Gretsch

The Gretsch Powerjet is a made-in-Japan semi-hollowbody guitar. Its shape and construction are clearly inspired by the mythical Gibson Les Paul, with a mahogany body, maple top and mahogany set neck. However, it features important differences: the body has been heavily hollowed out, making the guitar lighter and sounding like a hollow body modelwhen played unplugged, a bit ala Gibson ES 339. The fingerboard is made of ebony, and there is a Bigsby tremolo which is associated to a very “Les Paulian” ajustomatic bridge. This Gretsch Powerjet is just imperial with no apparent flaw – the finish is really perfect, and its look leaves you speechless (no exaggeration here, several buddies of mine could testify). As for the pickups, nothing Gibsonian here: a pair of TV Jones Powertron with a special wiring. Let’s start with the usual features: one volume per pickup, and a 3-way sswitch in the upper body part. Now, for the weird part: a master volume knob, and a second 3-way switch for tone setting. The way it works is quite peculiar: in the middle position, no tone correction is applied, a bit like the “10” setting on a basic tone knob. The high setting provides a boost on the low freqs, while the lower position provides a mid boost… Very disturbing at first, this wiring actually replicates that which used to equip the mythical 1954 Gretsch Duo Jet. Here we are: the Powerjet is actually a Duojet with a few modern touches, especially this incredible set of chubby-sounding pickups. Let’s make things clear, I’m mostly a Gibson Les Paul player so I’ll start by trying to describe those Filtertron' humbuckers that are features on many a Gretsch guitar. These are real humbuckers (with two coils, that is) but with coils twice as large as on a standard PAF. The result is a lot of power but a lesser loss in the highs. In the end, you get a sound that takes gain like any humbucker will, but that can also sound as slappy as a single coil. I’ve tried these pickups for the first time on this model and found them incredible. Clearly, TV Jones makes awesome pickups! In clean sound, the typical lows of a humbucker can be heard, but in a better defined – less blurry – version compares with a Les Paul. Yeah, as much as I can be a Classic 57 addict, the Powertron sound more slappy and can even shine! It’s hard to describe, I’ve read somewhere that these pickups were in-between P90s and PAFs and I rather agree with that. The neck pickup sounds clear and defined, yet incredibly hot. The bridge pickup twangs and growls all at once, without ever sounding shrill or aggressive – a sort of an overdoped version of a vintage Telecaster… The semi-hollow structure gives the sound a 3D aspect, which is incredibly pleasant – and unheard of as far as I’m concerned: I’m really crazy about this Gretsch! Paradoxically, the tone control is disappointing on clean sounds: the low boost brings in a certain boxyness that is not to my taste (but may suit jazz players), and the mid boost, while easier to use imho, sounds strangely nasal. Now, let’s engage the "POWER" switch... The Powerjet takes a huge amount of gain, and the pickups simply astounded me: the neck pickup sounds round and warm, while the bridge position growls while remaining sharp, with a whole intermediate range. I’ll dare say these pickups are the most incredibly musical-sounding ones that I’ve ever heard (I may get back on it later with a little more hindsight). Suddenly, my fingers get back to the tone selector and – oh my Guinness! Neck pickup + low boost, and you’re in Les Paul grounds with an awesomely warm sound, making the lead phrasings like coated in caramel. Need a bit more bite on a solo? Here we go, a medium boost and the teeth are out, a mere switch hit and the sound gets more intelligible within the mix. The bridge pickup is sharper, but always very musical-sounding and never shrill or aggressive – more on the punchy, lightning side. The low boost brings an incredible sound, with a sound reminiscent of a wah locked in its highest position – a pure delight. The bridge pickup + mid switch provides the fiercest rhythm sounds – the cavalry’s coming! I’ve tried a (very) high number of high-quality double-humbucker guitars, and the ultimate test remains the rehearsal session: I play in a power trio that plays good old 70s rock on steroids, and I need to get through in the mix with mids and volume. The Gibson Les Paul perfectly does the job, and so far no double-humbucker guitar had managed to do as well – there always was a moment when it sounded too thin, too much in the background, so in the end I always ended up getting back to Gibson. There’s now an exception with this Gretsch Powerjet that gets the job done thoroughly with an astounding sound. It could have managed to do it by merely copying the mythical Les Paul, but it only resembles it aesthetically as for the rest the sounds it offers are totally unique.

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!

