I have the same one. I changed out the tuners for Grover mini rotomatics, bought a softer spring and a metal bearing roller for the Bigsby. Love it, great value. I really like the neck, my frets are perfect . I really don’t like the pots, will be doing a swap to a TV Jones wiring harness in the future. Pickups are what I wanted. With a little TLC and setting it up these guitars are awesome.
You can take out the Bigsby arm and vile it so that you can spin it 360 degrees. It allows for glide strumming. A Jazzmaster is way better at it but it's free and it's decent. I love mine.
I love this guitar that's why i bought it!! I love the pickups cos it's warm but have the bite at the end of that warmth. It's like in the middle of a Tele and a ES335. I own an ES 335. This has a little distinct edge over every warm notes. That's what I meant! Ver versatile!! LOVE it!!!
I have this guitar in Orange Stain and the gloss is fine. Yes, if you are filming and with high power LED lights straight on it is going to reflect and accentuate everything. The gloss is not over the top and these are just really gorgeous guitars. Also, there seems to be a price difference between the States and Europe. Got mine for £613 UK pounds whilst the Imperial Stain like yours is available for £599. A Gretsch case is £79. For the quality of guitar a true bargain. The only fault I could find was the loose feeling pickup switch you pointed out. Tuning stability like you said is great out the box even with the whammy. Love the neck and pick ups. One thing I would say is that they look very different and much nicer than the product shots on the guitar store websites. My Orange Stain is a deeper reddish orange than it appears and had the product pics of the Imperial Stain looked like that I would have given it serious consideration. If you look at the pics online you’d barely believe it was the same guitar.
I have this guitar and really enjoy everything about it. The thin neck works for me. Interestingly, the thin neck works well with my old arthritic hand. I use a Fender Champion 40 amp quite a bit with this and get a variety of nice sounds from it thru that amp. I also use for recording connected directly into the computer via an audio interface. It has nice tone as is directly into the computer via 1/4 inch cable. I can hardly walk buy the Gretsch without picking it up and playing it, amp or not. Like motorcycles, guitars often match one’s personal preferences and interests over the long haul. I greatly appreciated your review and the great tip on lubricating the nut and other friction points, really makes sense. I have not had trouble keeping this guitar in tune even while using Bigsby but look forward to seeing what effect the “sauce” has on that variable.
I respect your review in regard to playability, tone etc. The issue of a non recommendation on the basis of it not coming with a case or gig bag, though, is silly.
Quote,”I don’t think I can recommend that guitar…” I still think it’s silly. Anytime you can buy something for less, it’s a better deal. The proverbial no brainer.
@emil8446 yep I can see your point. I should have initially worded it better and especially now with the borderline insane pricing of mass produced Chinese guitars it’s not nearly as big of a deal to many people.
Great review! I'm going to get one and play shoegaze and rock-a-billie on it. After this review, I'm going to get a Plek on it and add some locking tuners. I don't want it to be super clean. I have plenty of guitars that can do that. I went to Guitar Center today to try it and compare it to an Epiphone es335. After playing them both, I won't even consider the Epiphone. I LOVE the neck on the Gretsch and the feel and features are far superior to the es335 in my opinion.
Great review , if it came with a case that let’s face it FMI could buy for no money at all it would make it a great alternative for someone that wants a thinner neck semi hollow
Even just a padded gig bag would be great. You look at other MIC guitars around this price and they all come with protection of some sort, this one you're immediately forced to shop around and the cost of a decent bag or case raises the total cost of this guitar to $1000 and at that point there is no way I would say this is worth it.
New subscriber. This is the kind of detail that I was looking for. As someone who's never spent more than $350 on a guitar, I was surprised about the imperfection on some brand's instruments even ones above $1000. From what I've heard, if you're going to buy something made over seas in Asia, Japan is probably the best, then Korea, then China being the lowest in terms of quality control. Though I'm sure there are more variables. I've seen amp techs do in depth reviews about internal quality of electronics and many from overseas are very poor. I'd assume the same is with guitars.
For overall quality I would argue Japan is even doing a better job the US at the moment. They never cease to amaze me, and it's from a variety of brands so it's not like it's only one or two that are absolutely killing it. The electronics on this gretsch were absolutely poor in my opinion, and due to it being a semi hollow not the easiest swap for the majority of people who would choose to upgrade them later on - thus adding to the cost. I really would recommend checking out some of the Japanese manufacturers, it's shocking how good they are.
