Nggd...

[Steve DeRosa]

New Gretsch Guitar Day...

Been a Gretsch fan since I started playing guitar in 1962 (my grandparents lived three blocks from the Brooklyn factory), had my eye on a 5622 Electromatic for a while now, finally played one in GC a few months back; got some stuff I haven't used in a while and need to unload, decided to celebrate my b-day by pulling the trigger on a Rosa Red one. Scheduled to arrive later this week - pix/review to follow...

[mikealpine]

Congrats!! It'll be nice to see pics and hear your review.

[Dru Edwards]

What a great b-day gift for yourself, Steve! Congrats on the Gretsch. That's one brand that I've heard nothing but excellent reviews but I know so little about them.

[Steve DeRosa]

Pics as promised:









- kind of a cross between some of my favorite existing Gretsch designs, and ones that I always felt should have been but never were. While the single-cuts have their proponents - I've owned an original burst Double Annie since May '64 (got that one as a birthday/graduation present, too) - I got hooked on the double-cuts long before George Harrison debuted his Country Gent here in the US, and I always felt Gretsch should have had a modern 3-PU hollowbody to compete with the Gibson/Guild jazzboxes; in the mid-70's I was also in a band with a guy who owned two original cats-eye 6117's - one red, one black, bought 'em for $75 each - and I liked the ultra-thin (for Gretsch) body and quasi-Rick 360F cosmetics then and now (yeah, I know about the 5620 cats-eye RI). Topped it off with a HSC with more than a bit of '50s Gretsch vibe:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GWJM335

In a nutshell, the dream Gretsch I've wanted for the last 50+ years, and another one to cross off my bucket list - now for that double-cut Cadillac-tailpiece White Falcon and flametop Country Gent from the '63 catalog inside endplates...

[The Growler]

Very cool. I'm sure you'll have fun with at Steve.

[Dru Edwards]

Great looking guitar, Steve. The Fretboard inlays a unique - is that common on a Gretsch?

[hesson11]

Congrats, Steve! I'm having enough trouble trying to figure out what to do with one pickup, let alone three. I'm glad you're more advanced on electrics than I am! She's purty.
-Bob

[blue]

The word "golden age" gets thrown around but c'mon. You know what it would take to get the cat eye f-holes when I was coming up?

Electromatics don't sound exactly like a Gretsch, but nothing you can't tweak in on the amp knobs.

Great guitar!

[redir]

What a beauty and well deserved after such a long wait!

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

...The fretboard inlays are unique - is that common on a Gretsch?

The Neo-Classic (AKA "Thumbnail") inlays have been a distinguishing Gretsch feature on all but the very lowest models since 1958 (I've got them on my '64); while some of the Electromatics have adopted earlier designs (dot, square block, '54-57 "humpblock") most current instruments, including the entire Professional Collection's renditions of post-'57 models, boast the Neo-Classic inlays...

Originally Posted by blue

The word "golden age" gets thrown around but c'mon. You know what it would take to get the cat eye f-holes when I was coming up?

Electromatics don't sound exactly like a Gretsch, but nothing you can't tweak in on the amp knobs...

If you were coming up when I was coming up - from the mid-60's on - a cats-eye 6117 wouldn't have cost you any more than a standard sunburst Double Anniversary, which BTW shared the 6117 designation; while there have been a variety of explanations over the years for the existence of these idiosyncratic guitars, one that I found particularly intriguing was that they were intended to be pitched to the Beatles and marketed as an endorsement series similar to the Chet Atkins lineup. Considering that by mid-1964 Rickenbacker had become the defining image of the Fab Four, it would seem logical that Gretsch would revisit their history and resurrect the '40s cats-eye soundholes (a distinguishing Rick feature), install their version of low-power single-coil pickups (Hi-Lo 'Trons), and pair them with four-knob/single-switch circuitry in the manner of the ultra-rare Rick 360F; it's also noteworthy that red and black - neither of which were standard colors for any Gretsch hollowbody at the time - corresponding to George's 360-12 (and then-new Tennesseean) and John's 325, were the colors of choice. FYI they were never made in great quantity - estimates range around 200 between mid-'64 and the end of '66 - and given the rate at which the Beatles' music was evolving it's doubtful they would have stayed with these guitars under any circumstances; as I said before a former bandmate picked up two of them in the mid-70's, when Gretsch was at the bottom of its market value, for $75 each - they'll cost you considerably more today...

