Gretsch G5622-CB Electromatic Center-Block

Bought used, but almost new (and from an AudioFanzine user through the classified ads )

For detailed specs, go read the Gretsch website which is more complete than my (limited) memory !

My two playing configurations :
at home through a Pod HD pedalboard directly plugged to the mac
with a band into an Orange TH30 head with Orange 1x12 cab

It’s flawless constructionwise, from design to finishing nothing is to be particularly criticized, it seems built to last. Plus, it looks so good!!
I find the neck quite peculiar, yet comfortable: it features a mix between the Gibson scale (still even a bit shorter) and a thin, Fender-like “D” profile. I haven’t totally found my marks on it yet, but I believe it’ll soon make itself forgotten.
My main three concerns are as follows:
- its weight is slightly heavy, probably due to the large semi-hollow-body format
- unequal hardware quality: while the Grover tuners really do the job, the nut and Gretsch’s “tunomatic” (can’t remember the exact name)’s saddles needed to be serviced (finished + lubrication) at my local guitar repair shop so the guitar finally was stable. The (pretty yet not practical) Gretsch strap buttons were also replaced by Dunlop straplocks
- the pickups’ routing is a bit surprising at first with two switched – a tree-way to choose between the neck and bridge pickups, and another two-way switch to “add” the middle pickup to either of the first two. You need to get used to it

Soundwise, it’s really great, yet particular:
Here’s a semi hollow body guitar with a large sound spectrum, delivering a lot of harmonics. The pickups are very good yet very special: humbuckers that sound like single coils, but without any hum! Also, you’ll need to abuse the guitar to get feedback, and even then it remains agreeably easy to control.
The rather low output level allows to retranscribe all playing nuances in styles ranging from round jazzy sounds to indie, almost stoner rock, plus an impressive variety of crunch sounds, all with a common, original trademark sound mixing both warmth and twang: it sounds bright, hot, growling… On the lead channel of an amp or followed by a distortion pedal, it’ll let your right hand shape the outcoming sound.
As far as the grain and tone are concerned, it’s a great example of the "Great Gretsch Sound", with the addition (through the middle pickup) of a slightly Fender-like sound – you know, these Strat-like intermediate pickup positions…

To conclude : with a few tweakings and once fine-tuned, this guitar reveals apt to many things, very easy to play (and it seems it likes to be played), but with a real, recognizable sound signature! You either like it or you don’t, but I really love it!