Shame about the neck. Being a Beatles fan, Ive always liked the look of a Gretsch and as someone not into the sound of humbuckers, I find that the right Filtertron style pickup can give you more of a single coil vibe while still being hum cancelling. 🙂🎸🎸
Yeah Gretsch guitars basically require a demonstration with either Chet Atkins or Eddie Cochran songs played on it lol It's pretty much the best way to get the iconic sound from them
I have a Gretsch G5622 in Dark Cherry, as a fan of thin necks i find it very easy to play compared to Fenders thick baseball bat necks. As for tuning stabilty, the Bigsby trems don't help, there are some mods that improve them, but they will never compete with modern trems. Sadly like a lot of brands that switched production from Korea, the Chinese samples are just not as good. These guitars are an aquired taste, and don't suit all types of music, i rarely play mine and should sell it for a guitar that i will play. Thanks for your thoughts on this one Jim. The ESP should be a far better guitar.🙂
Serious question hrre. Could I still see the clear protective plastic over the pickups? I literally bought one of these 2 days ago, but nearly didn't because it sounded dark and muddy. I asked the guy from the shop about it and he goes I can fix that, i said how, and he says the plastic is still over the pickups, I didn't believe it would make a difference. He took it off, gave it back and it was a different guitar. I'm not even kidding. I bought it right then and there. If this guy left the plastic on.... you see what I'm saying.
Great info!! Completely agree! I have it and I love it!! But I’m not sure at all the pickups circuit works properly, could you please help me? When I chose the middle position on the selector pickups both sound togueter as expected, but when I decrease to 0 any volume pickup, the another one continuos sounding. Probably it’s obvious but i have other models like epi casino or firebird and the volumes behave differet: if you decrease to 0 any of them in the middle position, all the sound of the guitar goes to 0. Thanks!
Hey. What's the deal with the Gretsch manual saying the pick-up selector toggles between the "interior" pick-up, the "exterior" pick-up, or both? Is it not: up is neck; middle is both; and down is bridge?
I want to see a review of this guitar along with a G5222 both with BROAD'TRON pickups & have them used with various overdrives that would *compliment* the pickups. Think out of the box with GRETSCH. Don't assume the overdrive that works w/a PAF humbucker will work w/GRETSCH. A Broad'tron is more PAF slanted in it's voice, yes, but it's *still* much more hi-fidelity than a PAF & a G5622 will not sound like an ES 335.
Are these "black top broad'tron" pickups the same size as a PAF humbucker or are they the size of filtertrons? Looking to replace them but don't want to do any modifications.
I have been looking for an alternative to the country gentlemen to get the sound and look of lou reeds during the velvet underground maybe this is the one to get
It's such a shame that the first iteration of this model is being overlooked. That was the one with three Super Hilitrons and a cat's eye's body. I've been playing Gretsch since the late sixties, and the early 5622 is easily the most versatile of all of them all.
Great job on the review. (And on Mr Sandman) it is a shame that they don't come with a case, but the bigger shame is the cost of a gretsch hard shell case. I would purchase a gretsch for clean only. When i wanna get dirty well i own the Nashville tele and that gets every bit as dirty as i need. I would love to be able to play with you sometime ya liar! Y'all played just like i do and were both a tad off from Chet Atkins but not far. And that, my man is the highest compliment you'll ever get from me.
It really is the best compliment you can give, I took it as such. The saddest thing to me Bob is so many people my age and younger don't even know who Chet is. It's a damn shame, what a player. I can only do my own adaptation of that song, my wife loves to sing it as part of our set so I kind of put my own twist on his version and went from there.
I never have a problem and Gretsch has been my shit since the 80s. Stretch your strings good when you put em on and make sure they slide freely through the nut.
Ithink the center block means there is a small pesce of wood right under the bridge the goes from the bridge down to the back of the Guitar.. just a small block of wood. It doesn't run all the way from the neck to the rear of the guitar. Your a mirror and look inside the guitar.
I thought you were getting some great sounds out of it and heading into some interesting directions without using the vibrato. Makes me think the vibrato on such a guitar is not something I'd really use.
