Gretsch BillyBo Jupiter Thunderbird
GRETSCH ‘BILLY-BO’ JUPITER THUNDERBIRD £2,099
ELECTRICS CD TRACKS 6 & 7
DECEMBER 2005 105
triumvirate standing proudly behind
the ‘Billy-Bo’.
“It’s an unusual-looking instrument,
but quite attractive to my eyes,”
continues Billy. “It’s from Bo’s genius
artistic capability. Bo told me he came
up with the idea in ’59. That makes
sense because up until then, Gretsch
was using a single-coil DeArmond
pickup, but following the advent of the
humbucker – Seth Lover’s brainchild –
the Gretsch company wanted its own
version, which is the twin-bobbin
Filter’Tron.”
And, yes, it is indeed an unusual-
looking instrument. But if Bo’s memory
is correct, it clearly wasn’t just Ted
McCarty and the designers of the
Firebird et al at Gibson who, in
the late fi fties, considered the electric
guitar too conservative. Presumably
inspired, and named, after the classic
Thunderbird car, Bo’s original vision is
closely replicated here.
The long thin body contributes to an
overall length of approx 107.9cm (42.5
inches) – a Strat is closer to 956mm (38
inches) – so the Billy-Bo is clearly in
the Explorer/Firebird school of
‘ungainly’ designs. Played seated it’s
comfortable enough, although, as with
a Firebird, the nut seems a long stretch
away. Strapped on, however, it all
makes sense. It’s really nicely
balanced,
there’s no neck dive, and whether by
luck or judgement ol’ Bo got something
right here.
Although we can’t see any wood due
to it being covered in a Firebird Red
face with black back, sides and neck,
it’s apparently a chambered mahogany
body with an ‘ultra-thin’ maple
laminate top. Certainly the light weight
is welcome, otherwise the design could
be a real shoulder-curver. Removing
the three backplates doesn’t tell us
much more: though it’s clearly
substantially hollow aside from the
central section under the bridge
and on the bass side,
where there’s a
back-placed
rib-cage contour.
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