This was the first Gretsch guitar to feature a truss rod accessible through the headstock, a pickup selection switch on the body, and a master volume on the cutaway.

[1] As is common with electric guitars, the body of the 6128 Duo Jet is made of wood,[3][4] in this case chambered mahogany.

The guitar shares its dual pickup, single cutaway design with the Gibson Les Paul, but the Duo Jet takes differing approaches to shaping the instrument’s tonality and has been made available in various configurations.

[5][6] The tone switch versions of the Duo Jet come equipped with Gretsch's Filter'Tron humbucker pickup made popular by country music guitarist Chet Atkins.

Other notable players of the Duo Jet include Pete Townshend of The Who, who used one on early Quadrophenia era gigs in the UK,[7] and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden.