Gretsch to Make 59 Exact Replicas of Brian Setzer's 1959 Guitar

It looks like this is the day of the vintage as the next piece of news is about a tribute guitar. And if you happen to know one thing or two about guitars, the tribute guitars are replicas of the actual instrument of a great player and are to be built to look like the original: this includes dents, chips, scratched metal or plastics and so on.

This is the only way a guitar manufacturer can actually preserve the heritage of the original instrument: what fun could collectors get from a "replica" of a 40 year-old-guitar which looks like no one ever played on it?

Gretsch is one musical instruments brand in need of no introduction: they have been in the industry for such a long time that they actually are a part of history themselves. As big names go well together, Gretsch decided to honor Brian Setzer (guitar player of legendary band Stray Cats) and replicate his guitar. His guitar bought back in 1959, that is; now I guess you figured out the 59-piece limited series.

The replication process includes the dice knobs, the antiqued stickers Brian had put on his guitar and every dent and crack in the covering varnish. Imagine how does a lacquered surface look as it is tens of years old and worn out; OK, so it looks pretty messed up, doesn't it? Well, now try and imagine what kind of work must be involved in making 59 more guitars look like this...

The axe comes in a relic-ed case matching its "age" and inside it, the owner will find other vintage, cool stuff like DVD interview of Brian with custom shop footage, assorted replicas of Brian Setzer memorabilia, and autographed Gretsch OK card. Even the serial number - 33024 - from Brian's original guitar will be present on all 59 replicas.

For the diehard fans, a full list of specs can be found here. The price is unknown yet but I don't expect anything apart from a huge one.