Gear of the Year RESULTS: Best Guitars of 2013 Revealed

What did SonicState readers and staff choose as the best guitar of the year?   09-Dec-13

2. Gretsch Billy Duffy White Falcon

Another breathtakingly beautiful guitar on this year's SonicState awards, the Gretsch Billy Duffy White Falcon will go to the heart of any guitarist who grew up dreaming of one these guitars in the 1970s/80s.

The early years of Gretsch were all about taking on the might of Fender and Gibson and delivering a White Falcon guitar which was seen as the very height of Luxury, the Rolls Royce (or Cadillac if you're in the USA) of guitars.

By the 1970s, the company was owned by Baldwin, and production had gone... well, let's just say 'downhill' slightly.

Billy Duffy's White Falcon was from the Baldwin era, and his new signature model is a faithful recreation of the original guitar, but with the quality and precision of a modern day Gretsch.

Nitro celly finish, 70s style arrow knobs and Bigsby, three-ply maple body, ebony fingerboard, spruce tone bars, sound post, and that iconic V-shaped headstock.

Billy Duffy was one of the first to use the Gretsch White Falcon as a rock guitar, helping to bring it back in vogue and teaching us just what those FilterTron pickups could do. And for that, we salute him.

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