1958 Silver Jet
Dan Orkin of Reverb.com gives the inside track on what you need to look for when getting your hands on a spangled Gretsch
In 1953, Gretsch introduced its entry into the nascent solidbody guitar market with the now iconic black Duo-Jet (model number 6128). In 1955, the New York factory expanded the line with a handful of variants including the deep-red Fire Bird (6131), the honky-tonk orange Round-Up (6130), and the focus of our attention today, the Silver Jet (6129).
The Silver Jet, with its glistening sparkle finish, holds a special place for vintage guitar collectors and fans, and stands out as one of the truly unique Gretsch designs of this era.
For all of these Gretsch solidbodies (and really all Gretsch guitars), 1958 was a crucial year. While Gretsch was also updating and evolving its designs, 1958 saw the introduction of the famous Filter’Tron pickups to replace the earlier DeArmonds, as well as the first use of an updated “roller bridge” design on top of some other small layout tweaks.
The confluence of these changes makes the 1958 Silver Jet a particularly intriguing model year, and one that collectors will often seek out specifically.
Pristine Pricing
The current price range for original 1958 Gretsch Silver Jets comes in at around £3,400 to £4,400. One very pristine example sold this year on Reverb in the US for $5,800 while a few less pristine examples sold in the $4,000 range. These sales were from private sellers and individuals, and guitars offered from established retail shops will command slightly higher prices.
Interestingly, while the 1958 Silver Jet with it’s Filter’tron pickups is a very highly regarded model year, it seems that the inaugural 1955 Silver Jet has realised higher prices of late. Additionally, we’ve seen some 60s double cutaway examples sell for higher than the 58s. These later Silver Jets were technically special-ordered Duo-Jets and are therefore exceptionally rare.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
Unlike most Fender and Gibson classics, there aren’t a lot modern boutique brands building guitars using Gretsch designs as the template. At least on an aesthetic level, some builds by luthier Saul Koll resemble 50s Gretsches, as do guitars from MotorAve, which are played by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures fame.
Luckily for those looking for a modern iteration of the Silver or Duo-Jet design, Gretsch itself has been offering outstanding Japanese-built reissues and modern models since 1989. Gretsch’s main factory currently offers a standard Silver Jet as well as ‘57 and ‘59 reissue models, while the Gretsch Custom Shop makes painstaking accurate recreations of vintage originals.
On the lower-end of the range sits the Electromatic series Pro-Jet, in which comes silver sparkle as well as a range of other distinct finishes. While not a Silver Jet, the modern George Harrison tribute Duo-Jet model is an especially wellregarded Gretsch guitar that remains in high demand on the used market.