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The Duo Jet was first introduced in 1953,[1] after the success of the Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. A key difference between the two was that the Duo Jet was a semi-solid body with routed channels and internal pockets instead of a solid body.[1][2]
It is believed that the name Duo Jet was inspired by the fact that the guitar has two pickups (Duo) and by the advanced aircraft of the time (Jet). This was the first Gretsch guitar to feature a truss rod accessible through the headstock, a pickup selection switch on the body, and a master volume on the cutaway.[1]
As is common with electric guitars, the body of the 6128 Duo Jet is made of wood,[3][4] in this case chambered mahogany. The guitar shares its dual pickup, single cutaway design with the Gibson Les Paul, but the Duo Jet takes differing approaches to shaping the instrument’s tonality and has been made available in various configurations.[5][6]
The tone switch versions of the Duo Jet come equipped with Gretsch's own Filtertron humbucker pickup made popular by country music guitarist Chet Atkins, and are still in demand to this day.
Notable players of this version include Pete Townsend who used it on early Quadrophenia era gigs in the UK,[7] and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden.[8]Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd owned a 1950s Duo Jet which he described as quite hard to play but he did use it on some of his early work and then again later in his career.[9]
G6128T-DS – Bigsby and Dynasonic pickups, Rosewood fingerboard, originally based on 1957 version, currently based on 1955 version
G6128-DS – Dynasonic pickups, no bigsby, Rosewood fingerboard
G6128T-DCM – Bigsby and Filtertron pickups, Double Cut-away, Dark Cherry Metallic, Ebony Fretboard
G6128-1962 – Double cutaway version of the Duo Jet, equipped with Bigsby and Filtertron pickups
G6128T59 – Bigsby and TV Jones classic pickups (Vintage Select '59 Duo Jet edition)
G6128TCG – Bigsby and Dynasonic pickups, in a Cadillac Green finish with Gold hardware
G6128TVP – aka the "Power Jet" Pickups are upgraded to TV Jones Power'Trons
G6128T-TVP – Bigsby equipped version of the Power Jet
G6128T 6 12 – Double-necked six- and twelve-string guitar with 4 Filtertron pickups.
G6128T-GH – Custom shop and standard versions of George Harrison's Duo Jet. The custom shop version is designed and built to appear like George Harrison's original appears today. Standard version has the color scheme of Harrison's guitar and features his signature on truss-rod cover. Both versions include all black body and moved bottom strap pin.
G6128T-CLFG - Cliff Gallup Signature Duo Jet. Cliff Gallup kept his guitar stock, so this version is essentially a custom shop replica of a '54 Duo Jet.[10]
G6128B - "Thunder Jet" bass version with TV Jones Thunder'Tron pickups
G6129 – topped with silver sparkle drum material. Same features as the standard G6128 Duo Jet
G6129T – equipped with Bigsby
G6129-1957 – Rosewood finger board, Dynasonic pickups, and no Bigsby
G6219T-1957 – Rosewood finger board, Dyansonic pickups, with Bigsby
G6219T-1962 – Double cutaway version, with Bigsby and Filtertrons
"Round Up"
G6130 – Orange stain, leather bound with western motif carved into the leather, G Branded body, Dynasonic pickups, gold hardware, Rosewood fretboard, no Bigsby
"Jet Firebird"
G6131 – Duo Jet in Fire Red finish, with Filtertrons, no Bigsby
G6131T – Fire Red, with Bigsby and Filtertron pickups
G6131TVP – "Power Jet" version with TV Jones Power'Tron pickups, pinned bridge, Schaller strap locks
G6131T-TVP – "Power Jet" version with TV Jones Power'Tron pickups, pinned bridge, Sperzel locking tuners, Schaller strap locks, and a Bigsby tailpiece
