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Old 02-01-2022, 09:51 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Default PSA for prospective Gretsch Electromatic buyers!

As of the beginning of this year, the entire E-Matic lineup has shifted to Chinese production...

While there will likely still be some Korean-made 5400-Series hollowbodies in the pipeline or available as NOS - as was the case when the 5600-Series semis made the move in 2019 - given their excellent reputation and high value-per-dollar factor it's impossible to say how long they will last, especially given the industry-wide supply-chain shortages...

Good news is that they're introducing a new Filter'Tron variation exclusive to the 5400's - although the FT-5E has the general appearance of the Baldwin-style "blacktop" FT fitted to the MIK instruments, it has much of the chime associated with the early Brooklyn split-tops (and the TV Jones recreations); overall this one's cleaner, less midrangey/gainy, and more vintage Gretsch in character - IMO as a long-time player there's a place for both sounds in the Gretsch pantheon, but if you have a definite preference for one or the other you'll need to take that into consideration up front - and in that light I'd like to see the outgoing Baldwin blacktop replace the Gibsonesque Broad'Tron presently in use on the 5600-Series semis (and the low-buck Streamliner), with their more rock-based orientation...

In addition there are some new, more contemporary finishes in the lineup - the 5420 in particular seems to be paralleling the MIJ Brian Setzer in this respect (discontinuing the Aspen Green that hinted at the 6118 "Smoke Green" Double Annie, favored by Brian Jones in the Stones' early days) - as well as '59-style trestle bracing (a definite plus given their lightweight top/back plates) and upgraded gold trim on certain models; this time around they also seem to have remembered the southpaws, as there are now lefty 5420 and 5422 models available as part of the standard lineup (and at no upcharge )...

Finally, all this comes at a $100 across-the-board decrease in price vis-a-vis the Korean versions - again a bit of good news when some manufacturers' products have taken as much as a 60% leap in the last couple years - but whether or not they'll be able to meet the incredibly high standards set by the MIK E-Matics remains to be seen; in the meantime, here's the info from the Gretsch website:

https://gretschguitars.com/gear/coll...matic?sort=new

- and an extensive hands-on review courtesy of Andertons:

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Old 02-02-2022, 07:23 AM
Rogerblair Rogerblair is offline
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Sorry to read this, Steve. I’ve probably bought my last new Gretsch.

Rb
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Old 02-02-2022, 11:26 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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This is really interesting information, Steve! Thanks!

I watched the entire Anderston's video. It was pretty interesting, too!

Amazing that they have dropped the price!

- Glenn
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Old 02-02-2022, 01:41 PM
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I realize mine isn't the prevailing thought here, but it does echo what I have read over at the Gretsch forum. I really do not believe the Chinese made Gretsch Electros are inferior in any way to the Korean ones. I am talking about the more recent ones and not the Streamliners. I have several Korean and several recent Chinese versions and can tell no appreciable difference in quality.
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Old 02-02-2022, 02:34 PM
Chickee Chickee is offline
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To parrot GlennWillow, Steve DeRosa is just full of background and history on Gretstch guitars. You want to know the nuts and bolts of what makes them tick, he’s your guy.
And the boys at Anderton’s did a good job with guitars they freely admit knowing very little about or understand its place in the music scene.
The high point of the video for me was the twelve string. Simply irresistible!
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Old 02-02-2022, 07:50 PM
Lillis Lillis is offline
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I’m glad I pulled the trigger on a 5420 last July. I definitely prefer the rosewood fretboard over laurel and like the fact that they had a long successful history of being made in Korea.
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Old 02-02-2022, 10:32 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDigger View Post
I realize mine isn't the prevailing thought here, but it does echo what I have read over at the Gretsch forum. I really do not believe the Chinese made Gretsch Electros are inferior in any way to the Korean ones. I am talking about the more recent ones and not the Streamliners. I have several Korean and several recent Chinese versions and can tell no appreciable difference in quality.
The following comments are directed solely at the underlined passage above:

