Gretsch previewed its luxurious Michael Guy Chislett Signature Falcon electric guitar last summer, and now that model – the fully-hollow G6136T-MGC Michael Guy Chislett Signature Falcon with Bigsby – has been officially unveiled.
The new collaboration with the Australian musician, who is a founding member of Hillsong United and has also played with Butch Walker, The Academy Is..., Pete Yorn, Pistol Youth and Good Charlotte, boasts a solid Sitka spruce top with bound F-holes, vintage 1959-style trestle bracing and laminated maple back and sides.
There’s also a semi-gloss U-shape maple neck and 12”-radius ebony fingerboard with pearloid Big Block inlays and 22 medium jumbo frets.
Pickups, meanwhile, are a pair of TV Jones TV Classics, controlled via a three-way toggle switch, individual pickup volume knobs, and master tone and master volume with treble bleed circuit featuring “Squeezebox” paper-in-oil capacitors.
Other features include a Bigsby B6GP vibrato tailpiece with pinned ebony base, bone nut and Grover Imperial locking tuners.
Said Chislettt, “I reached out to the guys because I felt like there wasn’t a White Falcon that resembled the one I played. To have them offer to make me a new one was pretty exciting in itself. I grew up idolizing Brian Setzer – I even have a tattoo – and guys like George Harrison. I never would have even dreamed of having a signature model; it is pretty crazy to me still, and I am just incredibly honored.”
Added Gretsch VP Jason Barnes, “Michael was looking for a big, vibrant sound that would give him that famous Gretsch clean while also giving him the ability to drive his tone pretty hard without a lot of feedback. With our 1959 trestle bracing and spruce top combination, you get a full and harmonically rich tone that stays very defined and articulate no matter what level of gain you use."
The G6136T-MGC Michael Guy Chislett Signature Falcon with Bigsby is finished in Vintage White gloss lacquer with gold sparkle binding, gold pickguard and gold hardware, and is offered for $3,799.
For more information, head to Gretsch Guitars.