Gretsch initially ignored Leo Fender’s solid guitars of 1950, but when Gibson jumped into the market with the Les Paul Model in 1952, Gretsch followed quickly with it’s first solidbody.

The Duo Jet of 1953 had a similar body to the Gibson, but it’s extra layers of body binding and it’s bound peghead gave it an extra level of ornamentation, and the black finish added a degree of elegance. It was probably no coincidence that when Gibson came with a fancier Les Paul at the end of 1953, it sported a black finish.

This 1957 Duo Jet was the first American-made guitar owned by George Harrison. He bought it in 1961 from a newspaper ad. It certainly qualifies as a “Beatles guitar” from the group’s early years, but by the time the group took America by storm in 1964, Harrison was playing A Gretsch Chet Atkins model.

While it was all good for Gretsch, the Duo Jet did not fare as well as the Atkins model, and it went out of production in 1971.