Gretsch G5420T Electromatic Classic Hollow Body Single Cut w/ Bigsby - Walnut Stain

The Gretsch G5420 Electromatic is the middle category for this inspirational guitar. If you have a solid body guitar, get another alternative such as a hollow body for its own unique sound. I appreciate the Pro-series is the top of the range and made in Japan but is much more expensive as an introduction to these guitars. the Electromatic series is a Korean built where the differences between the two categories is very small. It offers everything that the Pro series does, it has that special Gretsch sound that can move seamlessly between Rockabilly, Jazz and that Chet Atkins style finderpickin' Nashville sound without the bigger costs. I chose the Orange stain as a nod to Brian Setzer and Chet Atkins but it was a close run thing between the Walnut stain and the ... MoreThe Gretsch G5420 Electromatic is the middle category for this inspirational guitar. If you have a solid body guitar, get another alternative such as a hollow body for its own unique sound. I appreciate the Pro-series is the top of the range and made in Japan but is much more expensive as an introduction to these guitars. the Electromatic series is a Korean built where the differences between the two categories is very small. It offers everything that the Pro series does, it has that special Gretsch sound that can move seamlessly between Rockabilly, Jazz and that Chet Atkins style finderpickin' Nashville sound without the bigger costs. I chose the Orange stain as a nod to Brian Setzer and Chet Atkins but it was a close run thing between the Walnut stain and the Airplane grey. The Filotron pick ups have a great quality and sound. It is a pity that it does not come with any sort of case but the lads at Mannys will provide this for a pretty good price if required.I love the Bigsby set up. Legendary!It feels like a real guitar and you can see easily why the Gretsch brand has made such a great comeback. If you fall in love with this guitar you can always move up to the Pro series, but for now, I am pretty happy with this one.

Excellent Guitar

I was looking for a light weight guitar that didn't break the bank and had a great sound and this guitar is everything I wanted it to be! I love the color, size, weight,and most importantly the sound of the pickups. I play on my church worship team and this guitar sounds amazing with all the modern day worship songs we play. I also play Blues with a Blues Driver pedal and it sounds great adding some overdrive. The pickups do a great job at reducing feedback and humming given the hollow body. The strings are not too heavy and are great for the Blues style. Overall this is an excellent guitar and I'd recommend it to anyone!

G5420 T My First Hollow Body Guitar

Overall:Out of the Box I simply Tuned it Up and began Playing. Plays Very Well and Sounds Great. This Guitar was Made in KOREA and the Fit and Finish are Wonderful. Frets are well rounded and the Trim assures you No Fret Bite even if the Frets were a little Sharp. The Appearance of this Guitar would project the Impression it was a Much More Expensive Guitar than it Actually is. I Own a couple of FENDER Guitars and an Epiphone Guitar, I am here to tell you, This Gretsch Guitar is every bit as Nice and Plays just as Nice as any of my other Guitars, the Difference being this is a Hollow Body Guitar and you can certainly Hear the Difference over Solid Body Guitars and that was what I was Looking For. I enjoys many types of Music, Classic 60's, 70's 80's Rock and ... MoreOverall:Out of the Box I simply Tuned it Up and began Playing. Plays Very Well and Sounds Great. This Guitar was Made in KOREA and the Fit and Finish are Wonderful. Frets are well rounded and the Trim assures you No Fret Bite even if the Frets were a little Sharp. The Appearance of this Guitar would project the Impression it was a Much More Expensive Guitar than it Actually is. I Own a couple of FENDER Guitars and an Epiphone Guitar, I am here to tell you, This Gretsch Guitar is every bit as Nice and Plays just as Nice as any of my other Guitars, the Difference being this is a Hollow Body Guitar and you can certainly Hear the Difference over Solid Body Guitars and that was what I was Looking For. I enjoys many types of Music, Classic 60's, 70's 80's Rock and Country, Blues and Blue Grass. I do Believe This Guitar would Play ANY of those Genra's Very Well. It can Play Old Country Twang to Today's Shredding if one wanted to. The Range of this Guitar in my Opinion is just Incredible. Beginner or Professional, I do Believe this Guitar would Serve Any of them Very Well.

