Gretsch Jet Fire Bird Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1960), made in Brooklyn, NY, Oriental red top, black back and sides finish, mahogany body with maple cap, mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, original grey hard shell case.
This Gretsch Jet Firebird from 1960 has all the classic features of this year, the last full season of the original single-cutaway body style. The pickups are the new "Patent Applied for" Filter 'Tron humbucking units Gretsch had adopted in 1958, and many other features had been updated around the same time. These include the "thumbprint" Neo-Classic fingerboard inlay, "space control" roller bridge and new three knob, two-switch wiring rig. This configuration is specific to the "Jets" made from 1959-60, as in 1961 the body was altered to a double cutaway style.
The Gretsch Jet series were officially described as solidbodies but are actually chambered semi-solids, and were fairly popular into the late '50's. The sound falls rather in between the typical Gretsch hollowbody and a solid guitar, with a lot of bite but more airy quality than a Les Paul. The Jet Fire Bird carries a red-finished top on a black body and neck, and was the favored guitar of Bo Diddley before he had Gretsch adapt the model into his signature square guitar, which is basically the same except for the body. This early Filter'Tron Jet Fire Bird variant is fairly rare, produced in smaller numbers than either the earlier '50's models or the double-cutaway 1960's Jets.
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 in. (5.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.). An excellent player and a nicely original guitar; no alterations except the neck has been recently cleanly reset and a the frets have received a grind and polish. Clean overall; there is some finish wear mostly along the unbound back edges as is typical with this model. There is some light beginnings of binding deterioration in a few spots around the top edge, and some more noticeable loss to the binding on the treble side of the headstock. This is much less than many period Gretsch guitar are currently showing and the instrument is not affected in any functional way. Overall a nice example of this fairly rare Gretsch Jet variation. Excellent - Condition.
