The Gretsch Vintage Select 89 Jet has landed – and you have three finishes to choose from, all pretty sweet
The iconic singlecut returns and has never looked so good
Having made the announcement at the NAMM 2021 that never was, Gretsch has officially released the Vintage Select 89 Jet. One of the coolest electric guitar designs from one of the coolest brands, the solid-body singlecut is forever associated with the late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.
This late 80s Gretsch design follows a classic recipe, with a chambered singlecut mahogany body and maple set neck, Bigsby B3 vibrato and Adjusto-Matic bridge, and the pearloid Hump Block inlay and silver Plexi 'guards.
Immortalised by Cornell in the Black Hole Sun video, the Vintage Select 89 Jet has a pair of TV Jones Filter’Tron replicas at the neck and bridge, with a nice and tweakable control circuit, comprising a master volume with treble bleed circuit, master tone, plus individual pickup volume controls and a three-position toggle for selecting your pickup.
The period-correct headstock is emblazoned with the Gretsch logo and horseshoe inlay. Feel-wise, the Vintage Select 89 Jet would make a good option for those who favour Les Paul-esque proportions.
It might be lighter, but it too shares a 12" radius fingerboard, and the Standard U neck profile has a little more meet on the bones than the Thin U profiles you might find on the super-fun Electromatic Jet. The scale length is 24.6".
This premium spec is topped off with a bone nut, nickel hardware, and die-cast Gotoh tuners.
The Vintage Select 89 Jet is available in Black, Silver Sparkle and Gold Sparkle and it'll cost you £2,549 / $2,599 street. Hard case included.
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See Gretsch for more details.
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
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