"Twang Machine"

Bo Diddley built his first guitar from a rectangular piece of wood fitted with a pickup made from Victrola turntable parts. He was one of the first electric guitarists to collaborate directly with instrument makers on adventurous designs, including this “Twang Machine” and other radically shaped guitars based on the modernistic curves of luxury automobiles.
Diddley introduced the “hambone” rhythm to American popular music through his eponymous 1955 hit single. The “Bo Diddley beat” strongly influenced other early rock and roll musicians, including Buddy Holly, whose hit “Not Fade Away” features the rhythm prominently.

Technical Description:
Semi-hollow body; maple top and neck, mahogany back, ebony fingerboard; 24½ in. scale; red finish with white double binding; set neck with mother-of-pearl thumbprint inlays and white binding; Jet-style headstock with white binding and inlaid mother-of-pearl Gretsch logo; two DeArmond single-coil pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume controls and one tone control; chrome-plated bridge, pickup covers, and tuners, knobs and tailpiece with “G” cutout, rectangular black plastic pickguard