As far as sound is concerned, as a lifelong player I'll be the first to tell you that it depends on exactly which Gretsch, with which pickups, through which amp; frankly I'm a fan of the new Super Hi-Lo's, which are essentially a Filter'tron with only one set of polepieces exposed TMK - the identical mod I performed on my '64 when the original Hi-Lo's went south, BTW. Speaking from hands-on experience there's no mistaking it for anything but a Gretsch, albeit to my ears one that draws on some of the Brooklyn factory's most defining tonal elements: the top-end airiness of early Hi-Lo's, the smoothness and midrange twang of Beatle-era Filter'trons, and the drive of Dynasonics - again, everything I've been looking for in a single instrument. I demoed one at GC through a variety of amps and I was able to extract just about every tone one customarily associates with the Gretsch name, as well as some edgier higher-gain sounds - and although they're no longer around to see it I believe that Chet, Eddie, and George would all be well-pleased with this one...

[jricc]

Sweet, best of luck, look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[blue]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

If you were coming up when I was coming up - from the mid-60's on - a cats-eye 6117 wouldn't have cost you any more than a standard sunburst Double Anniversary

I was playing an aria at that point. So a double anny definitely qualified for "Do you know what it would take?" level

[Darwin]

Very nice Steve. There are some interesting Electromatics available recently.--Darwin

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Darwin

...There are some interesting Electromatics available recently...

The Electromatic line has become Gretsch's de facto skunkworks, just as Epiphone was (and to a lesser extent still is) Gibson's - just using the center-block models as a point of departure, they were available as E-matics for a couple years before they were introduced to the Professional Collection lineup. For those jonesing for heritage models on the cheap, they've got two varieties of E-matic White Falcon (as well as a limited-production black/gold version), a single cut Penguin, a near dead-on copy of the '63 double-cut Jet Firebird (with honest-to-Chet Pro-Series Filter'trons), and a 6120 - all for well under $1K, and I came this close to buying the '63 JFB (I've been in love with that one ever since I got the '63 catalog as a kid)...

Update: 5622 arrived today; installed a set of flatwound 11's, plugged into my Ibanez beater amp for about 10 minutes to once-over the electronics, letting it settle in for a couple days before doing a full hands-on test drive/review. As the pundits have been fond of saying in this Presidential election year, the early returns look promising - stay tuned for updated results...

[Steve DeRosa]

As promised:

Overall impressions:
Forget what you think you know about bargain-price electric guitars: the fit/finish quality on this one not only rivals (and in some cases exceeds) modern instruments at three and four times its modest cost (including those in Gretsch's own Professional Collection), it's head-and-shoulders above most of the vintage pieces when they were new - and I'm speaking as a Gretsch owner since 1964. While it's obvious this guitar sports a poly finish and as such will never develop that unmistakeable Gretsch patina, it's not plasticky and overdone like many of its erstwhile competitors (are you listening, Ibanez?) and has a fluid feel under the hand which, along with the short (24.6") scale, makes for a far speedier-playing instrument than initial appearances might suggest. At approxinately 9-1/4 lbs. you're at the lower end of Les Paul territory - I wouldn't recommend a '50s style skinny strap for this one - but the balance is different; distributing the weight over a larger area cuts down on the "bowling-ball-around-the-neck" feeling common with LP's, and with a wide (2" or more) strap it's comfortable for even this old dude to play for extended periods...