It's magnificent with the green reflections on its black dress. The satin gives it a slight rebel look. No BIGSBY, no pickguard... But the gilding is classy, especially since I complemented it with a golden plate for the Harpe tailpiece. In terms of sound, it's not jazzy, already unplugged it sounds definitely '70s, really warm. I play it mainly with a VOX AC30C2, what a treat. It's a Korean guitar, but the wood work is stable, with a good finish, it's nice. To me, it's not obvious that I'd get a better quality paying 3 times as much for a Japanese-made one. The string action can be super low and the guitar isn't heavy. Features: Electromatic Hollow Body Laminated maple body Maple neck Rosewood fingerboard 22 jumbo frets White inlays Scale: 24.33" Nut width: 1.6" Adjusto-Matic bridge with rosewood base Harpe tailpiece 2 FilterTron Black Top pickups Three-way toggle switch One volume control. Gold-plated hardware Color: Black

I always debated whether to buy it or not as being a main rhythm guitar... there's not much needed to get it right. I also own a G5222 model converted to look like the beast and I thought the signature would not be any better. The signature is miles better!! - Much thinner paint job so it feels a lot better -It has the right height for the fretboard making it much more comfortable to play - the pickup is really good and sounds much more articulate than a regular filtertron - it looks incredible All in all.. a very recommended guitar!

Made in Korea Gloss black finish Laminated maple fully hollow body Laminated maple neck Rosewood 22 fret fingerboard with "Thumbnail" (Chet Atkins) inlays 24.56" scale length 1.6875" nut width Chrome covered dual coil humbucking pickups Rosewood based Adjusto-Matic bridge Chrome Bigsby licensed B60 vibrato tailpiece Binding on the top and back, bound neck Clear pickguard Chrome hardware Vintage key tuners UTILIZATION This is a great Gretsch for the picker on a budget. Anyone into Chet Atkins, Brian Setzer, Scotty Moore, Carl Perkins, or any of the other rockabilly or country cats would definitely dig this guitar. The instrument is very easy to set up, get great playing action out of, and get a good working tone out of. The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece works like one would expect - it is very smooth, with a small range of motion. For anyone that hasn't played a Bigsby before, the vibrato system is very subtle, yet very pleasant to use. SOUNDS Here's where the 5122DC really shines. The pickups sound fantastic. They remind me a lot of the pickups that were in my Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman - very open, clear, warm pickups. This guitar plugged into a great clean amp will create some absolutely memorable tones - I didn't want to put this thing down! I sat and played every rockabilly and finger-style lick I could think of, and then ventured into swing jazz and bebop territory, and I was very well rewarded by the resulting sounds. This axe definitely cuts the mustard. OVERALL OPINION This gets a 9 overall from me! The fit and finish were pretty good for the price range, and the hardware and tones were really something. I was expecting the guitar to feel a bit cheap due to the price, yet it hung with my much more expensive USA jazzboxes and fully-hollow guitars. A+.

I never liked Gretsch guitars before but when I saw it I had to pick it up, and when I played it I fell in love! The neck on this guitar fit me like a glove. I usually like very thin necks with light strings. This neck isn't that thin and I now use 011s on my first E string and I still can bend and get good vibrato with it. The sound is very warm, especially the bass pickup. The treble pickup has a little less bite and is lower but not bad. I'll replace it though in time. The main problem I've had with this guitar is that it came with very cheap tuners and it never stayed in tune. I spent a lot on set ups and then replaced the tuners with good Grover ones. It got a little better but still didn't stay in tune that well. Now about a year later for some reason it's settled in and finally is staying in tune. I don't know if I just got a bad one, but from other reviews I've read it seems that others have had problems with the tuners on this model. It is a gorgeous guitar and I love it now that it's staying in tune! I play it through a 5 watt Bugera tube amp and it really sounds sweet!

