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Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 1
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 2
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 3
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 4
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 5
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 6
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 7
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 8
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 9
Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963, guitar 39in (99cm) long image 10
Lot 37Y

Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar, 1963,
guitar 39in (99cm) long

17 October 2024, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £25,600 inc. premium

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Rory Gallagher: A Gretsch Corvette Electric Guitar,

Serial no. 60937 impressed to top of headstock, contoured, double-cut mahogany body with cherry red finish, P90 pickup with two controls set into black pickguard, non-original bridge, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with dot markers, headstock with non-original Schaller tuners, in plush-lined rectangular metal case, with strap, lead, capo and strings,
CITES license 24GBA10EY71A8,

Footnotes

Dónal Gallagher recalls, that in the late '70s, he and Rory were on a 'guitar shopping therapy session' in Guitar Village in downtown L.A. Going outside to feed the parking metre, Dónal noticed a Gretsch guitar in the window of a pawn shop he had parked by. After being told it would cost him $75, Dónal managed to get the price down to $50. On being shown the purchase, Rory was delighted to have such a guitar at such a bargain price saying, "Quick let's get out of here before they find out what they gave you and want it back." From then on, it became a favourite of Rory's and would travel in Guitar Trunk No.1.

"At present I'm using a Gretsch Corvette for slide instead of the Esquire. The Corvette is Gretsch's attempt at a Les Paul Junior, but I took off the Gretsch pickup because it was too weak and I put on a P90, which is an old black Gibson single coil pickup."
- Rory Gallagher, Beat Instrumental, March 1979.

Rory discusses his modifications to the guitar in a 1987 magazine article, "...for most of the open tuning things I've been using a Gretsch Corvette with heavy strings. It's a very tough guitar - my brother got it for me for $75 in a pawn shop in Los Angeles. I took the pickup off that and put a P90 on. I should have hung onto it, in retrospect, because they're very good pickups - similar to the Tennessean. But, in my opinion, the P90 is the best pickup for slide - it has the right overtones."

Literature
Adam Sweeting, 'Rory Gallagher', Beat Instrumental, March 1979, p.20, www.roryon.com/beat.html
Neville Marten, 'Rory Gallagher', Guitarist, June 1987, vol.4, no.1, www.roryon.com/guitarist.html

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