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“THE PENGUIN IS THE GRETSCH CUSTOM SHOP’S
MOST POPULAR MODEL. THERE ARE SO MANY
WAYS TO DRESS UP A PENGUIN NOW, WITH
The Penguin’s single-cut body was 13.5 inches BINDINGS, COLOURS, WOODS, AND SO ON”
wide and finished in a striking white, complete
with gold-trim binding. The neck was topped by
a large winged headstock, which had gold sparkle
decorations borrowed from Gretsch’s established the gold plastic pickguard featured a little penguin,
drum department. All the metalwork was gold plated, and the body usually had a banjo-style armrest.
including the fancy Grover Imperial tuners, Melita Despite its ornamentations, almost as soon as it
bridge, and stylish new tailpiece, soon nicknamed the was introduced, the Penguin seemed like a wayward
Cadillac due to its bold V shape. The control layout creature wandering aimlessly among Gretsch’s more
consisted of four jewel-inset knobs (three volume, one successful models. It was absent from any catalogues
tone) plus a pickup selector. The markers were etched I’ve seen, it appeared on only a handful of price lists,
hump-tops, the pickups were single-coil Dynasonics, and was briefly name-checked in a single brochure.
GUITAR MAGAZINE 23
