The Electromatic range is designed to put killer looking guitars into the hands of players that wouldn’t normally be able to afford a Gretsch. The range includes a 6120-style semi-acoustic for budget conscious rockabilly fans, and a sparkly double-neck guitar.

The Pro Jet takes its inspiration from one of the coolest guitars ever made, the Duo Jet. Launched in the ‘50s the Duo Jet has become an ultra-desirable classic thanks to Beatle George Harrison who played one on the band’s brilliant 1963 debut album Please Please Me.

Original Duo Jets will cost you both arms and legs and even a Japanese re-issue will relieve you of over a grand. So considering the price it’s amazing to find that Gretsch has stayed pretty faithful to the construction of the original Duo Jet.

Verdict

The mahogany and maple body is just like the real deal and the Pro Jet has a glued neck, which is great to see at less than 400 quid. The only area we can see room for improvement is in the pickups. They do their job well, but we want a guitar that looks this cool to blow us away when we plug in. The Pro Jet is more chunky Les Paul tone than the ‘50s rockabilly bite we expected.

That aside we’re with The Beatles on this one. Do we like the Pro Jet? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

4 Stars

Pros: Looks super cool.
Cons: Pickups need more bite.

Buy: Gretsch Electromatic Pro Jet is currently available from Thomann