Made in China Body Shape: Jet™ Body Style: Chambered Single-Cutaway Body: Basswood, Gloss Urethane Finish, Arched Maple Top Pickguard: White Pearloid w/ Gretsch® Logo Body Binding: 1-Ply White Neck: Maple, Gloss Urethane Finish Frets: 22, Medium Jumbo Position Inlays: Pearloid Hump-Block Inlays Fingerboard: Rosewood Finger Board Radius: 12" Radius (305 mm) Nut: Synthetic Bone Nut Width: 1.6875" (43 mm) Scale Length: 24.6" (62.5 cm) Pickups: "Black Top" Filter'Tron™ Bridge Pickup "Black Top" Filter'Tron™ Neck Pickup Pickup Switching: 3-Position Toggle: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup Controls: Volume 1. (Neck Pickup), Volume 2. (Bridge Pickup), Master Volume, Master Tone Bridge: Anchored Adjusto-Matic™ Bridge Hardware: Chrome Tuning Keys: Enclosed Vintage Style Knobs: "G" Arrow Knobs Strings: D'Addario® XL110 Regular Light, NPS (.010-.046 Gauges) Unique Features: Two-Tone Body Color Scheme, “Black Top” Filter’Tron™ pickups, Bigsby® Licensed B50 Vibrato Tailpiece UTILIZATION What can I say, it's a Gretsch! Gretsch has long been one of my favorite guitar manufacturers, and this guitar is no exception to that rule. When I found out that most Gretsch guitars are made in China nowadays, I was a bit apprehensive. But I've seen nothing but good quality, affordable instruments from the China-made Gretsches, so I had no initial reservations about this one. When I picked it up, I could tell it had very solid craftsmanship. The inlays and bindings look well done, as does the sunburst finish. Playability is very good, and I have to say these knobs are by far the coolest in the guitar industry! SOUNDS Here's where the guitar really shines. This Gretsch has Filtertron pickups, which act like a humbucker for noise cancellation purposes, but have a very snappy, almost single-coil-like sound. The clarity is off the charts - no matter what crazy jazz chord I thought of, this guitar presented each note in high-definition sound. It is a great sounding axe for rockabilly, blues, jazz, country, and classic rock. OVERALL OPINION This guitar is an outstanding choice for a person on a limited budget - it absolutely rocks! Nothing is lacking in any way - the finish is excellent, all the detail work is spot-on, the pickups sound great, and the Bigsby vibrato is a big plus, of course. This is a highly versatile instrument that will provide years of enjoyment, and make the player look stylish while doing it! Gretsch is a class-act and is really onto something here. Highly recommended to all.

5-watt tube amp with only a volume control. UTILIZATION No need for a manual, you turn it on, let it warm up and crank the volume. SOUNDS Beautiful clean sounds, I don't drive the volume too high because of my neighbors. I use distortion and overdrive pedals and they work fine. OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for a month and I can finally have a good sound compared to my too powerful marshall. I was looking for a tube amp and I found it. It doesn't distort (I don't dare crank it up to the max), it's better to use pedals. It's the same model as the fender champ 600, but a bit less expensive. A very good practice amp.

General Model Name: G2210 Junior Jet™ Bass Series: Electromatic Collection Color / MSRP* / Part # : Black $400.00 251-4610-506 Tobacco Sunburst $400.00 251-4610-552 Body Body Shape: Jet™ Body Back: Basswood Body Top: Basswood Neck Number of Frets: 20 Fret Size: Medium Jumbo Position Inlays: Dot Position Inlays Fingerboard Radius: 12" Radius (305 mm) Fretboard: Rosewood Neck Material: Maple Scale Length: 30.3" (77 cm) Headstock: Jet™ Style Truss Rods: Standard Truss Rod Electronics Middle Pickup: Gretsch® Mini Humbucking Middle Pickup Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone Hardware Hardware Finish: Chrome Bridge: Standard 4-Saddle Tuning Machines: Enclosed Die-Cast Tuning Machines String Nut: Synthetic Bone Miscellaneous Strings: NPS, Gauges .045-.105 Unique Features: Mini Bass Humbucking Pickup, 30.3" Scale, Deluxe Enclosed Die-cast Tuners, Bolt-On Neck Accessories Control Knobs: "G" Arrow Knobs UTILIZATION This is a nice bass in the lower to mid range price level. It is a short scale, which I'm usually a little weary of, but this bass has a neat shape and pickup that works that smaller size very well. It plays easily, looks good, and sounds great plugged in. Parts and finish are of a good enough quality at this range. SOUNDS This thing sounds awesome! I could get a lot of different tones, from thuddy mud to crisp and trebly. This is a good riffer bass - pick players will LOVE it. It has a surprising amount of versatility for how small it is, but it excels greatly at anything with a bit of dirt in it - rock, classic rock, stoner doom, sludge, crustcore, crabcore, garage punk. A friend of mine even plays his in a reggae band! OVERALL OPINION The bass is very easy to play, being a shorter scale. One thing I found that was very fun with this bass was playing it through a guitar amp with a distorted signal, and then riffing away with friends playing guitar! It was a blast, and it sounded very cool.

