Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Gretsch Limited Edition Jim Dandy Parlor Solid Top
Guitars Gretsch drops two limited edition Jim Dandy acoustics with solid spruce tops and off-the-charts mojo
EVH in 1986
Artists “He went into this trance state as he played”: A close encounter with the genius of Eddie Van Halen
Brent Mason
Guitarists “I thought, 'Well, now I have a Strat, a Les Paul, and a regular Tele all in one’”: How a top session player struck gold
This composite image features Charlie Starr playing a TV Yellow Les Paul Junior on the left, while Metallica's Kirk Hammett plays his Greeny Les Paul Standard, and James Hetfield plays his his ESP Snakebyte.
Artists Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr on that time he took Duane Allman’s '57 Goldtop to a Metallica show
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
Artists How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
Gretsch Broadkaster Jr LX Center Block with Bigsby
Guitars Gretsch’s unveils new MIJ high-end semi-hollows with redesigned bodies and Pro Twin Six humbuckers
Gretsch Limited Edition Streamliner 2025: three limited edition semi-hollow electric guitars are pictured against a bank of studio hardware.
Guitars Bigsby wobble, rock ’n’ roll mojo for $699? Gretsch unveils trio of limited run Streamliner models
  1. Artists
  2. Guitarists

Fred W Gretsch talks meeting Duane Eddy - with a little help from George Harrison

News
By Fred W Gretsch published 24 March 2016

Gretsch president on the story of Eddy's signature guitars

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

How a simple introduction by a Beatle 25 years ago led to two Gretsch signature models, and a long friendship with 'The King of Twang'

Back in 1991, my wife Dinah and I attended a music trade show in London with friends from the Hohner Company, Gretsch’s distribution partner in the UK at the time. Hohner had created an impressive display to showcase the new line of Gretsch guitars we had just introduced. They even commissioned an artist to paint a 40-foot mural featuring several Gretsch guitar players and the Traveling Wilburys band.

When we arrived in London, we reached out to George Harrison and suggested getting together, and he responded that he would like to see us while we were in town. We had gotten to know George several years earlier after Dinah sent him a thank-you note for featuring his vintage ’57 Gretsch Duo Jet on the cover of his Cloud Nine album.

Fred Gretsch in London, 1991

That led to a call from George thanking Dinah for the note, chatting about guitars, and inviting us to a recording session to see the vintage Gretsch guitars being used for the upcoming Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 album. George was also involved in helping design the Gretsch Traveling Wilburys electric guitar.

You can imagine how surprised we were when a member of the trade show’s management team came to the Gretsch booth to say George was at the front door of the exhibition hall asking to see us. Dinah and I literally ran to the front door and happily arranged credentials for George and two friends he had brought along: Jeff Lynne and Duane Eddy.

Page 1 of 3
Page 1 of 3
Fret, Duane and Chet

Fret, Duane and Chet

It was the first time I had met Duane, who, like George, was a fan of the sound and looks of Gretsch guitars. He shared the story of the Chet Atkins 6120 model guitar he had bought at Ziggie’s Music in Phoenix back in 1957. It was the guitar he used on all of his 'twangy' instrumental hits like Rebel Rouser, Forty Miles Of Bad Road and Peter Gunn, and he still performed and recorded with it 34 years later.

After meeting in London, I corresponded and stayed in touch with Duane for several years and shared my interest in offering a Gretsch Duane Eddy signature model. He was intrigued, met with me and our team at our Ridgeland, SC facility, and brought his original ’57 Gretsch along so we could measure and document the details of his iconic guitar.

In 1997, 40 years after purchasing his ’57 Chet Atkins 6120 guitar, Gretsch proudly introduced the G6120-DE Duane Eddy signature model. It was a reproduction of Duane’s famous ’57 6120 and was available in both a Western Orange finish and a cool-looking Ebony Burst finish that Duane suggested.

We kicked off the release of the new Duane Eddy 6120 at the 1997 Summer NAMM Show in Nashville. Gretsch sponsored a gala dinner that paid tribute to both Duane and guitar industry veteran and family friend, Ted McCarty.

With Mr McCarty getting the recognition he so rightfully deserved, and Duane and his band of Nashville session pros playing a rollicking hour-long set, it was a memorable night and one of the highlights of my 51-year career in the music business.

Duane with Ted McCarty in 1997

Page 2 of 3
Page 2 of 3
Updating Eddy

Updating Eddy

Today, Gretsch offers a second generation Duane Eddy signature model that is even closer to the sound and feel of the 6120 Duane purchased as a teenager nearly 60 years ago. So close, in fact, that Duane finally retired his ’57 6120 because he said his new signature model has the same sound and punch of his ’57 Gretsch, along with the slim-profiled neck he always liked on his original guitar.