That's a good observation and worth nothing in Gretsch's defense, they make a version of this guitar without a vibrato at all... maybe that's a good option indeed.
Looking for a new guitar have prs ce semi hollow and se hb ii. Never found a strat or tele I like and les Paul to heavy. Looking at gretsch and D’angelico and recommendations Play jam band music phish and dead
Thanks I appreciate that, I feel it's best to play simple for the most part when demoing an instrument because it actually shows what you can roughly expect it to sound like - no reason to go over the top for stuff like this
So long as you aren't throwing crazy gain at it ( triple rec kinda stuff ) you'll be fine, just make sure it isn't the hollowbody version - that won't do as well with the gain as the semi hollow version will.
I toured playing a Gretsch with a punk band for years, they're great. When you think feedback, think Ted Nugent. You can use it, it doesn't have to be a negative.
I played 4 today and they all felt really dead. I also played a used Korean one they had and it played just like my old one did, a lot more life to it. Small sample size, but it's funny that I'm seeing this comment on the day this happened.
wow dude you don't even get cases with guitars 3 times the price of this guitar. Plus the pickups are very good try a different pedal. the one you used just wasn't for this guitar. I have a G5410T Rat Rod and its stock save the bridge,that was only changed because it was buzzing and a Space Control bridge costs nothing so I swapped it out and I Love my Rat Rod. plays great sounds great stays in tune. The only ppl I ever here complain about a Gretsch are fairly petty and not the best players half the time. Fit and Finish of my Rat Rod was flawless,save the bridge.
“The pickups are very good.Try a different pedal”. Then you go on to not even directly insult me while making such a comical solution to a cheap set of Chinese made pickups matched with cheap import electronics? No pedal is going to make a mediocre set of pickups magically sound good, clarity is everything and you don’t get that from a pedal it comes from the pickup itself but you knew that already right? I wonder what you would think of an actual quality instrument such as a Japanese made Gretsch from the Terada factory or a Deviser instrument. Perhaps you’d have a different perspective.
Pour l'upgrader un peu ça commence à faire un peu d'argent. Une reprise du frettage, un changement de l'axe du bigsby, des mécaniques à bloquage de qualité.,une reprise de certains composants électroniques., un fly case. On arrive à 1000 euros pour une gretsch, mais une gretsch chinoise. Dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de modèle intermédiaire entre les 5622, 5422 et les modèles plus haut de gamme. On passe de 1000 euros pour une 5422 à plus de 2000 euros pour une gretsch un peu plus haut de gamme, et il n'ont pas fait de modèle intermédiaire dans les tarifs d'une d'angelico excel Dc,ou d'u'e guild starfire iv coréenne à 1300 euros.
I have the same one. I changed out the tuners for Grover mini rotomatics, bought a softer spring and a metal bearing roller for the Bigsby. Love it, great value. I really like the neck, my frets are perfect . I really don’t like the pots, will be doing a swap to a TV Jones wiring harness in the future. Pickups are what I wanted. With a little TLC and setting it up these guitars are awesome.
Why didn't you just save your money and buy a Players series?
You can take out the Bigsby arm and vile it so that you can spin it 360 degrees. It allows for glide strumming. A Jazzmaster is way better at it but it's free and it's decent. I love mine.
If you use a good EQ pedal you will have little issues with the pickups being muddy with distortion. That’s what I do. I have this guitar and love it!
I love this guitar that's why i bought it!! I love the pickups cos it's warm but have the bite at the end of that warmth. It's like in the middle of a Tele and a ES335. I own an ES 335. This has a little distinct edge over every warm notes. That's what I meant! Ver versatile!! LOVE it!!!
I own one of these and I love the hell out of it. It looks, sounds, and plays great!
I don’t usually give these much of a look, but that’s a great looking guitar. Nice job showing it off.
I just wish the gloss wasn't so over the top, it didn't occur to me how bad it was until I was editing it and I could see my hands all over the thing.
