![]() ![]() The high interest from sales representatives led Gretsch to rush the guitar into production, and the first White Falcons were sold in 1955, identified as the model 6136. ![]() Neil Young, playing a Gretsch White Falcon on June 20, 2009 It was supposed to be a showpiece, much like GM's Motorama "Dream Cars" of the day. It was displayed as "the guitar of the future," but Gretsch initially had no plans to manufacture the model. ![]() The White Falcon was unveiled at the NAMM show in July 1954. Many of Gretsch's drums were covered with thick sparkly gold plastic that could also be used as binding on guitars. From the banjo production line, Webster recalled the engraved pearl inlays that adorned the fretboard and headstock. He wanted a "Dream Guitar," and gained his inspiration by walking through the Gretsch factory watching the construction of the many diverse musical instruments the company produced. In early 1954, Jimmie Webster sought to design a guitar to improve upon the Gibson Super 400. The White Falcon's distinctive appearance is owed to its 17-inch size (white, with gold-sparkle pickguard featuring an engraved falcon) and its hardware: Jimmie Webster's 1954 version had triple binding, gold-plated hardware, an ebony fretboard with mother-of-pearl inlays, and an eye-catching "Cadillac G" tailpiece. As of 2013, Gretsch offers a number of guitars in its "Falcon" series, including a custom-built replica of the original, which is priced in the US at $12,000 (approximately £8300). Since then, it has undergone various changes and is still being made today. The guitar was so popular that it was put into production and went on sale the following year. This guitar was created as a "showpiece" to exhibit the craft of Gretsch's luthiers, sales, and demonstration representative, Jimmie Webster, who created it for the 1954 NAMM Show. The Gretsch White Falcon is an electric hollow-body guitar introduced in 1954 by Gretsch. Two Dynasonic Single-coil Pickups (1954–1958) two FilterTron Humbuckers (1958–Present)/3-position toggle Gretsch White Falconġ7" wide, solid spruce archtop, laminated maple back and sides with gold sparkle-white-black-white layered binding, f-holesĮbony with pearl inlay and gold sparkle-white-black-white layered bindings 25½" scaleĮbony-based "Space Control" roller bridge (since 1958) It comes in its original Gretsch snowflake case."White falcon" redirects here. The pictures tell the story so please don’t hesitate to contact with any questions. Now priced as a refinish which represents fantastic value for a 50’s Falcon. ![]() It has its correct for 1958 tall post space control bridge and ruby dialled gold control knobs. The gold plate throughout the guitar is in exceptional condition and the guitar is equipped with a later Gretsch gold B6 Bigsby vibrato. However there is evidence that the guitar was perhaps at one time painted cadillac green with green residue found on the wiring harness and spots on the label itself. As these guitars are so individual and this one is so clean i’m inclined to think it could be original. However looking at the video of the 1957 Namm show at 11 minutes 42 seconds in Jimmy Webster can clearly be seen playing a Falcon with white binding on the neck. The sparkle binding is in generally good shape with some cracks to it as is common with these, both sides of the neck are in plain white binding which at first i thought had been replaced. This one has a 2 5/8 inch body depth for the 1958 model year and is heavy trestle braced which gives it a firm class feel for the large 17 inch body width. Each one of the 300 viewed as a one off guitar’s with variations throughout. With maybe less than 300 single cut White Falcons made 1955-1960 this is perhaps the rarest production guitar of them all. ![]()
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