From the ashes of Swart rises a Gretsch

The Swart AST Pro reviewed earlier on these pages, while quite a cool amp in its own right, ultimately proved unworthy of long term investment, so I swapped it for this 1957 Reissue Gretsch Duo Jet. It's a guitar that should look very familiar to any Beatles fanatics in the crowd (this one's for you, Jim!).

I've now had a couple of opportunities to spend some time with the Duo Jet since it arrived on Tuesday, including a lengthy session last night. Tonally, the Duo falls somewhere in the middle of a triangle formed by a Telecaster, Rickenbacker and Danelectroo. It's a bright guitar, but not exceedingly so. The high end doesn't overwhelm like a Tele or Dano can, especially through a bright amp (like my Tone King Meteor). I don't get the Les Paul comparisons aside from the general body shape, but the '57RI is equipped with Dynasonics (single coils) as opposed to Filtertrons (humbuckers) so maybe that has something to do with it.

The Dyna's are pretty low output p/u's, too much so for my taste as currently set up. I like to work the volume control a lot and find that I need some sort of boost engaged when rolling back to maintain output. I've done a little research online and it seems the pole pieces on mine might be set a little high. Apparently, Dyna's actually sound fuller and richer with the pole pieces set quite low. I may also slap a set of manly .011's on the guitar for a little more oomph, and that should also raise the action a tad which is slightly on the low side of what I prefer as is. Speaking of strings, the guitar was shipped with way too much slack in the existing set. As a result, I've had a devil of a time getting, and keeping, the guitar in tune.

Those niggles aside, the Jet plays like a dream. The neck is comfy, and the guitar is very light and well balanced so it feels really good hanging around your shoulder. The Bigsby is super smooth and sounds great, however you have to be careful where you leave the bar because it can really get in the way of the volume and tone controls. It's an odd design choice, but I guess ergonomics weren't of primary concern in 1957. The Duo is also equipped with a master volume control situated on the lower horn, while the other controls are on the lower bout. Master aside, V/V/T is my favorite control config, it's just too bad it all wasn't more easily accessible but it's slowly becoming more familiar.

There are great tones to be found in all three pickup positions but, like a Ric or Dano, the middle really seems to be where it's at. Clean tones are borderline spectacular (higher output would take it the rest of the way) with plenty of that characteristic Gretsch twang - perfect for snappy Southern Culture on the Skids licks. Dirty tones take a little more effort to dial in, but the Jet is certainly capable. Though I'm most comfortable in alt.country boots, I was able to cop some very credible Kills and Black Keys tones with the right pedals engaged.

At this early stage, the Duo Jet shows promise, but the jury remains out. If I can squeeze a little more output from the Dyna's, it could well slide into the #2 position behind my Bluesboy - a slot I've been looking to fill for some time. It's light, toneful, plays great, and looks drop dead cool - perfectly suited to the ethos of the music I play.