I have this guitar in Orange Stain and the gloss is fine. Yes, if you are filming and with high power LED lights straight on it is going to reflect and accentuate everything. The gloss is not over the top and these are just really gorgeous guitars. Also, there seems to be a price difference between the States and Europe. Got mine for £613 UK pounds whilst the Imperial Stain like yours is available for £599. A Gretsch case is £79. For the quality of guitar a true bargain. The only fault I could find was the loose feeling pickup switch you pointed out. Tuning stability like you said is great out the box even with the whammy. Love the neck and pick ups. One thing I would say is that they look very different and much nicer than the product shots on the guitar store websites. My Orange Stain is a deeper reddish orange than it appears and had the product pics of the Imperial Stain looked like that I would have given it serious consideration. If you look at the pics online you’d barely believe it was the same guitar.
@@tonyfastideas2657 same here, the sunburst brown is rly good looking irl. the brown wood at the tuners is basically black
I have this guitar and really enjoy everything about it. The thin neck works for me. Interestingly, the thin neck works well with my old arthritic hand. I use a Fender Champion 40 amp quite a bit with this and get a variety of nice sounds from it thru that amp. I also use for recording connected directly into the computer via an audio interface. It has nice tone as is directly into the computer via 1/4 inch cable. I can hardly walk buy the Gretsch without picking it up and playing it, amp or not. Like motorcycles, guitars often match one’s personal preferences and interests over the long haul. I greatly appreciated your review and the great tip on lubricating the nut and other friction points, really makes sense. I have not had trouble keeping this guitar in tune even while using Bigsby but look forward to seeing what effect the “sauce” has on that variable.
I already had a 2627 had 2 Jacksons I couldn't play because of arthritis so I traded them in on 5622 with TV Jones I'm thrilled
man, i cant wait for the ltd review. i’m so excited to see what you play with them
It's all filmed, I had a LOT of fun with that guitar.
Always surprised at your unique style of guitar approach, great in depth review 👍
Thanks appreciate it!
THIS is how you do a store demo, congrats 🎉
I appreciate it!
Good, honest review. Thank you for sharing.
I'm happy you enjoyed it, thanks for leaving a comment
I respect your review in regard to playability, tone etc. The issue of a non recommendation on the basis of it not coming with a case or gig bag, though, is silly.
I didn’t not recommend it with that, I said it’d be smarter to buy one used for less than new that already has a hard case and I’ll stand by that
Quote,”I don’t think I can recommend that guitar…” I still think it’s silly. Anytime you can buy something for less, it’s a better deal. The proverbial no brainer.
@emil8446 yep I can see your point. I should have initially worded it better and especially now with the borderline insane pricing of mass produced Chinese guitars it’s not nearly as big of a deal to many people.
Great review! I'm going to get one and play shoegaze and rock-a-billie on it. After this review, I'm going to get a Plek on it and add some locking tuners. I don't want it to be super clean. I have plenty of guitars that can do that. I went to Guitar Center today to try it and compare it to an Epiphone es335. After playing them both, I won't even consider the Epiphone. I LOVE the neck on the Gretsch and the feel and features are far superior to the es335 in my opinion.
Great review , if it came with a case that let’s face it FMI could buy for no money at all it would make it a great alternative for someone that wants a thinner neck semi hollow
Even just a padded gig bag would be great. You look at other MIC guitars around this price and they all come with protection of some sort, this one you're immediately forced to shop around and the cost of a decent bag or case raises the total cost of this guitar to $1000 and at that point there is no way I would say this is worth it.
New subscriber. This is the kind of detail that I was looking for. As someone who's never spent more than $350 on a guitar, I was surprised about the imperfection on some brand's instruments even ones above $1000. From what I've heard, if you're going to buy something made over seas in Asia, Japan is probably the best, then Korea, then China being the lowest in terms of quality control. Though I'm sure there are more variables.
I've seen amp techs do in depth reviews about internal quality of electronics and many from overseas are very poor. I'd assume the same is with guitars.
For overall quality I would argue Japan is even doing a better job the US at the moment. They never cease to amaze me, and it's from a variety of brands so it's not like it's only one or two that are absolutely killing it. The electronics on this gretsch were absolutely poor in my opinion, and due to it being a semi hollow not the easiest swap for the majority of people who would choose to upgrade them later on - thus adding to the cost.
I really would recommend checking out some of the Japanese manufacturers, it's shocking how good they are.
I have this Gretch. Mine needed fret leveling from the fifth all the way up. I would highly suggest a roller bridge if you use the vibrato.
These should ship with the roller bridge from the factory, 100% agree
Got a used mint one with a hard case for $500. Love it.
