“It’s my love letter to that rhinestone-y and flashy era of country”: Gretsch unmasks a new signature guitar in collaboration with alt-country star Orville Peck
Gretsch has just announced alt-country star Orville Peck's first-ever signature guitar, the Limited Edition Orville Peck Falcon. With this new signature guitar, Gretsch promises to capture “Peck’s true iconoclast spirit with mid-century swagger.”
The headline spec here is that dazzling Oro Sparkle finish, which is complemented by a gold plexi pickguard and aged pearloid Humpblock fingerboard inlaid with western-themed artwork by Judith Rothman Pierce, one of Peck's go-to designers.
Construction-wise, the guitar features 2.5"-deep maple body with Gretsch "ML" bracing that aims to deliver “huge hollow body sound with exceptional clarity and acoustic nuance.”
Its 12"-radius streaked ebony fingerboard, with rolled edges and 22 medium jumbo frets, tops a 25.5"-scale maple neck with Gretsch’s U-shaped profile.
In a nod to contemporary players, the neck also features Luminlay side dots to make for easy fretting in low light.
When it comes to pickups, the Orville Peck Signature Falcon comes equipped with FT-67 Filter'Tron humbucker pickups. These were designed to emulate vintage Gretsch voicings, with a more well-rounded tone to fit the genre-fluidity of modern guitarists.
The Bigsby B6GP String-Thru vibrato tailpiece provides increased vibration transfer for enhanced sustain, while promising easier string changes.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
“It's my sort of love letter to that era of country which was sort of rhinestone-y and flashy during the 60s and 70s, and so that's kind of what I wanted to approach with this, but still keep the classic feel of the Falcon,” says Peck.
“The white Falcon is such a versatile, beautiful guitar, so we wanted to stay true to the original and keep the classic feel, whilst adding some pizzazz. I think whoever picks up the guitar will be able to show a little bit of themselves through it.”
In a 2020 interview with Guitar World, Peck revealed that the Gretsch White Falcon is his “favorite guitar on the planet. They [Gretsch] were very, very kind to give me one. And I’m terrified to take it on tour.
“It’s so funny, I take it into every hotel room. I mean, I won’t keep it on the bus. I’m so afraid someone’s going to steal it! So, that’s, like, my absolutely number-one precious thing.”
Priced at $3,999, the all-new Limited Edition Orville Peck Falcon is available now. For more information, visit Gretsch.
Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.
