For most of his career, Elliot Easton was a closet Gretsch fan. He was usually seen with some other brand, and even had a signature Kramer model back in the '80s.
But like so many kids who grew up wowed by George Harrison's Country Gentleman on the Ed Sullivan show, Gretsch would always be a sort of first love for Elliot. When Elliot started dreaming up his own dream guitar — a guitar that could twang and growl with equal aplomb — he contacted Fred Gretsch and found a receptive audience.
In Elliot's own words:
All the changes that I made to a standard Jet to create my signature model were done to come up with a more solid feel, better sustain and greater tuning stability. The longer scale is also important in that the string is under more tension, so naturally the bottom end will be tighter and twangier, and all the strings will have a less floppy feel, allowing for the use of a lighter gauge of strings.
The sum total result of all these changes is a Gretsch guitar that is extremely versatile, requiring no compromise for playing all styles of music. Plugged into a Bassman with some slapback echo, you've got a guitar with all the sweet, thumpy vibe of any fine Gretsch. Plugged into a 100 Watt halfstack with a Tubescreamer kicked in, you've got a guitar that will sing with the best Paul and go toe-to-toe with anything else out there.
Cadillac Green
Mahogany
Cherry Red
— Dec 23, 2006 1:39 p.m.
— Jul 30, 2007 6:13 a.m.
— Oct 26, 2007 6:56 a.m.