Gretsch® Introduces Billy Duffy White Falcon™

By: Staff

Billy Duffy of The Cult – photo credit: Eric Fairchild

It is with great pleasure that Gretsch is releasing the G7593T Billy Duffy White Falcon guitar, which has immediately become one of the most unique and bewitching White Falcon guitars ever made.

Featuring much of what Falcon fans hold dear, The Cult guitarist’s inimitable instrument has several unique aesthetic differences that separate it from the rest of the “Falcon” flock, namely its period-correct ’70s Baldwin-era styling, pure White gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish, V-shaped Falcon headstock, Silver Sparkle binding, custom wound hot “Black Top” Filter’Tron pickups with three-point adjustable ’70s-style metal bezels and Duffy’s preferred Bigsby tailpiece.

In addition, Duffy’s signature bird of prey features a 17″ wide, 2 ¾” deep single cut-away three-ply maple body with a three-ply maple arched top and back and two spruce parallel tone bars and sound post, a three-piece maple neck with ebony fingerboard, a chrome-plated truss rod cover with Duffy’s signature emblazoned on it, a chrome-plated output jack plate, pearloid wide-block fretboard inlays, ’70s-style aluminum “G” arrow knobs and a premium gray speckled “Billy Duffy” case.

“This guitar is very personal to me,” said Duffy. “It’s hard to separate the guitar from the evolution of (The Cult’s) sound. In essence, the big white Gretsch became synonymous with the band very quickly. I’m not really that much of a sentimental person, but in a house fire it would be the first non-living thing that I’d be going for.

“It’s not for the faint-hearted,” he added. “It’s massive. You’ve got to have big hands and you’ve got to really command the instrument when you play it. You can’t really play it with any degree of fear.”

Duffy burst out of London’s early ’80s post-punk scene in Theatre of Hate before meeting Ian Astbury and forming one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most powerful, unique and long-lasting duos as what would become The Cult.

Duffy’s combination of thick power chords steeped in rich chorused delay, melodic Morricone-inspired lead phrases and filthy feedback-laden solos created an unparalleled sound larger than most venues could contain.

The Cult’s first two albums, Dreamtime and Love, solidified their place among the pre-“alternative” elite, with the latter album featuring what would become their most popular single, “She Sells Sanctuary,” which remains a global staple on rock radio twenty years on and was even featured on a 2012 Super Bowl advertisement in the States.

Every track on those iconic albums featured his Gretsch White Falcon exclusively, and Duffy has made a point to include it on every subsequent album, most notably the chart-topping Electric and Sonic Temple, and their most recent critically acclaimed release Choice of Weapon.