Duane worked very closely with Gretsch Custom Shop Master Builder Stephen Stern and his team to both faithfully reproduce Duane’s legendary ’57 6120, and add some modern improvements like trestle bracing and a new Tru-Arc rocking bar bridge for more 'twang' and sustain. In Duane’s words, the current Duane Eddy model is the best of the old world and the new world.

Over the years, Duane and his wife, Deed, have become very dear friends to Dinah and me. We visit with them often and have seen him perform many times. He even performed at my Fiftieth Anniversary Bash in Brooklyn last year and appeared with me recently at a special event that kicked off the opening of the Bachman-Gretsch Collection Exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

The Eddys and Gretsches at the opening of the Bachman-Gretsch Collection Exhibit 2016

It’s always special to see Duane and enjoy his dry sense of humour, colourful stories, and, of course, his music. He is a true living legend and an original.

Duane’s twangy guitar instrumentals sold millions of records, influenced thousands of young guitarists (like George Harrison) - and helped sell a lot of Gretsch guitars. It’s hard to put a price tag on all of that. It’s even harder to put a price tag on a friendship that has lasted more than 25 years. Thank you again, George, for introducing me to Duane Eddy 'all those years ago'.

Page 3 of 3
Page 3 of 3
Categories
Guitars
Fred W Gretsch
Read more
Gretsch Limited Edition Jim Dandy Parlor Solid Top
Gretsch drops two limited edition Jim Dandy acoustics with solid spruce tops and off-the-charts mojo
EVH in 1986
“He went into this trance state as he played”: A close encounter with the genius of Eddie Van Halen
Brent Mason
“I thought, 'Well, now I have a Strat, a Les Paul, and a regular Tele all in one’”: How a top session player struck gold
This composite image features Charlie Starr playing a TV Yellow Les Paul Junior on the left, while Metallica's Kirk Hammett plays his Greeny Les Paul Standard, and James Hetfield plays his his ESP Snakebyte.
Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr on that time he took Duane Allman’s '57 Goldtop to a Metallica show
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
Gretsch Broadkaster Jr LX Center Block with Bigsby
Gretsch’s unveils new MIJ high-end semi-hollows with redesigned bodies and Pro Twin Six humbuckers
Latest in Guitarists
Kirk Hammett of Metallica wears a studded denim jacket as he plays live with his Mummy ESP signature guitar
“Guitars should be played”: Kirk Hammett has been anonymously selling his guitars online
Fender Jack White Collection
Jack White on why he rerecorded half of the guitars on No Name after he got his new Fender tube amp
Mark Speer of Khruangbin sits with his natural finish Fender Strat while Laura Lee holds her new signature Jazz Bass.
Fender unveils DiMarzio-loaded Strat and Jazz Bass for Khruangbin’s Mark Speer and Laura Lee
This composite image features Charlie Starr playing a TV Yellow Les Paul Junior on the left, while Metallica's Kirk Hammett plays his Greeny Les Paul Standard, and James Hetfield plays his his ESP Snakebyte.
Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr on that time he took Duane Allman’s '57 Goldtop to a Metallica show
Brent Mason performs at Guitar Town at Copper Mountain, Colorado on 29 July, 2007
“I said, ‘Damn, I wish I'd cut that song faster!’”: How a master guitarist made a cult classic instrumental album
Eric Clapton
The Grammy-winning hit that Eric Clapton wrote to order, with a little help from Foreigner’s Mick Jones
Latest in News
Gretsch Broadkaster Jr LX Center Block with Bigsby
Gretsch’s unveils new MIJ high-end semi-hollows with redesigned bodies and Pro Twin Six humbuckers
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter on her musical heroes, and why she decided to release a new album so soon... and Rush
Fred Armisen as George Ross, Amy Poehler as Carolyn Kepcher, Donald Trump during "The Apprentice Band" skit on April 3, 2004
“I could’ve been a flutist”: Donald Trump is claiming he has an aptitude for music
Jackson X and JS Series Surfcasters: the long-awaited offset electric guitar is now being offered in white, satin black and metallic black, and and at the entry-level JS price point and the mid-priced X Series.
“A bold new take on a classic metal machine”: Having ridden the wave of popular demand, Jackson’s Surfcaster offset has landed – and it’s built for speed
Line 6 Helix Stadium XL: The new flagship amp modeller and multi-effects unit is a dramatic expansion of the Helix framework with a suite of state-of-the-art features
Line 6 debuts all-new AI tech as it supercharges its amp modelling platform with the Helix Stadium
Benmont Tench and Rick Rubin
Tom Petty keyboard player Benmont Tench says that being produced by Rick Rubin was like solving a puzzle

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...