Used And Vintage Electric Guitars

A Truly Unique Find

Here at Truetone Music, we see an amazing array of guitars coming in the door - and this year, this one may take the cake for the most unique with the best story. More on that in a moment.....

First things first, about the model itself: The Gretsch Caddy Bo was inspired by Bo Diddley's signature Jupiter Thunderbird guitar and Cadillac cars, and developed by Stephen Stern at the Gretsch Custom Shop. It's a uniquely shaped guitar that is unlike any other. Characterized by its all-solid, contoured body (unlike the chambered, non-contoured body of the Billy Bo), there have been a few iterations, but we think this may be the coolest one yet. Built by the legendary Stephen Stern, this G6199 Caddy Bo is something to behold.

The guitar is made of Korina, with a Brazilian Rosewood fretboard, and Relic'd tastefully, to match an old vintage Korina Explorer. The Custom Shop's commitment to selecting premium woods is clearly evident here. Stephen Stern crafted the body and top of this one from solid Korina, using a single-piece blank for the neck. The fingerboard features exquisite Brazilian rosewood. All of the wood was responsibly and ethically sourced to guarantee superior quality and authenticity. The white binding frames the body perfectly, and wood grain shows nicely through the Natural finish.

ThroBak SLE-101 pickups provide a totally different tone compared to most Gretsch guitars, as they are PAF style humbuckers. This is the set that put ThroBak on the map - you get the complex tone and articulate clarity found in the best PAF pickups from the 50's. According to ThroBak, A2 vintage clone sand cast magnets, custom milled Michigan hard maple wood spacer, vintage correct two conductor wire and a threaded baseplate complete the picture making these the best humbucker pickups with vintage specs. We plugged the guitar, and had to agree.

Other features include Grover tuners, an Adjust-O-Matic bridge, and a custom tailpiece. All of the hardware was aged perfectly. The way Stephen Stern did this one is rather mind-blowing.

Now, on to the next part of the story: This particular guitar was owned and used by the extremely prolific musician Brian Ray, celebrated solo artist, guitarist for Paul McCartney, musical director for Etta James, and lead vocalist/guitarist of the Bayonets. He recently decided to part with a few select pieces - Truetone Music is quite proud to have partnered with him to bring them to the market for the first time, With the guitar comes a signed Certificate of Authenticity. And, by the way - this wasn't just a guitar he bought, strummed once and put it away. It was actually used to record tracks on his new album!

This Gretsch Custom Shop Masterbuilt G6199CS Caddy-Bo has been setup to play perfectly by the techs in our shop, and has immediately become one of our favorite guitars here.

The guitar includes the original case, paperwork, a Gretsch Certificate of Authenticity signed by Stephen Stern, plus another Truetone Certificate signed by Brian Ray. With Stern having retired in 2023, this G6199CS Caddy-Bo built in 2022 was amongst the last of his guitars at the tail end of a legendary career. Not only is it an amazing playing and visually stunning guitar, but it's also truly collectible. Very few were made, and there's only one previously owned by Brian Ray. We don't expect it to last long.

COLOR: NATURAL
AGING TYPE: RELIC
BODY STYLE: CADDY-BO
TOP: SOLID KORINA
BACK : SOLID KORINA
SIDES: SOLID KORINA
NECK WOOD: KORINA
FRETBOARD WOOD: BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD
FRETBOARD INLAY MATERIAL: AGED NITRO
FRETBOARD INLAY STYLE: THUMBNAILS
HEADSTOCK PERIMETER: 54 DUO JET
HEADSTOCK LOGO: SCRIPT
HEADSTOCK LOGO MATERIAL: MOP
ZERO FRET: NO
FRETS: VINTAGE
NECK BINDING: .060 WHITE NITRO
SIDE DOTS: BLACK
NECK SHAPE: STOCK "C"
NUT: BONE
BODY BINDING: .060Wx.090 BLACK/WHITE/BLACK
WIRING: TONE POT w/TREBLE BLEED WIRE for OUT of PHASE IN MIDDLE POSITION
HARDWARE: GOLD
TUNERS: IMPERIALS
NECK PICKUP: THROBAK SLE-101 HUMBUCKER
BRIDGE PICKUP: THROBAK SLE-101 HUMBUCKER
KNOBS: "G" ARROW
BRIDGE: ADJUST-O-MATIC NO BASE
TAILPIECE: "G" CUT-OUT
PICKGUARD ENGRAVING: W/B/W/B PICKGUARD
PART # 9252003714
SERIAL # UC22042294

***Due to this guitar having a Brazilian Rosewood fretboard, it is only available to ship within the United States. Unfortunately we cannot ship it Internationally.***

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