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So it was my birthday last week and having managed to sell some gear I thought it right I reinvested it right away in a new Gretsch! I had tried one out a few years ago and loved it but it was far outside of my price-range then. This one popped up on Gumtree at a great price so I figured what the hell!

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.

woah. love it! always loved those bridges too.

Same guitar but with Filterttrons
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Love the green/gold color scheme - same as my alma mater.

GO BULLS

Sweet - I got one in black in Feb and it's awesome but I am somewhat jealous of your excellent bottle green colour.

Nice choice... Love the green.

Love it!
That is one rare occasion when I have seen gold hardware look incredibly good. Superb colour, well done.

One of my all-time dream guitars is a Green Penguin, so I'm understandably purpleheaded with envy.

I wasn't so sure about the gold at first either, was planning on swapping it all out for chrome at some point but it's really grown on me!

That's gorgeous.
How's the neck?

sunshiner wrote:Same guitar but with Filterttrons

Well spotted, though that's an Elliot Easton G6128T...The B7 gives it away.

The neck is kind of chunky, not 50's style Gibson chunky but maybe in-between the 50's fat and 60's slim. Fit's my hand nicely anyway!

Also just adjusted the pole pieces on the neck pickup and it's just incredible now. Any hint of mud is gone (not that I thought there was any before)! ...can't wait to order the new bridge pickup now.

WILL EVERYONE STOP GETTING SHOT NICE GRETSCHES?

That's a cracker, very jealous. Agree with the consensus that the gold looks great on there, too.

benecol wrote:WILL EVERYONE STOP GETTING SHOT NICE GRETSCHES?

That's a cracker, very jealous. Agree with the consensus that the gold looks great on there, too.

Nice Gretsches rule, just get one board with is.

ultratwin wrote:

sunshiner wrote:Same guitar but with Filterttrons

Well spotted, though that's an Elliot Easton G6128T...The B7 gives it away.

Yeah, you're right.

benecol wrote:WILL EVERYONE STOP GETTING SHOT NICE GRETSCHES?

That's a cracker, very jealous. Agree with the consensus that the gold looks great on there, too.

Lol Lock Stock reference...

I don't know why, but the green really works on there, it looks ten times better than the black, and the black is pretty nice.

british racing greene nice so pretty

That looks so sweet & why do I feel like I've gone back in time 60 years?

Josh wrote:woah. love it! always loved those bridges too.

Just as an aside: they're cute to look at, but ol' Sebastiano was unfortunately thinking more about intonation adjustments on the fly rather than the speedy chunks of Ivan Shredkov when he designed the Synchrosonic/Melita bridges, which will easily provide shredded flesh on tap from the threaded screws on top.

I and many others who have messed about with enough Gretschens seem to feel that bridges on the whole are typically the classic design's weakest link, from the TOM-looking (and often rattle-prone) Adjustomatics, sustain-sucking Fixed/Rocking Bar (like on my G6122-1962), to the frustratingly daft string-angle-ignoring Space Control. Over on Gretsch Talk the guys always sing the praises of old man Jim Thompson on Compton Compensated bridges which come in titanium, brass, stainless steel, and eardrum piercing aluminum, for those who need 'em.

I myself am considering a chambered brass piece for my Gentleman, though the fact that each piece sold is a preordered one-off (radius/string spacing/post spacing considered) may affect how easily I'll be able to get my hands on one over here.