Although their solid body selections are highly sought-after, it's their semi-hollow guitars that really take home the prizes. These are some of the best in the game and are true to Gretsch's '50s golden age. Gretsch rose in stature with signature guitars made for Chet Atkins and Bo Diddley. Bo's guitar was rectangle in shape and kitted out in gold hardware — quite the spectacle even today.
Then they cemented themselves in the guitar hall of fame with an endorsement from The Beatles' George Harrison. Those who have had experience with the Gretsch Custom Shop will gladly tell you it's where some of the best guitar in the world are made. The relatively new project began in with their debut at the NAMM guitar trade show.
Master builder Stephen Stern took over the reigns the next year. The Custom Shop has only progressed since, recreating some legendary Gretsch guitars such as the Penguin, the White Falcon and Chet Atkin's th anniversary signature, as well as plenty of other new outstanding builds. Gretsch order their guitar catalogue into three groups: Streamliner, Electromatic and Professional. Each series works to increasingly high standards and more impressive specs.
Streamliner guitars are perfect for those who want their first taste of Gretsch magic. There's nothing to turn your nose up at here, as these dreamy numbers are built to the same high standard as their bigger siblings.
Next up are the Electromatics — the workhorses of the range. All round superstar instruments with dashings of premium features. And finally, the Professional collection. The very best of what Gretsch have to offer. Did you know Gretsch also make acoustics and bass guitars? Yep, there's something for everyone!
Both tow the line in NY style and glorious vintage features. The Jet family covers two unique body types. The first is a single cut with an elongated chambered body. The other is a more aggressively-styled parallel double cut. Each guitar's features are determined by the Collection.
One notable feature that runs through all Jets is the short Streamer models are stripped back to the very basics. Electromatics take a step up in woods, using mahogany for the body and walnut for the fretboard.
There's more choice too, with the option of either a hard tail or Brigsby bridge and Broad'Tron or Filter'Tron pickups. The Professional Jet rivals any vintage-inspired guitar. I highly recommended the Gretsch G for a typical classy guitar for any beginner. The Gretsch G is full of elegance, style, playability, and tone at a budget-friendly price ideal for beginners with an extended budget.
This guitar is a little more pricey than the previous entry; however, Gretsch G is a lot more guitar for your money! The Gretsch G is a smaller version of the larger Archtop body shape making it more comfortable and lighter than the full-sized versions. This guitar is a country, blues, rock, and jazz machine being a semi-hollow design providing a hollow and rounder tone than solid-body guitars. All controlled from a simple 3-way toggle switch with bridge, middle, and neck pickup configurations.
The Gretsch G is highly versatile for many styles within the softer genres, making it an ideal fit for any player still relatively new to learning guitar. The G is crafted from basswood with an arched maple top wood. Color choices on offer are a sweet black beauty or shinny silver sparkle both look dazzling. The guitar lighter compared to a Les Paul with a slender and comfortable body for extended playing sessions.
When it comes to tone, the G comes with two Gretsch Dual-coil humbucker pickups controlled with a 3-way toggle with a master volume and tone knob. The tone is a vintage 50s sound with great crunch rock tones and pristine cleans with a versatile selection of tones. This guitar possesses the usual open and chimney Gretsch sound for a very reasonable price, making this an excellent choice for a beginner on a budget.
The Gretsch G is an affordable archtop with gorgeous looks encompassing the vintage era of guitars. This guitar would make the perfect jazz machine with a large hollow body design helping it produce warm, hollow, and subtle sounds of mellow jazz.
These pickups sparkle on various clean tones; likewise, they can drive hard when drenched with distortion and overdrive. Hence why this guitar will dazzle with many genres you throw at it. Keep in mind; this guitar would be prone to feedback on stage due to its fully hollow body design. At present no modern equivalents have screw holes that line up perfectly.
When the label goes missing the serial number often disappears with it. Unlike Gibson and Fender, Gretsch refrained from messing with winning pickup formulas — until new owners Baldwin introduced cheaper ceramic magnets in There is a way to tell if a dark and rough looking magnet is alnico or ceramic. Take a file and make a couple of passes. By the end of the covers were stamped had patent number stamps.
Some earlier bridge-pickup covers were taller than the neck-pickup covers, with wood shims between the baseplate and the magnet. Gretsch intended it as a three-way tone control offering a straight-through option in the middle and two degrees of preset treble roll-off. In practice it was a great idea poorly executed.
Both roll-off settings eliminated way too much treble and it is now regarded as acceptable to replace the original capacitors with more useable values. Gaps at the neck join may mean it needs a reset for optimal playability. Go here for a more general guide on buying vintage guitars from our expert panel. Check out our six-part series on converting a vintage Gretsch Anniversary model to spec here. Unheard song featuring George Harrison and Ringo Starr played for the first time. Gretsch launches Richard Fortus signature Falcon guitars.
Greuter Audio Fokus review: A boost to cut through the mix and the competition. Essential Guides. Jargonbuster: Overdrive — how to understand your overdrive pedal. Buyer's Guides. The best guitar pedals to buy in 10 best pedals for praise and worship music.
All Advanced Beginner Intermediate. Learn to play guitar like David Gilmour in five minutes. Chord Clinic: Learn to play 10 interesting E major chord variations. Learn to play guitar like Chuck Berry in five minutes. All images: Eleanor Jane. It's hard to tell but if anything the string spacing on that looks wider than the Strats next to it. That looks like a Jet with Blacktop pickups. The Blacktops aren't most Gretsch guys favorites, But they are basically more like normal Humbuckers than Filtertrons etc.
If you like HB's you'll probably like them. They are supercheap aftermarket. There are tons of Jets around so get yourself a good deal! Last edited: Jul 12, Jul 12, 5. Age: 35 Posts: If you play it you should be able to tell how it is for sound, feel, quality. I would say if you like it, go for it! Personally, I have been gassing for a gretsch for 15 years, but I refuse to buy a chinese or korean one, I am saving for the real deal if I ever get around to it preferably a s model.
I bought an older hollow body japanese guitar from the mid 60's that is actually very close to what a quality gretsch would give me tonally. So my gas is subdued for now. What is the price on that guitar? Jul 12, 6. Posts: 11, The Electro Pro Jets are nice for the money, very well made and generally well-playing. Blacktop Filtertrons are Filtertrons with shorter Alnico magnets and smaller pole screws--they are another flavor of the tone Gretsch is most known for.
The Pro Jets are semi-hollow affairs, and later Electromatics are more hollow than early, preish Jets. Other Jet models, like the slab-bodied Special Jet are true solid bodies. Vintage and Pro Line MIJ Duo Jets, especially the 50s types, including Firebirds and Penguins with Dynasonics are really more like a little hollow body, with a thin pressed ply top not a shaped slab , so think more a Dano sound than a solid body sound, which what this Pro Jet will give you.
Filtertrons in general are bright, and most people use a treble bleed on the master volume to retain the highs when turning down. GTs after came with a simple treble bleed on the master volume, I don't know about the Jet models. My gripe with Pro Jets is the use of a B5 Bigsby on an arched top.
The base is supposed to sit flat. On top of that, the break angle is too extreme, it creates tuning headaches with the TOM. Tension bar Bigsby's also add extra friction points, a B3 is what these guitars should and could come with provided a neck angle change.
I sold off my sh Pro Jet because of the Bigsby and the dull Gretsch mini-buckers, which predated the release of the modern Blacktops.
0コメント