Hollowbody: Electromatic vs Guild X175?

[BoneDigger]

Anybody played both? Which did you prefer?

Todd

Sent from a cell phone. Sorry for any typos.

[Steve DeRosa]

Which Electromatic(s) do you mean - big difference...

[BoneDigger]

5120

Sent from a cell phone. Sorry for any typos.

[Steve DeRosa]

Been playing Gretsches since 1964, only had one brief encounter with the Newark St. X-175 (I'm assuming - perhaps incorrectly - that's the one you're talking about), so here goes:

Gretsch 5120: Has the feel and most of the visual vibe (including the Neo-Classic thumbnail fingerboard inlays they unwisely discontinued on the current upscale Electromatics), with higher-quality fit/finish than anything else in its price class (IMO comparable to the more expensive Guild in this respect); the oversized (in Gretsch terms) pickups are "almost-but-not-quite" if you've ever owned/played a genuine Brooklyn Gretsch (or even one of the current Professional Series models), copping many of the tonal essentials but lacking the "soul" of the Filter'trons; FWIW if it's real Gretsch tone you're after at a decent price I'd sooner go with one of the current 5400/5600 Electromatics - there's a bit of TV Jones vibe in those '70s-voiced blacktop Filter'trons, as well as all the old classic sounds when matched with a nice tube amp (run a 5422 into a Vox AC30 and play some early Beatles licks, and you'll see what I mean)...

Guild X-175: This one could have shared the stage with the Rat Pack at the Flamingo in '59 - your classic old-school 17" single-coil jazz box, with all that implies physically (this is a big guitar by any measure) and tonally (the Fender Champion 40 I played through wasn't the best amp for this baby, but it has that unquestionable mid-50's hollowbody sonic vibe - clear and punchy with quick decay); the neck is admittedly an acquired taste unless you've handled a lot of early electric archtops, a classically narrow "soft-U" (which I liked) with narrow-tall frets whose only real purpose I can see is to facilitate grind-&-polish jobs well beyond your lifetime or mine - I started as a jazzer, and had they fitted it with period-correct frets I probably would've walked out of the store with it that day; FWIW, since you mention Gretsch the Bigsby version (which I haven't played) would probably make an excellent rockabilly/roots guitar a la early Scotty Moore with a set of 11-50 flats - in my book the hardtail is a textbook bop machine, designed for a set of 13-56 flatwounds and ultra-low action...

Hope this helps...

[BoneDigger]

It does indeed! I'm actually pretty happy with the Gretsch, but the Guild sure sounds good too!

Todd

Sent from a cell phone. Sorry for any typos.

[BoneDigger]

The above was a typo. Should say 5420. It has the blacktop filtertrons installed.

Todd

Sent from a cell phone. Sorry for any typos.

[Steve DeRosa]

Unless you're a hardcore jazzer looking to add the classic mid-50's bop tone associated with Tal Farlow/Barney Kessel and the pre-1956 ES-350 to your stable, I'd stick with the 5420; no real advantage in shelling out an additional $300+when IMO the Gretsch makes a better rockabilly/roots axe - and there's no way you're doing '60s Brit-Invasion jangle on that jazzbox...

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Unless you're a hardcore jazzer looking to add the classic mid-50's bop tone associated with Tal Farlow/Barney Kessel and the pre-1956 ES-350 to your stable, I'd stick with the 5420; no real advantage in shelling out an additional $300+when IMO the Gretsch makes a better rockabilly/roots axe - and there's no way you're doing '60s Brit-Invasion jangle on that jazzbox...

Agree mostly.

You could potentially play rock n roll/rockabilly on the Guild (which is a great looking guitar by the way), even though it was intended more for jazz/big band playing. But like Steve said, the Gretsch is a rockabilly icon with a Bigsby tremolo to boot and that's the guitar I would choose.

[BoneDigger]

Yeah, I think I'll stick with the Gretsch.

Todd

Sent from a cell phone. Sorry for any typos.