While I make no bones about my long-standing affinity for Gretsch, there's a very good reason I don't belong to their - or any other - marque-specific forum. I'm sure many fellow AGF'ers could tell you about their experiences on a couple such sites, when they dared to question a corporate decision that had a tangible bearing on the product rather than fall lockstep into the cult mentality; even though I learned early in life to give as good as (or better than) I get, I'd rather enjoy the somewhat lower-key/less emotionally-charged exchange of ideas that constitutes a typical AGF thread - as well as the ability to address perceived product deficiencies or poor marketing choices without triggering thermonuclear cataclysm...

Scaffolding from my background in both psychology and education, every player has his/her own unique sensory framework - tactile, visual, aural, even olfactory (post-1955 Brooklyn guitars have a distinctive aroma - then and now) - which, along with the experiential, contribute to one's perception/evaluation of a given instrument. In my own case we're talking about six decades' worth of hands-on, and the only reason I don't own more is that I've never really had the need: I've played literally several hundred Gretsch instruments over my lifetime, from nearly every period and every position in the lineup - Clippers and New Yorkers, original '50s White Falcons and Eldorados, every model produced during their mid-60's heyday, the '70s Baldwin/Kustom attempts to remain relevant, the litany of false starts and resounding successes of the Fred Gretsch era - and there's a certain je ne sais quoi, a defining line of both heritage and development (albeit broken at times) that makes a Gretsch a Gretsch, that extends beyond mere product...

IME the Korean supplier understood this, and whoever was responsible for designing the post-2013 MIK E-matics really did their homework: when I got my 3-PU 5622 in 2016 it felt instantly familiar, comfortable, and unmistakably Gretsch in my hands - in an NGD review I likened it to hugging an old girlfriend - with its own take on "That Great Gretsch Sound" (thanks to the line-exclusive Super Hi-lo'Tron pickups) and QC that was head-shoulders-&-navel above anything even near the price. From what I've been able to ascertain of the market as a whole, most current Gretsch buyers/posters were not only not around when the Brooklyn stuff was new but, as Chickee mentioned above in reference to the Andertons reviewers, know very little about what makes them what they are or understands their place in the music scene. FWIW it's not a matter of the Chinese makers' ability to build a quality instrument if they so choose - IMO Eastman justly owns the under-$4000 carved-archtop market that the other big names (Gretsch included) should be representing at least to some extent, even if with a single model - it's just that whoever made the (ir)responsible decisions took what was a unique product (the 5600-Series) and turned into a line of generic-looking/sounding twin-humbucker semis; while adequate IME in terms of general quality - on a par with the workmanlike, comparably-priced Epiphone or D'Angelico Premier offerings - I've found them lacking both the unique tonal attributes (no thanks to the Broad'Tron pickups, a conventional humbucker design) and the uncanny attention to detail that characterized their predecessors...

Bottom line for me is not whether it's good - it holds its own in its price range against all but the Godin CW II and the MIK new-old-stock 5600's - but is it Gretsch...
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Old 02-03-2022, 10:04 AM
GoPappy GoPappy is offline
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Well said, Steve. I suspected this move was coming sooner or later.

I was guitar shopping recently and stumbled across a pre-owned G5622T with Super HiLoTrons, in my favorite Gretsch color (orange) in near-mint condition. It was priced well below the price of a new one, and included a hard case.

Expecting it to be a more recent MIC version, I flipped it over to confirm. Lo and behold, it was a 2017 MIK version. I played it, checked it over carefully, played it again, bought it and brought it home. (Pics coming soon.)

I know the MIK 5622s are not rare, but I felt fortunate to find one in the flesh, in fantastic condition, at a great price, and in a color I love. With this 5400-series production move to China, I suspect the MIK versions will become harder to find on the used market. I'll be on the lookout for a gently used MIK 5422 in the flesh.

