Gretsch White Falcon Masterbuilt Custom Shop Stephen Stern Ex Brian Setzer
Gretsch White Falcon Masterbuilt Custom Shop Stephen Stern Ex Brian Setzer
The history of music is marked by iconic instruments that, through their shapes and sounds, create a true collective story. Alongside the Les Pauls, Telecasters, and Stratocasters stands the very famous Gretsch “White Falcon.” Unmissable for its round, generous curves and rockabilly flair, it has established itself as the other key reference shape when it comes to guitars.
Developed and manufactured by Gretsch in the mid-1950s, this guitar quickly found great success thanks to its delicate, rounded shapes. With its glossy finish, gold hardware, and unique design, the White Falcon had no equivalent at the time of its release, rapidly becoming a sought-after instrument. The White Falcon is a hollow body guitar that has become a key model in the history of music. Its smooth resonance and delicate warmth helped establish this model as a legendary instrument played by the greatest artists. If there is one artist who embodies its place in music, it is Brian Setzer. The leader of the Stray Cats unleashed entire generations with the sound of the band’s big rockabilly hits, bringing this model back to the glory it first enjoyed.
The model offered by Matt’s Guitar Shop is exceptional: it is a White Falcon Master Built Custom Shop Stephen Stern that personally belonged to Brian Setzer, the proudest ambassador of this beautiful, rounded white guitar. Built by Gretsch Custom Shop’s Master Builder Stephen Stern, it is an exceptional electric guitar with remarkable acoustic qualities. In addition to its exceptional provenance, it offers a clearer view of the Falcon’s round and hollowed curves. Brian Setzer specifically removed the pickguard, freeing the two sound holes of this beautiful hollow body’s top.
Brian Setzer
(1959)
Band: Stray Cats
Main guitar: Gretsch 6120 1959
Must-listen track: Rock This Town
The Stray Cats’ first album was a massive earthquake in the musical landscape of the ’80s. When this self-titled record arrived in 1981, the trend was all about drum machines and epileptic synthesizers. Totally against the current, the trio of Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker, and Slim Jim Phantom reminded the whole world just how thrilling the primal energy of rockabilly could be without any of those embellishments.
Since then, the rockabilly revival has never fully faded, and even the most hardcore punks have found unconditional respect for Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. All thanks to Brian Setzer and his radical, nonconformist, and brilliant vision. His energetic and raspy voice, astonishing guitar playing, and stage presence convinced even the most reluctant without falling into easy nostalgia.
Setzer’s guitar approach obviously draws inspiration from greats like Scotty Moore and Cliff Gallup, but adds a more saturated sound, a smoother phrasing, and the omnipresent influence of Django. Like any respectable meteorite, the Stray Cats’ lifespan was very short, splitting up in 1984, although they sometimes reunited in between. Despite numerous different signature models at Gretsch, his sonic recipe has always stayed close to the original: a 6120 through a Roland Space Echo, the amp plugged into a blonde Bandmaster stack.
Setzer then launched his solo career, teamed up with Robert Plant in The Honeydrippers, and most notably formed his wildest and most ambitious project in 1990: the Brian Setzer Orchestra. This 18-piece big band, theoretically impossible to maintain financially, has been touring regularly for nearly thirty years, often around the holiday season. It took Setzer’s talent to pull off this feat with such brilliance.
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