You did it 100% right, the case being included is the deal sealer, great to hear!
Great review
Shame about the neck. Being a Beatles fan, Ive always liked the look of a Gretsch and as someone not into the sound of humbuckers, I find that the right Filtertron style pickup can give you more of a single coil vibe while still being hum cancelling. 🙂🎸🎸
Yeah Gretsch guitars basically require a demonstration with either Chet Atkins or Eddie Cochran songs played on it lol It's pretty much the best way to get the iconic sound from them
I have a 5422tg and 5420t, looking at adding one of these.
One of the best guitar I own..Korean
I have a Gretsch G5622 in Dark Cherry, as a fan of thin necks i find it very easy to play compared to Fenders
thick baseball bat necks.
As for tuning stabilty, the Bigsby trems don't help, there are some mods that improve them, but they will never
compete with modern trems.
Sadly like a lot of brands that switched production from Korea, the Chinese samples are just not as good.
These guitars are an aquired taste, and don't suit all types of music, i rarely play mine and should
sell it for a guitar that i will play.
Thanks for your thoughts on this one Jim.
The ESP should be a far better guitar.🙂
Serious question hrre. Could I still see the clear protective plastic over the pickups? I literally bought one of these 2 days ago, but nearly didn't because it sounded dark and muddy. I asked the guy from the shop about it and he goes I can fix that, i said how, and he says the plastic is still over the pickups, I didn't believe it would make a difference. He took it off, gave it back and it was a different guitar. I'm not even kidding. I bought it right then and there. If this guy left the plastic on.... you see what I'm saying.
Great info!! Completely agree! I have it and I love it!! But I’m not sure at all the pickups circuit works properly, could you please help me? When I chose the middle position on the selector pickups both sound togueter as expected, but when I decrease to 0 any volume pickup, the another one continuos sounding. Probably it’s obvious but i have other models like epi casino or firebird and the volumes behave differet: if you decrease to 0 any of them in the middle position, all the sound of the guitar goes to 0. Thanks!
I don’t understand why when I look up this model some have two pickups some have three, like shouldn’t there be a variation in the
model number?
Hey. What's the deal with the Gretsch manual saying the pick-up selector toggles between the "interior" pick-up, the "exterior" pick-up, or both? Is it not: up is neck; middle is both; and down is bridge?
I want to see a review of this guitar along with a G5222 both with BROAD'TRON pickups & have them used with various overdrives that would *compliment* the pickups. Think out of the box with GRETSCH. Don't assume the overdrive that works w/a PAF humbucker will work w/GRETSCH. A Broad'tron is more PAF slanted in it's voice, yes, but it's *still* much more hi-fidelity than a PAF & a G5622 will not sound like an ES 335.
Love the Mr. Sandman rendition.
Thanks Scott it's a staple we play out live
"High-Low". Hi-lo'trons, I just put one in my 5120 tonight.
Pretty cool man
Are these "black top broad'tron" pickups the same size as a PAF humbucker or are they the size of filtertrons? Looking to replace them but don't want to do any modifications.
I have been looking for an alternative to the country gentlemen to get the sound and look of lou reeds during the velvet underground maybe this is the one to get
It's such a shame that the first iteration of this model is being overlooked. That was the one with three Super Hilitrons and a cat's eye's body. I've been playing Gretsch since the late sixties, and the early 5622 is easily the most versatile of all of them all.
8:25 I didn't know Howard Wolowitz played guitar.
Great job on the review. (And on Mr Sandman) it is a shame that they don't come with a case, but the bigger shame is the cost of a gretsch hard shell case. I would purchase a gretsch for clean only. When i wanna get dirty well i own the Nashville tele and that gets every bit as dirty as i need. I would love to be able to play with you sometime ya liar! Y'all played just like i do and were both a tad off from Chet Atkins but not far. And that, my man is the highest compliment you'll ever get from me.
It really is the best compliment you can give, I took it as such. The saddest thing to me Bob is so many people my age and younger don't even know who Chet is. It's a damn shame, what a player. I can only do my own adaptation of that song, my wife loves to sing it as part of our set so I kind of put my own twist on his version and went from there.
That imho would be one of the best kinds of family businesses to have; playing music.
Detune pretty quick if you use the bigsby right?
