The world’s most famous over shadowed guitar

Gretsch Chet Atkins Dark Eyes

On February 19, the holy grail of collectible axes is going up for auction at NYC’s Guernsey’s. Part of the Tom Doyle collection, there’s been a lot of ink spilt on the sale of the Les Paul Black Beauty. But it doesn’t end there. Mr. Doyle’s guitar case runneth over. His collection also includes the Gretsch Chet Atkins Black Top Proto, aka Dark Eyes. Chet Atkins was a famous country star in the ’50s. He famously played this Gretsch prototype on the song Dark Eyes given the guitar its name.

This guitar, an early 6120 prototype, was built in part upon Chet’s request for an axe that reduced feedback. What looks like f-holes on Dark Eyes is actually made from the material of Gretsch drums. Feel free to sit down if you need to avoid your head from exploding. In our eyes this is an equally amazing artifact as the Les Paul. It is the grandfather of all Gretsch 6120. Without it there would be no Gretsch Chet Atkins legacy, no Country Gentlemen, George Harrison or Bono Irish Falcon.

It’ll be interesting to see what this beauty fetches compared to the Black Beauty on Feb 19.