This is a lower-end Gretsch Electric, almost similar to the Les Paul in a way. It is a Chinese made guitar. There is one volume knob and one tone knob. There are two mini-humbuckers on it, and the pickup selector switch is on the top left (from the guitarist's perspective). There is an interesting bridge where the strings wrap around the bridge, unlike most electrics where the strings go through the guitar. UTILIZATION This guitar is pretty easy to play, the frets are a good size for a beginner guitar. They are smooth and nicely rounded. The neck is a good size for a beginner, not too big or cumbersome. Actually, the same could be said about the guitar itself, which is a good size to carry around and play comfortably. SOUNDS This guitar, being what it is (a beginner's guitar), isn't going to sound as good as some of the high-end Gretsch guitars, but it's still a really solid sounding instrument. For a little more effort, you can just remove the pickups and replace them with better ones; this will give you a world of difference. At that point, the guitar plays and sounds as good as most guitars that are a few hundred bucks more. It's got a rich, ringing tone that some people have said is similar to George Harrison's (which I agree with). Overall it sounds good as is but gets better with a few modifications. OVERALL OPINION For such a cheap guitar, this thing is pretty solid. I think that with a little work in can be a really great instrument. I've played quite a lot of guitars in the beginner's price range, and I think that this one is probably one of the best sounding. It definitely is leagues above Squier. I would have to recommend at least trying this guitar to anyone looking to get started.

Gretsch guitars have been around in one form or another for quite some time and survived through the last half century or so of big name instrument company wars. In 2002, Fender Guitars took control of production of the Gretsch line. Since then, manufacturing has been done in Japan, and many Gretsch fans agree that the Fender reproduction models of classic Gretsch guitars are every bit as good if not better than their vintage counterparts. One of these vintage reproductions is the Gretsch Duo Jet. Featuring a hollow (not chambered) mahogany body, two filtertron pickups, bigsby tremolo, an ebony fretboard, master volume, and Gretsch's unique tone switch, this is really a classy yet very functional instrument. Everything about it is old school and faithful to the original. 22 fret neck. Volumes for each pickup. Open style tuners. The neck however is a bit thinner than many players might expect. And this should be taken into consideration for those expecting something with a bigger Gibson profile. UTILIZATION Not all guitars can look great as well as play effortlessly. The Duo Jet manages to hit the mark fairly well on each end. While the neck may be thin for some, it is fast and comfortable. The ebony fretboard is smooth and the guitar is light and comfy due to the hollow body. Tilted in the downward position it starts to sound a lot like an old Les Paul. The Bigsby feels great, like an old friend, but be warned, my Duo jet could take only a few tugs of the bar before it began to lose tuning. Perhaps the nut could be filed to fix this. SOUNDS The sound is vintage Gretsch. Chimey, jangley, raunchy filtertron tone is served up in spades here. Interestingly, the tone switch located next to the pickup selector can get you some additional sounds. Through a cranked AC30 the Duo Jet is very strat-like in a way, expect much angrier. Plugging into my Hiwatt reissue I get an open tone somewhere between angus young and Pete Townsend. Using the tone selector the possibilities are endless. OVERALL OPINION While the forte of the Duo Jet is obviously the looks and overall vibe, it doesn't disappoint in the performance department either. This isn't a guitar for everyone. Many players will gravitate towards Fender or Gibson for their classic sounds, but Gretsch offers another flavor all its own. That said, I really love the way this guitar looks, plays, and sounds. It's worth every penny. Don't let the Japan make fool you. It's solid. Highly recommended.

This is a gorgeous American hollowbody. It's got two humbucking pickups, with a volume knob and a tone knob as well as a three way selector switch, which is located in the upper left hand corner from the player's perspective. There are 19 frets on a rosewood fingerboard. It has a bigsby bridgepiece with Bigsby tremolo bar. UTILIZATION This guitar is an absolute breeze to play. The high notes are easily accessible due to the cutaway on the body. This makes it easy to go from rhythm to lead playing quickly and with no reaching. This thing sounds fantastic almost always. It's a hollow body, and though it has humbucking pickups it can still feedback a little with distortion, so make sure that if you're using it it's the appropriate kind, and only use it when you're playing. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is great if you like smoother, cleaner tones. It's not too heavy, though it is larger than some of my other guitars. Regardless it's pretty easy to carry around and wear on your back. It's definitely a great, well-made instrument. SOUNDS This is definitely one of the better guitars that I have played in a while. It's got some of the thickest, fattest tone, that's still bright enough to cut through a mix and clean enough to be smooth and gentle. With a little overdrive or fuzz this thing can rock with the best of them too, though like I said before feedback is an issue (sometimes, though, that's a good thing, as in heavy punk or noise rock bands). Basically it's a really versatile instrument. It sounds really good through tube or solid state amps, in fact solid state might be better for mellow jazz as it's less noisy, but I honestly prefer a tube for what I do. I go with a Fender Twin often. OVERALL OPINION I like this guitar's sound the best. It has a great look and feel too, an all around vintage kind of guitar. I really dig the smoothness of it overall. It's expensive as these aren't exactly easy to find nowadays. But definitely try and jump on one of these if you can find them, they're excellent. They sound great and are made excellently. I've played a few hollowbodies but the Gretsch ones are a cut above.