NGD solid body Chinese Gretch G5220 - Page 2

3notes · #16 01-11-2020, 11:20 AM

OP ..... That radius is really great. Doesn't even compare to a Fender. I have a new Gretsch 5420 and the neck is extremely comfortable and the playability is off the charts good. My chording has cleaned up a lot.

Ray175 · #17 01-11-2020, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Yes the neck pickup is about as low as it can go. It's ok for lead playing but not for rhythm playing. I don't mind buying some new quality pickups since if I ever sold the guitar I would just refit the originals and use the new ones on another guitar.

I share your general impressions, and am delighted with the purchase of mine. It adds another dimension to my stable which includes a 19621 strat and 1961 ES175D with PAFs. When I bought it last year I was looking for an inexpensive guitar with good natural crunch and the Electromatic Jet g5220 does exactly that for me - perfect Neil Young territory.

As for the neck pickup, if I boost the mids to some degree with my 6-band MXR EQ pedal, the sound improves drastically and I feel no need at all to change the pickup, which is fine for jazz soloing too......

The only "negative" point for me is the walnut fingerboard which feels dry under my fingers unless I put some lemon oil on it once every couple of months - no big hassle to do when strings are changed.

Dru Edwards · #18 01-11-2020, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Yes the neck pickup is about as low as it can go. It's ok for lead playing but not for rhythm playing. I don't mind buying some new quality pickups since if I ever sold the guitar I would just refit the originals and use the new ones on another guitar.

Let us know how the new pickup goes.

paulp1960 · #19 02-10-2020, 09:57 AM

Well I finally bit the bullet and ordered a pair of US made Gretsch Blacktop Filtertron pickups for my G5220. Hopefully they will give my guitar more of that Gretsch goodness that I feel is lacking from the Broad'tron pickups fitted to the guitar as standard. They were quite cheap, around half the price of a UK hand made equivalent. I will report back when I fit them but that may be a few weeks from now.

PTony · #20 02-10-2020, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Well I finally bit the bullet and ordered a pair of US made Gretsch Blacktop Filtertron pickups for my G5220. Hopefully they will give my guitar more of that Gretsch goodness that I feel is lacking from the Broad'tron pickups fitted to the guitar as standard. They were quite cheap, around half the price of a UK hand made equivalent. I will report back when I fit them but that may be a few weeks from now.

I love Blacktops. And, Hi’Lo’s as well (although they’re a bit more subdued). I was quite disappointed with the new models that had Broad’Trons.

That being said, swapping out your BT with BTFT will bring you all the Gretsch goodness you’re looking for. Please keep us posted.

paulp1960 · #21 02-10-2020, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PTony

I love Blacktops. And, Hi’Lo’s as well (although they’re a bit more subdued). I was quite disappointed with the new models that had Broad’Trons.

That being said, swapping out your BT with BTFT will bring you all the Gretsch goodness you’re looking for. Please keep us posted.

Yes I will let you know for sure! They will probably take 2-3 weeks to arrive here in UK from US. Hopefully the new pickup rings will fit my guitar without mods. Just debating whether to change all the wiring and pots/treble bleed etc. at the same time. My pickup selector switch stopped working for a while on the neck position but some contact cleaner seemed to fix that.
It's not all bad news I really like the playability of this guitar.

PTony · #22 02-10-2020, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Yes I will let you know for sure! They will probably take 2-3 weeks to arrive here in UK from US. Hopefully the new pickup rings will fit my guitar without mods. Just debating whether to change all the wiring and pots/treble bleed etc. at the same time. My pickup selector switch stopped working for a while on the neck position but some contact cleaner seemed to fix that.
It's not all bad news I really like the playability of this guitar.

IMHO there’s no better time to do a re-wire considering you’re doing a pickup swap. Typically many guitar manufacturers use cheap wire, pots, caps, switches, jacks, nuts, etc.

I’m sure it saves them a LOT of money. I don’t fault them for it. There are exceptions to the rule of course.

Replacing your standard wiring with CTS pots, an Orange drop or PIO (paper in oil) cap, Switch-Craft switch and jack, and a treble bleed kit would be a wise choice. I like vintage pushback wire also.

All of this can usually be done for little money. Especially if you’re handy with a solder gun and have some time.

Just my opinion. But, if I were going to do a pickup swap I’d take the opportunity to do a re-wire. Let us know how it goes. Obviously I’m a fan of Gretsch guitars.

Steve DeRosa · #23 02-10-2020, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Well I finally bit the bullet and ordered a pair of US made Gretsch Blacktop Filtertron pickups for my G5220. Hopefully they will give my guitar more of that Gretsch goodness that I feel is lacking from the Broad'tron pickups fitted to the guitar as standard. They were quite cheap, around half the price of a UK hand made equivalent. I will report back when I fit them but that may be a few weeks from now.

Um, not to throw a fly in to the ointment but there's a significant size difference between the Filter'tron and the Broad'tron (the latter being a full-size humbucker as I'm sure you're aware) - you might need to shim the edges of the pickup cavities to take up the slack, or use an adapter ring like the following:

https://tvjones.com/collections/hard...style-em1-ring

Let us know how it goes...

paulp1960 · #24 02-10-2020, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Um, not to throw a fly in to the ointment but there's a significant size difference between the Filter'tron and the Broad'tron (the latter being a full-size humbucker as I'm sure you're aware) - you might need to shim the edges of the pickup cavities to take up the slack, or use an adapter ring like the following:

https://tvjones.com/collections/hard...style-em1-ring

Let us know how it goes...

Thanks Steve I believe that the new pickup rings that come with the new pickups will address the size difference. So long at the pickup ring screw holes match up. Fingers crossed...

paulp1960 · #25 02-29-2020, 07:14 AM

Ok just an update on the pickup replacements. I ordered a pair of black top Filtertrons from a US Ebay store and they arrived quite quickly. In the end with customs duty and postage they cost me £83 which is a lot cheaper than a pair of handmade UK Filtertron copies.

I noticed with the Broadtron pickups that the pickups were very wobbly from the start and there was no spring tension left on the neck pickup if I set the height quite low. I didn't worry too much since I knew I was going to replace them.

When I fitted the filtertrons last week and restrung the guitar I noticed that the new pickups were even more wobbly. So I bought some 30mm springs to replace the 20mm springs that came with the pickups and have just fitted them and restrung the guitar (again!).

Now the pickups are rock solid in the guitar. I much prefer the tone of the Filtertrons and feel more of the Gretsch vibe compared to the Broadtrons which sounded polite, sterile and generic to my ears.

I've also ditched the pickguard, couldn't see the point really I'm unlikely to scratch the guitar top the way I play.

Not sure I like the Gretsch circuit really with the master volume and 2 pickup volume controls. I might rewire it with a different configuration in the future but for now I'm enjoying this guitar even more.

I even bought a Blue Chip pick to see what all the fuss is about them. It's very nice and I'll try not to lose it.