Last edited by GoPappy; 02-03-2022 at 10:19 AM.
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Old 02-03-2022, 11:05 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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I'm not by any means an expert on Gretsch history, models, and sounds, but I appreciate their part in the history of the electric guitar. Maybe I'm jaded, but I appreciate differences in electric guitars, colors, sounds, the playing feel, the controls -- all of that.

On one hand, the market this century has helped folks like me. Lots of pickup options, affordable reissues and sorta-kinda tributes to what were rarer (because originally less popular) models.

On the other hand, there's a large part of the market demand that expects and looks for a narrower range of things relating to guitars. I still have five (!) of the failed made in Korea DeArmond line that sorta-kinda referenced Guild models. They were blown out at around $250 each new in box early this century because next to no one knew what they were trying to be and because they didn't sound and feel enough like a Gibson or Fender.

I'm not in the business. I know nothing about how one makes money selling to folks like me, if we're too few or capricious, or what. I like my MIK Gretsch 5622TG too. I know there are folks here who care where their guitars are made for extrinsic reasons, but I would have bought and enjoyed it regardless of where it was manufactured. It's different* and I still don't fully understand what all it can do -- and that's part of what I like about it.

I join Steve in hoping for continued distinction in the Gretsch line.

*In Minnesota "it's different" is the polite curse for things we don't much care for. No, I don't mean it like that.
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Old 02-03-2022, 02:48 PM
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Thanks everyone for the nice discourse on the Gretsch line. I certainly am no expert on them and I absolutely would defer to Steve for that. I also don't, in any way, doubt that what Steve is saying is correct. I would think that the folks in charge of the Gretsch Electro line would also be knowledgeable about these intrinsic tones and would strive to imulate it. But, again, I can't speak to that.

What I can say is that I'm coming into this with my own biases. I own four Electros made in Korea and four or five made in China. To my ears, those guitars with similar pickups tend to sound similar, though I don't own any duplicates so I can't say for sure. Fit and finish seem quite high on both sets of guitars and I really don't complain about how they are put together.

When I buy a guitar, I sit and play it for a while (unless bought online). I can say that every one I bought had the qualities I was looking for. Again, I really can't say that I have that ability to identify that special Gretsch thing, but I do like the tone of the guitars I own.
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Old 02-03-2022, 04:27 PM
ataylor ataylor is offline
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If they did the 12-string in white/gold...
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Old 02-03-2022, 10:33 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ataylor View Post
If they did the 12-string in white/gold...
- I'd buy one as a companion to my double-cut White Falcon...
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Old 02-04-2022, 04:14 PM
TobyB TobyB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoPappy View Post
I was guitar shopping recently and stumbled across a pre-owned G5622T with Super HiLoTrons, in my favorite Gretsch color (orange)
Expecting it to be a more recent MIC version, I flipped it over to confirm. Lo and behold, it was a 2017 MIK version.
I know the MIK 5622s are not rare,
I have one of those ... and it's good... and for my ears it sounds a whole lot richer and plays in tune better with an ABM 2400 roller bridge and a String Butler I tried recently ... unhappy with the stock bridge wobble... well worth considering... I am not one of those compulsive modders ...
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Old 02-04-2022, 04:42 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoPappy View Post
...I know the MIK 5622s are not rare, but I felt fortunate to find one in the flesh, in fantastic condition, at a great price, and in a color I love. With this 5400-series production move to China, I suspect the MIK versions will become harder to find on the used market. I'll be on the lookout for a gently used MIK 5422 in the flesh.
Got your guitar right here - brand-new, and it's a match for your 5622:



https://reverb.com/item/49609961-gre...ay-with-bigsby

- or if you'd like a little White Falcon mojo on the (relatively) cheap, a few more bucks will get you this (also brand-new) beauty:



https://reverb.com/item/4597359-gret...by-crest-white
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Old 02-04-2022, 05:08 PM
SpruceTop SpruceTop is offline
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I'm sure glad I got my Gretsch G5420TG-59 - Vintage Orange in the nick of time!
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