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Gretsch G6128 George Harrison Tribute Custom Shop
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Liverpool's four boys in the wind are part of English music legend. Making history with their cuts, their hits and their revolutionary approach to music, the Fab Four soared up the charts and into history. Considered by many to be the greatest band of the 20th century, their instruments have become cult objects and are as famous as their bowl cut. Paul's Höfner bass violin, for example, is as mythical to connoisseurs as George's black Duo Jet. The exact replica of George Harrison's legendary guitar by Gretsch Custom Shop is available here at Matt's Guitar Shop. The most faithful guitar to the sound of English music's most famous hits is to discover at Matt's Guitar Shop!
With the G6128T-GH George Harrison Custom Tribute, the Gretsch Custom Shop presents an authentic and spectacular replica of George Harrison's legendary Duo Jet. This guitar occupies a fundamental place in the history of George Harrison, let alone the Beatles. The musician bought it in the summer of 1961 from Ivan Hayward, a Liverpool cab driver and former Merchant Navy sailor who had bought the guitar new in 1957 in New York and had a Bigsby installed for it. Guitars from the USA were rare at the time, and the young musician saw this as a great opportunity to get closer to American innovations. Offered for sale at £90, Harrison paid £70 to Hayward, writing an IOU for the remaining £20 on the back of the instrument's customs slip. George Harrison was very fond of his Duo Jet, which he considered his first really good guitar. As such, it occupies a very special place in the history of the Beatles and rock music. Played between summer 1961 and spring 1963, the Duo Jet is the guitar of this seminal period for the Beatles. It covered the group's meteoric rise, from regional popularity in Liverpool to rock'n'roll apprenticeship in Hamburg clubs, right through to Beatlemania madness. As such, he can be heard on many early Beatles recordings, and decades later on his acclaimed 1987 solo album "Could Nine", with whom he poses for the cover.
This Duo Jet guitar was the first quality guitar purchased by George Harrison. He has confided on numerous occasions his deep attachment to the instrument, stating in particular that it was second-hand and that he polished it. Harrison had bought a top-quality American guitar, no mean feat for an 18-year-old living in Liverpool in 1961. Logically, it became his main guitar. In addition to the many formative concerts at the Cavern, the Duo Jet accompanied George Harrison on several visits to Hamburg in 1962, where the band perfected its stage techniques and broadened its reputation. But it was mainly on the Beatles' first recording sessions at London's Abbey Road studios, on June 6, 1962, and on subsequent sessions through 1963, that the guitar recorded the Beatles' first singles: "Please Please Me", as well as the famous "Love Me Do", "P.S. I Love You" and "I Saw Her Standing There". In 1987, after the release of his album "Cloud Nine", George Harrison turned to his good old black Gretsch for the album cover. It shows him posing with his precious guitar, decades after "Twist and Shout".
This limited-edition G6128T-GH George Harrison Tribute is a spectacular and meticulous replica of George Harrison's precious original Duo Jet. Limited to 60 units worldwide, it is the most perfect copy of the "good old Gretsch" so cherished by the English musician. It comes from the Gretsch Custom Shop and was supervised by their master builder Stephen Stern. The result is a stunningly realistic guitar with the wear and patina of George Harrison's playing days, taking players back to the heady days of the early Beatles. From the markings on the back to the patina on the fingerboard, this Duo Jet is a true likeness of the English master's guitar. After an in-depth analysis of the original instrument, the Gretsch Custom Shop was able to unravel its mysteries and reproduce it down to the smallest detail (from the exact profile of the neck to the pickups, traces of wear and the patina of time). It's a true collector's item that invites you to play Beatles classics, with dynamic attack and clear highs. The guitar comes with a set of accessories to enhance the magic of the instrument: there are previously unpublished photos of George Harrison and the guitar, as well as a personal pick from the English guitarist, a facsimile of the 1961 guitar invoice and his memoirs, "I, Me, Mine". An absolute marvel for any Beatles fan!
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