So here she is!
First impressions, it's crazily light! First time I picked it up I nearly threw it through the roof, I knew they were chambered and lighter than a Les Paul but hell it makes even my Bronco feel positively weighty! The Bigsby is super smooth and responsive gives me all that I need from a Vibrato and may even kick the JM/Jag system from the top spot, it's so completely different feeling to the B7 on the Les Paul. The bridge however is taking some getting used to. The screws/knobs used to keep the saddles in place really stand proud, may have to invest in some low profile ones I've read about on some Gretsch forums but I'll keep at it for now...
After a little setup she's playing almost perfectly. All I have left to do is order a replacement TVJones T-Armond for the Powertron in the bridge (which sounds fantastic, but it's just not what I'm after from a Jet) and either a Chet Atkins wire arm or find a way to get rid of the metal notch stopping the arm rotating further.
She sounds absolutely amazing, even unplugged. The neck pickup is quite strong but balanced, very warm and very (dare I say it...) woody, roll the tone off a little bit and it gets some great Jazz tones without being too dark. The bridge is surprisingly bright and twangy for a PAF styled pickup, it had me rethink whether I should replace it or not but it's just not what I'm going for. It's also out of phase in the middle position and I'm feeling too lazy to bother changing that... still has that great Gretsch sound though
All in all I'm in love with it, completely killed the itch I had to get a P90'd Les Paul. Can't wait to order the T-Armond to replace it and cop some of those "everybody knows this is nowhere" era Neil Young tones.
