Gretsch Electric Guitars

Purchased at Guitar Center for $270 on clearance. I was looking for a lower priced hollow body, but they didn't have the Ibanez artcore I wanted to try out. I couldn't believe the price on this guitar. It played ok, it looked like a million (love the vermillion red). The manager came down on the case so I took it, intending to try it out. I set up the action and intonation and can't bring myself to return it. I never considered the Gretsch sound as they are so over-priced, but this Korean-made beauty plays and sounds like a dream. They're rare and I like that. I know I'll get compliments when I play out. The sound is 50s - early 60s rockabilly. Beatles, Memphis - it's got this gritty but mellow, warm sound - and very bassy like a Les Paul. The body is luan (plywood essentially) but it doesn't sound it. It does have a maple top and neck, with ebony stained finger board. The black finger board is very striking with the red body, white "Gretsch" emblazoned pickguard and crome "G" stamped hardware.) The guitar also works for jazz and certainly for blues, and because it's the same body style as Malcolm Young's 6120 (# right?) I had to play some Malcolm riffs. The intro to Sink the Pink is a dead ringer. Heavier than any guitar I've played, but weighted nicely. I love the sound I get through my Fender amps. Because it's so bassy, you can crank those springy, shimmery highs and it really sounds great. True vintage, very smooth and warm on top with nice gritty lows. It came with a bad nut. The high and low e strings are cut too deeply and buzz and are a little dead in spots. I don't want to bow the neck with the truss rod as I like the action, so I'm getting a graphite nut put on. The nut did stick a bit on the d and g strings so that'll be remedied too. I had to do the toothpicks-and-superglue trick to keep the strap knobs in that soft luan. I don't like that the neck side strap points up a bit. I need to get a cheaper, thinner strap so it will stay put in the narrow space between strap knob and body. Over-all fit and finish are very nice. Just a bit of extra finish on the neck near the joint and a tiny dab of glue around one of the frets. The neck needs some oil, but that's common on the most expensive guitars. The finish seems very tough and brilliantly shiney. Very nice body binding, neck and tuning board binding. It looks so much more expensive than it is. I feel like I got a great deal and found a guitar I really love the sound and look of. I found the Ibanez artcore guitar at another shop and bought it as well. I really couldn't afford both guitars, so I'm selling my $900 American Strat to keep the $270 electromatic and $400 Ibanez. I think that sums it up. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This American-made guitar has a gold bridge with a Bigsby Tremolo arm, a maple neck, a 22-fret rosewood fretboard, 2 Filtertron Pickups, and 2 volume knobs and a tone control, plus a master volume control. UTILIZATION This guitar's not too difficult to play; although the last frets generally aren't too easy to reach, they aren't too hard either, and if anything, getting adjusted to the guitar is the only thing necessary to make this irrelevant. The sounds produced by this guitar are great, too. The guitar has quite a vast range, able to get warm, clean tones when plugged straight in, as well as dangerously heavy tones when plugged through the right distortion box. It's a bit heavier than I would like, but I got used to that, too. And as far as I know, the drivers are perfectly stable. In fact, I think one of the most fun guitars to play that I've tried. SOUNDS I've really enjoyed using this with my favorite amp, the Fender '65 Deluxe Reissue. I got a great warm, slightly twangy tone out of it. I was really impressed when I plugged it into a Big Muff; it had a devastatingly heavy sound that added a TON of low end chunk to the record I was working on! While it was heavy, it wasn't Metallica-esque. A good reference point might be Queens of the Stone Age (who's guitar player, Josh Homme, has a preference for hollow bodied guitars.) The range of tones depends somewhat on your range of gear, but I was really impressed with the tones that I could get out of just the guitar and the amp. It isn't perfect for my style of music (my favorite guitar is a '67 strat reissue, so that suits my music better) but I definitely get my money's worth from it, and use it enough in the studio. OVERALL OPINION I like the unexpected versatility and the warmth of this guitar the best. I think that though the guitar is expensive, it is worth it for anyone who wants to get a hollow body and doesn't know where to start. The sound is pristine and versatile. I tried a few other hollow bodies that I didn't really prefer, mostly other Gretsches, but I don't recall the names of the other models. I don't regret this choice of purchase at all and would recommend it to anyone with a wide range of styles to cover.