I never have a problem and Gretsch has been my shit since the 80s. Stretch your strings good when you put em on and make sure they slide freely through the nut.
Ithink the center block means there is a small pesce of wood right under the bridge the goes from the bridge down to the back of the Guitar.. just a small block of wood. It doesn't run all the way from the neck to the rear of the guitar. Your a mirror and look inside the guitar.
I thought you were getting some great sounds out of it and heading into some interesting directions without using the vibrato. Makes me think the vibrato on such a guitar is not something I'd really use.
That's a good observation and worth nothing in Gretsch's defense, they make a version of this guitar without a vibrato at all... maybe that's a good option indeed.
Looking for a new guitar have prs ce semi hollow and se hb ii. Never found a strat or tele I like and les Paul to heavy. Looking at gretsch and D’angelico and recommendations
Play jam band music phish and dead
If you don't need a bigsby the Sire H7's are a really good shout and pretty light for the most part as well
I thought the 5622T had 3 pickups
Thanks for playing some basic chords, which sounded nice. Most people here don't, opting instead to try to show off their supposed shredding ability.
Thanks I appreciate that, I feel it's best to play simple for the most part when demoing an instrument because it actually shows what you can roughly expect it to sound like - no reason to go over the top for stuff like this
Thought this could be a cheaper country gent alternative but I don’t think it sounds that pleasant.
It doesn't have the pickups. You need either blackface filtertrons, or Dynasonics or Hi-Lo'trons if you prefer the single-coil sound.
dude what about feedback problems? do you think it can be a problem playing small gigs with a big amp and an angry drummer?
So long as you aren't throwing crazy gain at it ( triple rec kinda stuff ) you'll be fine, just make sure it isn't the hollowbody version - that won't do as well with the gain as the semi hollow version will.
I toured playing a Gretsch with a punk band for years, they're great. When you think feedback, think Ted Nugent. You can use it, it doesn't have to be a negative.
@@Chuck-Bob thanks man, I did buy a Gretsch center block some months after asking this question here, and it rocks. Thank you!
weight?
I found the overall build quality of the Electromatic line dropped off quite a bit with the move to Chinese production.
I played 4 today and they all felt really dead. I also played a used Korean one they had and it played just like my old one did, a lot more life to it. Small sample size, but it's funny that I'm seeing this comment on the day this happened.
Pretty sure HiLo’ Trons are pronounced High-Low, not Heelo.
Haven't the slightest idea man, heard it both ways before in the past
No, he's definitely correct. Anybody who pronounced it any other way got it wrong.
Ok
wow dude you don't even get cases with guitars 3 times the price of this guitar. Plus the pickups are very good try a different pedal. the one you used just wasn't for this guitar. I have a G5410T Rat Rod and its stock save the bridge,that was only changed because it was buzzing and a Space Control bridge costs nothing so I swapped it out and I Love my Rat Rod. plays great sounds great stays in tune. The only ppl I ever here complain about a Gretsch are fairly petty and not the best players half the time. Fit and Finish of my Rat Rod was flawless,save the bridge.
“The pickups are very good.Try a different pedal”. Then you go on to not even directly insult me while making such a comical solution to a cheap set of Chinese made pickups matched with cheap import electronics? No pedal is going to make a mediocre set of pickups magically sound good, clarity is everything and you don’t get that from a pedal it comes from the pickup itself but you knew that already right?
I wonder what you would think of an actual quality instrument such as a Japanese made Gretsch from the Terada factory or a Deviser instrument. Perhaps you’d have a different perspective.
Pour l'upgrader un peu ça commence à faire un peu d'argent. Une reprise du frettage, un changement de l'axe du bigsby, des mécaniques à bloquage de qualité.,une reprise de certains composants électroniques., un fly case. On arrive à 1000 euros pour une gretsch, mais une gretsch chinoise. Dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de modèle intermédiaire entre les 5622, 5422 et les modèles plus haut de gamme. On passe de 1000 euros pour une 5422 à plus de 2000 euros pour une gretsch un peu plus haut de gamme, et il n'ont pas fait de modèle intermédiaire dans les tarifs d'une d'angelico excel Dc,ou d'u'e guild starfire iv coréenne à 1300 euros.
when they play rythm through distortion you know the tone sucks
My tone must always suck because i play rhythm 99% of the time 🤣