Cheap Bo Diddley guitar?

[Geoffrey]

Hi folks,
Does anyone know of a cheap Bo Diddley guitar knock off? I would like to fool around with his tuning and don't think my strat would handle it. Or would any cheap guitar work? Got any suggestions for guitars or string gauges for such an endeavour?
Thanks,
Geoff

[Jim Goad]

How cheap? These repro's are reasonably priced:

http://en.euroguitar.com/guitar/gretsch ... 21779.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gretsch-Electromati ... dZViewItem


The proper re-issue is kinda pricey:

http://www.denmarkstreetonline.co.uk/in ... &Itemid=27

[Geoffrey]

Thanks for the heads up. I am really wondering if a regular guitar could handle his tuning, which seems to be DADF#AD. Any idea what gauges would work on a regular electric. This tuning makes chording a breeze and frees one up to concentrate on rhythyms, which is my main interest as a player.
G.

[Cado]

It wouldn't be that much of a problem, however, if you use 10s or lighter your low string could wobble out of tune. I think 11s would be fine.

[Jim Goad]

Yep. Anything from 11's upwards should handle that tuning fine. It's almost the same as the popular Folk tuning DADGAD. I've tried that on an acoustic with 12s & the string tension was OK.