Playing impressions:
If you've ever fallen in love with the handling qualities of a particularly sweet old Gretsch hollowbody from their mid-60's heyday, step up and meet her daughter. Whoever was responsible for designing this one at the Korean plant clearly did his homework; wrapping my left hand around the neck was like hugging an old girlfriend - you never forget the feeling - and in a side-by-side with my '64 Double Annie, but for 52 years of wear on the latter the feel was uncannily identical in every respect. While the action with the factory 11-49 nickel-steel roundwounds had to rate as the absolute lowest I've ever seen on any factory-new electric guitar, at any price - this baby needed no setup work whatsoever (and based on previous experience I strongly doubt it's because of the Sweetwater 55-Point Checkup); with a set of flatwound 11's and minor intonation adjustments on the B and wound-G strings, I was able to drop it even lower. If you're a speed player with a light touch and you're looking at a Gibson Midtown Standard/ES-335 or 339 Studio, or one of the double-cut Newark St. Guild Starfires, you owe it to yourself to give a 5622T a test drive ...

Electronics:
I've yet to meet an experienced electric player who's neutral about Gretsch pickups/electronics: you either love them or hate them, pure and simple, and I'm unequivocally in the former categpry. The new Super Hi-Lo'trons have little in common with their generally-reviled early-60's namesake: these are more akin to a Baldwin-era Filter'tron with a single row of adjustment screws exposed, and fitted with a Hi-Lo cover & graphics - and they deliver all the power and tone their ancestry implies. Although the 5622T is fitted with dual switches on the upper cutaway, in the manner of most post-'58 Brooklyn electrics, the functions are somewhat different in that the second (two-position) switch serves as an on/off for the middle pickup rather than a preset tone filter (these duties being relegated to a master tone knob on the lower treble bout). Similarly, while the five-knob volume/tone circuitry pays visual tribute to the '64-66 cats-eye models, the operations are an amalgam of golden-era Gretsch: master volume on the lower cutaway, individual volume controls for each pickup and a master tone control on the lower treble bout; be careful, though: not only are the volume controls interactive at their lowest positions (zero one out and you zero them all) but the middle pickup cannot be selected on its own - a situation I might want corrected somewhere down the line. That said, this guitar is capable of a broad variety of tones associated with the Gretsch marque, most of which are of the Filter'tron variety - plug in a Vox AC30 or tweed Bassman, dig out all your old George Harrison and Brian Setzer licks, and wail away till the Cavern closes and all the stray cats go home for the night. The real secret weapon here, however, is that middle pickup; flipping the switch adds not only an instant volume boost - my guess is that it's wired in series with the parallel neck/bridge (one possible explanation for the interactive controls) - but a healthy dose of '50s Dynasonic crispness and clarity perfect for roots/rockabilly or Chet-style fingerpicking. Overdriven tones are somewhat lighter in texture than typical full-size humbuckers, with a midrange emphasis that pays tribute to both P-90's and Firebird mini-buckers but in a slightly different frequency band than either; lead players who love their American amps/speakers for general use, but would like a drop or two of British tea in their tone when it's time to ramp things up, as well as jazz/blues guys and gals who find full-size humbuckers too "woofy" and indistinct through a 15" speaker, would do well to check this one out...

Final thoughts:
When I was living in Brooklyn about 35 years ago, I approached a then-upstart luthier (whom I won't name here) who has since become one of the most-respected names in uber high-end electric basses, with a set of specs and a rough sketch of a guitar I wanted to commission - essentially the Gretsch 5622T; although the merits of individual luthierie vs. factory production can be/have been/will be debated ad infinitum, I doubt he could have produced a more effective, pure musical tool than this guitar - and in my book that's what it's all about. The quality control is through the roof by any standard, and in four days of shakedown playing/fine-tooth-comb examination I haven't been able to find a single flaw or drawback; say what you will about Pac-Rim guitars in general, there's a pride-in-product here that belies the modest selling price - take the Electromatic name off the headstock and Gretsch could easily command (and get) two or three times as much - and the big names both here and abroad could take some valuable lessons from Gretsch's Korean affiliate. I would have preferred a nitro-lacquer finish as well as vintage-style (Waverly, Grover Sta-Tite, etc.) tuners, I'd like to be able to solo the middle pickup, and I'm not too fond of the idea that the Bigsby screws into the top, but in the grand scheme these are comparatively minor points that have little bearing on functionality or playability; overall I give it a 9.9/10...