Elliot Easton - The Cars

I have known Elliot for more than 20 years, we have worked on a lot of his instruments and I personally have helped him with some endorsement deals. In 2005 I will be building Elliot several custom guitars, The first one a Mosrite he picked up at NAMM and the second one will be a Korina RVC like we did for Brian May of Queen.

Ed Roman

Elliot Easton is one of those great under rated guitarists that you don't hear much about until you go out and see a show. People like Neal Schon, Lindsey Buckingham & Buck Dharma fall into the same category. For example recently I caught Elliot with Creedence Clearwater and both myself and the 3 people I was with were totally blown away. His licks were incredibly tasteful, his tone was awesome and the solos left us speechless. 

I have Known Elliot personally for 20 years, He played with Leslie West, Buck Dharma, Roger Glover Vinnie Zummo at one of my grand openings at East Coast Music Mall in 1986 or so. He was good but nothing like when I heard him recently.

That's Elliot behind Buck (Not the best picture I have of him)

Leslie West, (Mountain) Roger Glover, (Deep Purple) Ed Roman, (Guitar Builder to the Stars)  Elliot Easton (The Cars) Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult) and Vinnie Zummo (Joe Jackson)

This photograph was taken on the back porch of Ed Roman's house in CT.

Right after this photo was taken Leslie flung the Steinberger 300 feet down the cliff behind us.

The Steinberger was still intact and did not even go out of tune.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Fred Gretsch, president of the Gretsch Guitar Company  announced the introduction of the Elliot Easton models of Jet electric guitars. Four models will be available in right hand as well as standard left hand models. The distinctive single cutaway Duo Jet style features a Cadillac Green top, two vintage FilterTron Alnico pickups, and a Bigsby B7 Vibrato tailpiece option.

 "We are very pleased to welcome Elliot to our select group of Gretsch signature guitar artists. He has been a friend and a Gretsch player for a long time," stated Gretsch. "Elliot was intimately involved with the development of this instrument. His long experience, guitar expertise and attention to detail show in this refined, ultra-pro version of the Jet."

From his days in the respected rock band The Cars to his current involvement as lead guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Elliot Easton has been a lover of Gretsch guitars. His new Gretsch Elliot Easton Jet solid body guitar lets Elliot apply his guitar playing expertise to the refinement of a classic American solid body guitar. With features dating from the 1950's to the 1990's, this hybrid Gretsch guitar keeps the vintage Gretsch look and sound with refinements and added versatility.

"This is the Gretsch guitar I have wanted for decades. There were a lot of features and subtle changes that I wanted to incorporate in the Jet design and they're all here," explained Easton. "While I did not want to change the distinctive sound and beautiful look of the guitar, I wanted to add features and expand the Jet's possibilities to make it even more versatile. I think this guitar can go toe to toe with any guitar on the market."

Here are some of the new features of the Elliot Easton Jets:

• 1950's style narrow headstock with Sperzel Locking Tuners and small vintage keys.
• Graphite Nut.
• 25" Scale is 1/2" longer than standard Duo Jet, for added string tension, tighter low end and more twang.
• The pickup selector switch is closer to the strumming hand for ease of use.
• The tone switch features a new sound for a distinctive, mid-range lead voice.
• The Master Volume control maintains the same tonality at all levels, so you do not lose your highs as you turn it down. If the conventional volume reduction/tone change is desired, the individual pickup volume controls are set up traditionally for this purpose.
• The three-way adjustable bridge is mounted on posts that are permanently affixed to the body for stable intonation.
• The Bigsby B7 Vibrato tailpiece has an additional retainer bar before the bridge, which increases the string angle to improve sustain.
• The two FilterTron pickups feature Alnico magnets for a vintage sixties sound.
• The Elliot Easton Jet also features an ebony fingerboard with neoclassical position markers on a two-piece maple neck with a thin black line. The mahogany body is semi-solid with a pressed arch maple top. The guitar is available with either Bigsby vibrato or G-Stop tailpiece in left or right hand formats. All metal hardware is 24K gold-plated.