Gretsch Custom Shop USA release the G6131MY-CS Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet. The long-awaited new signature guitar is based on Young’s 1963 Jet Firebird – nicknamed “The Beast” – and is limited to 40 pieces worldwide. In development since 2008, the Gretsch Custom Shop team have painstakingly recreated all the details of his battle-scarred axe, including the stripped paint job, missing pickups and heavy relic damage…
The man many regard as rock’s finest rhythm guitarist, AC/DC’s Malcolm Young, has been honoured with a limited edition Gretsch Custom Shop signature model, dubbed the Salute Jet.
the Gretsch G6131MY-CS Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet has a double-cutaway chambered Mahogany body with a Maple top, white binding and heavy relic natural lacquer finish. The Mahogany set neck has a solid-feeling “U” profile, with white binding and heavy relic lacquer finish, topped by a 12”-radius Ebony fingerboard with a bone nut, 23 medium jumbo frets (including zero fret), and pearloid Neo-Classic “thumbnail” inlays.
A single TV Jones TV Classic pickup at the bridge delivers that unmistakable sound, wired up with three “G-arrow” control knobs (pickup volume, master volume and master tone). Other premium features include a Space-Control™ bridge with Ebony base, ’60s-style Jet tailpiece, nickel/gold hardware and Schaller® tuners.
Malcolm Young, we salute you. At long last, Gretsch honors the guitarist whose rock-solid rhythm guitar swagger and songwriting provided the unshakeable foundation for Australia’s most beloved musical export, AC/DC, for more than 40 years. The G6131MY-CS Custom Shop Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet™ pays faithful homage to Young’s famously battle-hardened instrument, which began life in 1963 as a red Gretsch Jet Firebird handed down to him by Harry Vanda and elder brother George Young (of Easybeats fame) and nicknamed “The Beast.” Malcolm certainly made the instrument his own, not least by removing two of the three pickups, stripping away the finish, and pounding out some of the hardest rocking rhythm guitar ever heard in either hemisphere.
The G6131MY-CS Custom Shop Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet is a meticulously crafted Gretsch Custom Shop recreation accurate down to every last nick, scratch and dent acquired over Young’s long and raucously illustrious career.
- Series: Gretsch® USA Custom Shop
- Family: Jet
- Build: Solid
- Body: Mahogany
- Body Shape: Jet™
- Bracing: Chambered
- Body Binding: White
- Body Top: Laminated Maple
- Body Depth: 2″ (51mm)
- Pickguard: None
- Neck Material: Mahogany
- Neck Finish: Heavy Relic® Lacquer
- Neck Shape: Standard “U”
- Neck Binding: White
- Scale Length: 24.6″ (625 mm)
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Fingerboard Radius: 12″ (305 mm)
- Number of Frets: 22 (Plus Zero Fret)
- Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
- Nut: Bone
- Nut Width: 1.6875″ (42.86 mm)
- Position Inlays: Neo-Classic™ “Thumbnail”
- Neck Plate: NA
- Number of Pickups: 1
- Bridge Pickup: TV Jones® Classic
- Pickup Configuration: S
- Controls: Volume 1. (Bridge Pickup), Master Volume, Master Tone
- Pickup Switching: None
- Bridge: Space Control™ with Ebony Base
- Tuning Machines: Schaller Die-Cast
- Control Knobs: G-Arrow
- Color: Natural
- Country manufactured: USA
- Orientation: Right-Hand
- Strings: NPS, Gauges .012-.056