NAMM 2013: Last year, we spoke with The Cult's Billy Duffy about his history with Gretsch White Falcon guitars, and now that relationship moves forward with the unveiling of the G7593T Billy Duffy White Falcon model, which immediately has 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."
