“Rick Nielsen would come into my dressing room with a guitar and say, ‘Joe, you really should buy this one’”: Joe Perry on the ’57 Gretsch Duo Jet that recorded Dude (Looks Like a Lady)

The year was 1987. Permanent Vacation was in record stores worldwide. Aerosmith’s evolution from rock ’n’ roll outlaws to rock's box-office crowdpleasers was in full swing, and guitarist Joe Perry was a natural choice for GW's year-end cover.

Photographed by Glen La Ferman, Perry was holding a 1957 Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet, and here he explains why he chose the Duo Jet, and why some advice from Brad Whitford made him pay more attention to his choice of amp.

Where and when did you buy this guitar?

“I can’t remember exactly. I got it somewhere in California. It’s funny – when you’re on the road, you go to all the music stores and find stuff, you know? And guys come to the shows, and they’ll have two or three guitars under their arms.”

Did someone recommend the Duo Jet to you?

“Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick was the king of guys who came to the shows with vintage guitars. Rick would come into my dressing room with a guitar and say, ‘Joe, you really should buy this one.’

“I wasn’t into collecting back then, but he’d come across stuff and say, ‘Joe, you really should grab one, too.’ I’ve gotten a couple guitars that way, and the Gretsch might have been a case of that. But jeez, I wish I could remember where I got it.”

It’s the same Gretsch you used while recording Dude (Looks Like a Lady), correct?

“Yeah, it’s the guitar I used for that one. I liked the bite it gave me for the solo, and I don’t know why, but the Gretsch fit that song. I used .10s, and I liked the biting tone I got. It just worked.”

Did you take the Duo Jet on the road after that?

“I had to. It just had that sound, man. I brought it on the road for a while, but it started to get beat. And by then, Gretsch was reissuing the Duo Jet guitars, so I got another one, though it had a kinda different sound. But it fit the bill and looked the part. I don’t know, but that particular Silver Jet has such a special sound.”

You’re often associated with Les Pauls and Stratocasters. Did the Duo Jet bring something else out in you?

“It comes down to amps. I remember recording Fever from Get a Grip with this old Gibson Firebird from the ’60s with the three pickups. I talked to Brad [Whitford] and said, ‘I’m having trouble getting the most out of this guitar.’ 

“Brad said, ‘It would help if you bought good amps.’ That turned me onto vintage amps, and I started buying them as I’d just been going with whatever worked before then. With the Gretsch, I don’t know… I loved how it sounded, but a great amp makes all the difference.”

Why’d you choose that guitar for your GW cover shoot?

“I just really liked it and was playing it often. I loved the sound and look of it. But it’s funny because I used it on that album [1987’s Permanent Vacation], and I’d been playing it live a lot around then, and then, a couple months later, George Harrison showed up on the cover of magazines with one, too [Harrison’s Duo Jet is also featured on the cover of his 1987 album, Cloud Nine].”

Do you still have the guitar?

“Oh, yeah. I still have the Silver Jet. I took it off the road because it was getting beat, but now I’m bringing it on the road again with the Hollywood Vampires and Aerosmith. I decided to bring everything – all the stuff I’ve been saving – out on the road. If any of it gets beat, whatever. So what you see me playing, unless it’s obviously a new guitar, it’s probably the real thing.”