Billy F. Gibbons and Bo Diddley Team With Gretsch for "Billy-Bo" Guitar!
One of the great things about being a guitar hero, and there are many, is the ability to have major guitar makers build custom guitars for you — and one of the things that set founding father of Rock and Roll, Bo Diddley, apart from the rest (aside from the Bo Diddley Beat), is the custom guitars that he designed in 1959 for his band. That's how the Jupiter Thunderbird came into being. It was one of the three custom-made electric guitars that Gretsch built for the man who was there at the beginning of rock 'n' roll. The original Jupiter Thunderbird was given as a gift to ZZ Top guitar player, Billy F. Gibbons, by Bo himself. For the new version, Billy and Gretsch flipped the design upside down, which makes the headstock backward! Grab yours from Sweetwater today!
Chambered Mahogany Body
The result of this "science project gone wrong" features a heavily chambered mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck, ultra-thin laminate maple top, TV Jones Power'Tron (neck) and Power'Tron "Plus" (bridge) pickups, pinned Adjusto-matic bridge, Schaller Straplocks, and enough vibe to make space aliens dance the alligator.
Originally Designed by Bo Diddley, Built By Gretsch
How did the Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird "Billie-Bo" guitar come into being? Rock luminaries Billy F. Gibbons and Bo Diddley joined forces to bring you a 21st century version of the Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird, now dubbed the "Billy-Bo." The new Gretsch "Billy-Bo" Jupiter Thunderbird highlights Bo's original futuristic design with Billy's added ingredients for a steaming hot helping of dirty rotten Rock 'n' Roll — but let Billy F. Gibbons tell you in his own words: "Some time ago, Bo gave me the guitar as a gift. It was during the recent ZZ Top recordings when the engineering crew and I snaked through the guitar vault searching for that 'certain-something' guitar and there it was! We didn't risk subjecting such a rare instrument to the rigors of the road so this new, reproduction model was re-created with some BFG Mojo thrown in for good measure. It's now the main stage guitar with a groove."
Gretsch G6199 "Billy-Bo" Jupiter Thunderbird Electric Guitar Features:
- Laminated maple top with a mahogany body in Gretsch’s retro-futuristic Billy-Bo shape
- Classic 24.6 Gretsch scale length provides a slinky feel with effortless bends
- Sturdy mahogany neck topped with a beautiful rosewood fingerboard
- Vintage Small frets provide a fast feel and old-school flair
- Flat 12-inch radius for a comfortable feel and high-performance playability up and down the neck
- Dual TV Jones Power’Tron pickups produce a slightly hotter, more powerful take on the hi-fi Filter’tron bite
- Adjusto-matic bridge with pinned rosewood base keeps your bridge firmly in place and offers improved intonation over a traditional bar bridge
- Vintage-style Gretsch G-cutout tailpiece
- Built-in Schaller straplocks keep your strap firmly in place during energetic performances
