Gretsch G6129 Silver Sparkle Jet, 1989 / *No Longer Available*

Always tasteful and visually restrained, the Gretsch G6129 Silver Sparkle Jet first appeared in 1954 as an answer to the Les Paul model. While there are some immediately apparent visual similarities – the single cutaway body of Mahogany with a Maple cap – underneath there were significant differences.

From 1954, the original Gretsch Jet models started with a Maple body, routed to provide a number of chambers for resonance and weight relief. The top Maple cap is laminate, and was always given a solid colour finish or covered with Gretsch sparkle drum plastic, the same kind of thing as used for gold sparkle binding on the Falcon models.

The bridge is mounted on an Ebony or Rosewood base in the traditional Archtop style, and for tailpieces either a ‘trapeze’ type unit or a Bigsby was installed. In 1959, a zero fret appeared in front of the nut. Until 1957 when the freshly designed hum-cancelling Filter ‘Tron pickups became available, DeArmond DynaSonics were installed, with a single pickup selector, individual volumes and master tone, and a master volume.

The Sparkle finishes were discontinued in 1966, as Gretsch was sold to Baldwin. By the early 1980’s, Baldwin was collapsing and Gretsch production ended. In 1984, Fred W Gretsch and his wife Dinah were able to recover the Gretsch name and rights from Baldwin and began re-constructing the product line. In 2002, Gretsch partnered with Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, with FMIC providing exclusive sales and marketing support. This has been a very successful partnership.

Here we’re looking at a Gretsch G6129 Silver Sparkle Jet, built during 1989 by Terada in Nagoya, Japan, as all of the modern pro-line Gretsch models are. This example is in good condition, and illustrates a number of the changes that have taken place since 1984. Unlike the original chambered models, this 1989 G6129 is fully solid. Its headstock shape draws from the Baldwin era. The serial number is on the control cavity cover rather than on a label or impressed on the back of the headstock. Like the originals, the pickguard is a piece of Plexiglas type material, with the Gretsch logo and a silver finish applied from the rear. The Gretsch-branded tuners are original.

The body is solid Mahogany with a thin Maple laminate cap, covered with silver sparkle drum plastic; the neck is of three pieces, two Mahogany sections with a thin Walnut spacer between them. A bound Indian Rosewood fingerboard with acrylic ‘hump-block’ position markers. The bridge base is Ebony, and originally carried a Space Control bridge, though this has been replaced by a Schaller roller tune-o-matic style part. The original non-trem ‘hardtail’ tailpiece has been replaced with a Bigsby B-12, a dual-roller model. The pickups are the original Filter ‘Tron models, with the DeArmond style wiring. The finish is original, and there is some buckle-rash type wear to the back of the body.

This Gretsch G6129 Silver Sparkle Jet is sold with its original hard shell case. It plays well and cleanly. This is a visually unmistakable guitar!