Gretsch guitar players?

[Snufkino]

Anyone her play the more affordable (£400/$600) gretsch electromatics? I've found a fairly decent priced double jet that I might go for, but needed some opinions. Firstly, I prefer single coils and on the proguitarshop demo there's the comment that the mini humbuckers still have a single coil tone to them despite being humbuckers. So the best of both worlds, or just slightly cheap humbuckers? And how deep can the B5 bigsby go? A couple of years ago I put one of them on an eastwood airline and wasn't really that interested in it compared to the vibrato on my strat. It's not a huge deal breaker, but any opinions are useful.

[tuffteef]

i had one of the 51s with the dearmonds
wicked sounding guitar

but never stayed in tune
terrrrrrrible to gig with it no matter what my tech threw at it
it ended up sitting at home cause it was just not reliable enough
then i ended up falling on stage and busting a huge hole in it then sold it haha

it would prob maybe be a diff story for others i have a heavy hand and play like a prick
in the end it was just too much to fix

i think your talking about the solid bodys though
half of it is the nature of those guitars anyway floating bridge and all

[StudioShutIn]

I don't have any experience with actual Gretsch guitars..but my guitar is a custom that is kinda based on the idea.
The TV Jones pickups in mine are humbuckers, but have a very 'single-coil-y' sound, especially in the bridge and bridge+neck positions. The neck pickup on mine sounds pretty much like any other neck humbucker, but perhaps a little leaner.
Of course, your mileage WILL vary, because my guitar has other bells and whistles...

[mutmoo]

Yeah, I own a Gretsch G5120 and I looooove it. Although your guitar and mine are completely different, I can atleast say that the Electromatic series is extremely good. If I was to switch anything though, it would be the pickups. People seem to swap those out most of the time.

[1,2,3, Pull Out!]

I tried one once and the pickups were pretty murky and lifeless and the neck was crap. Compared to the quality of stuff Squier is making for an even lower price tag I wasn't very impressed.

[thousanium]

I have a 5120 upgraded with TV Jones pickups and Tru-Arc bridge. Electromatics (with humbuckers and mini hums) tend to not sound great stock, but can sound amazing after upgrading. The discontinued but still available in stores 512x (the x being numbers 6-9 which describe colour) have single coils, but are hollowbodies, not chambered like the double jet.

Gretsches (especially hollowbodies) take a bit of learning to maintain, and generally work best with higher gauge strings the minimum being 10's, but ideally 11's. The bigsby isn't meant to be used like a floyd rose, and if it comes with the 7/8" spring it has to be used with a careful hand (you can upgrade to a bigger spring or add a washer or coin though). The nuts on the electromatic series aren't great, so you might have to have a tech do a setup and recut (or replace) the nut if it goes out of tune to quickly.

I've played a projet (single cut version of the double jet) and didn't really suit me. The bridge pickup is okay, lots of spank, but the neck pickup is muddy. The Mini humbuckers do NOT sound like single coils unless you're talking about p90's.The neck/body angle is similar to an SG, very sharp, so you may have to angle the pickups so the strings are an equal distance between the rows of polepieces. The neck itself is thick for a gretsch, but not as thick as a gibson, the width of the neck is thin.

I think the electromatic jets sound good for rock and blues, but they're not suitable for every genre. You have to play one for yourself and decide if it suits the type of music you play and the way you play.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

I've got a G5265 coming my way, loved the twangy tone when tuned as a bass. The pups sounded, with fuzz, definitely much less humbuggery than my primary bass humbuckers. That' any help? I don't know if these pups could be actually halved, though, without ruining Your or Your techs weekend.

The Bigsbys that I've tried really don't go too deep, when compared to more modern vibra-trem arms, IMHO they're good for the classical rock vibe effect only, BUT they do that wonderfully. And I think they better keep in tune than the more modern designs I've tried.

However, since 1) I'm not a guitarist and 2) I haven't played that much with Bigsby, you should take my word with a pinch of salt.

[comtrails70]

i used to have an electromatic gretsch baritone that i wish i had never sold even though it sounded really muddy through my twin. i was told to stay away from it because its too expensive for a korean mass produced guitar but i think it was a great guitar none the less. if it feels/sounds right then go for it.

[Gearmond]

yeah, gretchs are poifect for single coil-y sounds. and they naturally sound a bit beefier. thats why you'll see a decent amount of surf guitarists playing them. as well as Jason Lee, aka Johnny Bravo with a Goatee from Next Level Guitars. hell, thats his forte. ... oh you're getting one with mini-buckers. nevermind. mini-buckers don't sound much like single coils.

B5s aren't dive-bomby, no, and they do get a bit iffy when you try to push them past the whole step mark, but I friggin love mine. it feels beefier than fender trems, so it'll be stiffer, but you get used to it, and i've come to appreciate the fact that i can rest my hand on it, and it doesn't budge, hell thats how i play when i'm not strumming chords. As for staying in tune, its kind of a mixed bag as to opinions. some people they stay in tune, others say they don't. mine generally stays in tune fairly well. and if it does go out of tune one way, a bend or so back the other way sets it straight.

[Van Diemen]

I play a Gretsch 77 Roc II (model:7635), it has 2 humbuckers in it, it's essentially a tele, but made by Gretsch, gives a nice honky sound, kinda good for dirty rock.

I my Gretsch, but I have not played any new ones.

[Snufkino]

I tried one once and the pickups were pretty murky and lifeless and the neck was crap. Compared to the quality of stuff Squier is making for an even lower price tag I wasn't very impressed.

See that's the thing, I'm using a squier classic vibe 60's strat, which I really like, and was thinking the cheaper line of Gretsch guitars would be similar in terms of quality. If my local guitar shop has one in I might try it, but I'm less bothered now.