Gretsch Custom Shop G6131MY-CS Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet

Tonal Evaluation

Who needs 3 pickups? (or even two). When you play rhythm guitar for AC/DC you are a bonecrushing timekeeper with an incredible melodic sense and unwavering loyalty to your band. A tone control would just get in the way and a tremolo arm would be an uwanted toy. Heavy strings with a 3rd wound G are on the menu here, no dental floss or horsehair allowed. Surprisingly lyrical and nuanced when played clean, the single Filtertron has the beautiful clarity and fullness one would expect, but a wanton sledgehammer is unleashed when plugged into your favorite British valve amp. No frills, No finish, No Kidding!

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.