clear that George Harrison (25 february 1943 - 29 november 2001) was, within the Beatles, the guitarman. He was not the songwriter, but the real guitarist, who was grazy about guitars.

After playing some cheap second hand guitars, like the already mentioned Egmond, George in 1961 bought his first, as he said, "decent guitar" , the Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet, from a cab driver, former merchant seaman Ivan Heyward, who bought the guitar new in New York in 1957. The Gretsch replaced the Futurama George was playing on until then. George paid 70 Pound of the asking price of 90 Pound, and left an "I.O.U" on the back of the customs receipt. Ivan claims he never received the remaining 20 Pound.

George Harrison Cavern Club Liverpool 1962 Gretsch 6128T Duo Jet

George played the Duo Jet from 1961 to 1963. It was in that period his main guitar, and he used the Duo Jet in the early Beatles years, performing mostly in the Cavern Club in Liverpool and in the Star-Club in Hamburg. Also his Gretsch Duo Jet can be heard on the first Beatles album, "Please please me".

Although George was crazy about his Duo Jet, he replaced and retired the guitar in 1963. George stayed loyal to Gretsch, performing on with the Country Gentleman 6122, brown Walnut finish, and the Tenessean. George gave the G6128T Duo Jet to his German friend Klaus Voormann, but about 20 years later Voormann returned the guitar to George Harrison.

The Gretsch G6128T-GH, George Harrison Tribute and Signature.

In 2011, 10 years after the dead of George Harrison, when Gretsch wanted to honour George with a tribute and a signature model, it had to be the first guitar he was so proud of, the Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T.

The G6128T-GH Tribute is an exact replica of  George's original Duo Jet, made in the Gretsch Custom Shop. Only 60 pieces are manufactured, set at a price of 20.000 USD! Every detail has been duplicated from the original guitar as Gretsch got George's Duo Jet from the UK for the project. I suppose some die hard fans must have been excited; all George Harrison Tributes have been sold.

George Harrison Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-GH

The G6128T-GH Signature can be found in the Gretsch Professional Collection, and can be recognized by the George Harrison signature on the truss rod, set at a price of 5.000 USD.

 

George Harrison Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-GH headstock



George Harrison Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-GH body

Some nice information, including a video about the making of the G6128T-GH Tribute, and all specifications about the George Harrison Duo jet Tribute and Signature can be found on the Gretsch website.
These guitars surely share some wonderful history, and as all signature models, also the ones build by others, they attract the real fans; and there you pay the price.

The ol' black Gretsch Video

Some nice detailed shots of George Harrisons's original ol' black Gretsch. From this original Duo Jet, every detail has been duplicated to create the George Harrison Duo Jet G6128-GH Tribute.