Gretsch Custom Shop Masterbuilt Stephen Stern 1959 Duo Jet NOS Olympic White

Gretsch Custom Shop Masterbuilt Stephen Stern G6128CS 1959 Duo Jet NOS Olympic White

The Gretsch Custom Shop is where the time-honored legacy reaches its creative apex. No instruments epitomize the extraordinary expertise and attention to detail of Gretsch’s most trusted hands like Custom Shop instruments. From modern versions of legendary Gretsch instruments to artist tribute models and specially requested one-off guitars, the Gretsch Custom Shop takes “That Great Gretsch Sound” to an entirely new plane, but also preserves and perfects it.

Truetone Music is proud to have a long and close relationship with Gretsch, especially with the Custom Shop.  Every year, we make a pilgrimage there to sit down with Masterbuilder Stephen Stern and his team to cook up a batch of Custom Shop guitars.  Sometimes we go for vintage-styled recreations, sometimes we go for modernized tweaks.  Sometimes it's a classic color, sometimes it's a totally new color or even reclaimed wood.  Either way, they always knock it out of the park!

This G6128CS 1959 Duo Jet is a a result of this partnership.  A slightly reinvisioned recreation of the Duo Jet, it has the classic Gretsch sound and feel, perfected by Stephen Stern.  From TV Jones Classic pickups to the Bigsby B3C Vibrato, it will be familiar to any Gretsch fan.  It has a chambered mahogany body, reducing the weight - this one comes in at 7.9 lbs, quite light for a Duo Jet.  We chose the NOS finish package, to give it a "fresh off the line" look - there is no aging on this one.  The neck is a very comfortable C shape (standard on Duo Jets).

We also went with the Tru Arc bridge, which is radiused to match the fretboard of the guitar.  This enhances playability (and allows for lower action, if you're a close-to-the-frets kind of picker), as well as a slight improvement to intonation. The Tru-Arc has a more pronounced radius than the standard Gretsch bridge. It's also heavier, which increases tone and sustain.  Typically, you'll see brass Tru-Arc bridges, but for this guitar we went for stainless steel at Stern's suggestion - not only does it match the rest of the hardware better, but it also has a full, even and smooth hi-fi response, with max sustain.

We put together a run of Duo Jets with Stephen Stern, in various versions, and this is the first to arrive.  As always, he nailed it!  Come to Truetone Music to experience it in person, or make it yours right here.

MODEL #: 9252003858
SERIAL # UC21072180
WEIGHT: 7.9 lbs

AGING TYPE: NOS (New Old Stock)