1964 Gretsch Astro Jet

SOLD

Remember George Jetson, from “The Jetsons”? This is his guitar. Well, not really, but could’ve been. This is probably one of the rarest and most underrated monster-sounding Gretsch guitars ever made.

The Gretsch Astro Jet. One of those unexplainable flops from the ‘60s that have become quite collectable today, and are becoming more sought after every year. This is an original crazy idea by pioneer tap guitar master Jimmie Webster when he was asked to go space-age on a new guitar design.

So there you have it, the Astro Jet. Think of an SG on acid. This instant flop only lived from 1964 until probably early 68, and very few units were ever produced. Funny enough, this is actually a high-end guitar, with a solid mahogany body and bound ebony fretboard.

The vibrato is made by Burns (Burns vibratos are among the best ever made in my opinion) and incredibly precise, simple and responsive. Pretty impressive, to say the least. What were you thinking, Bigsby?

The guitar features 3 control volumes (one for each pickup and a master), and three switches: one is a 3-position kill switch (hmmm, okay), a three-way pickup selector, and a three-way tone selector (yes, no tone knob, but “heavy bass”, “mid bass”, and “treble” positions).

But the most surprising thing about this guitar is not the amoeba-shaped headstock, but the amazing sound. Definitely has got “that Gretsch sound”, don’t know if it’s due to the Super Trons, but there’s also something really nice about it. Very aggresive and easy to squeeze all the juice out of.

The guitar appears to be absolutely 100% original, and I don’t think anyone had ever removed the pickguard before we did. Yes, it has its average wear, but nothing out of normality after over 50 years of playwear and still holds in excellent condition.

Most of these Astro Jets had a metal plate with the model and serial number engraved on it, and later switched to stamping the serial in the back of the headstock around early 1967. But this one is a VERY rare bird, since it’s an early production guitar, with no metal neckplate OR serial on the back of the neck. It rather has a plastic BLACK plate, which is the first one we’ve actually seen. Even though we had heard of their existence, we honestly believed them to be a myth. Until now, of course! How cool is that? The black plates were used temporarily until the metal ones were delivered, and only a handful of the black-plate Astro Jets made it through production. The really early ones didn’t have a tension bar either, so this is the rarest of the rare!

The guitar comes with its lovely equally weird-shaped original hard case.

You won’t find anything rarer for a while, guaranteed! Oh, another guarantee: if this isn’t among the best-sounding Gretsches you’ve ever played, we’ll happily refund you fully, that’s how serious we’re about this one. :)