It does everything and more than I need it to and it makes me happy :-)

1st it is just so cool looking :D just kidding, 1) For #1 it is hard to determine between build quality and comfort. I have a bad shoulder that makes my standard acoustic guitars uncomfortable. The thin hollow-body of the Gretsch G5420T overcomes that. But as well I am really impressed with the build quality. The fit and finish if the body and neck is impeccable, the knobs for the volume and tone have set screws so they won't fall off even if handled rough. The screw in strap holders make sure the strap won't accidentally fall off. Every fret extends the edge of the neck and is perfectly finished and all 22 are absolutely identical. The tuning machines are identical with the same stiffness feel in and they all hold evenly. The acoustic sustain on this guitar is as ... More1st it is just so cool looking :D just kidding, 1) For #1 it is hard to determine between build quality and comfort. I have a bad shoulder that makes my standard acoustic guitars uncomfortable. The thin hollow-body of the Gretsch G5420T overcomes that. But as well I am really impressed with the build quality. The fit and finish if the body and neck is impeccable, the knobs for the volume and tone have set screws so they won't fall off even if handled rough. The screw in strap holders make sure the strap won't accidentally fall off. Every fret extends the edge of the neck and is perfectly finished and all 22 are absolutely identical. The tuning machines are identical with the same stiffness feel in and they all hold evenly. The acoustic sustain on this guitar is as good as regular acoustics. The material, fit and finish are excellent. 2) The sound, I put the sound second because it is peculiar. It isn't good or bad, just peculiar. If you like it, you like it, If you don't you don't. I like it but that is probably relevant to my other guitars, it carries some qualities and tones the other don't. I have four guitars and they are all different and that makes each one of them special. 3) Finally, it is a totally cool looking guitar.

Nice mid-range guitar, one smallsih flaw

So for the money this is a really nice guitar IMO. It was my first hollow body electric and I find it a pleasure to play. It's got a sweet sound, is comfortable, not too heavy and pretty sharp looking to boot. It has one small defect. Within just a few weeks, the front shoulder strap peg pulled out leaving a hole. Unfortunately, when I went to repair it I learned that there was no block or additional wood inside the body. So the peg was being held on by the thin body laminate only. Seems like a design flaw, no? I wound up attaching a new peg to the base of the neck, so the guitar is playable and as I said, quite nice, but it's got a small hole now, which irks me a bit.

Review of Gretsch G5420T Electromatic Classic Single-Cut Electric Guitar with Bigsby, Orange Stain

I was looking for a guitar to play a different style on (more blues and early rock and roll) and love the look of hollow bodies.When I picked up the Electrometric, it just played so well. Orange Stain might not be for everyone, but for me it's perfect! Great sounding and a beautiful looking guitar.The reviews I have read seem to hit it perfectly, vintage looks with modern quality.

That Great Gretsch Sound!

I record and play in a few different bands. Mostly rock, blues, and some country. This black and gold finish on the G5420t is just striking. Out of the box, the setup was good, just a quick tune up and we were off to twangsville. Components on this Electromatic were great. Filtertron's responded terrific and brought that sparkle-twang that only Filtertron's can. I play this through a Carvin VT50 out to a 2x12 cab with Celestion greenies. In the effects loop I have a Danelecto Dan-echo. Instant Setzer! Unplugged, you can definitely pick up the sparkle in this guitar. Throaty bass response, top end sparkle, and twang is a tasty and addictive combo. I have a Les Paul with Burstbucker pros, and they are my favorite pick ups ever. I also have a tele with Texas Specials, ... MoreI record and play in a few different bands. Mostly rock, blues, and some country. This black and gold finish on the G5420t is just striking. Out of the box, the setup was good, just a quick tune up and we were off to twangsville. Components on this Electromatic were great. Filtertron's responded terrific and brought that sparkle-twang that only Filtertron's can. I play this through a Carvin VT50 out to a 2x12 cab with Celestion greenies. In the effects loop I have a Danelecto Dan-echo. Instant Setzer! Unplugged, you can definitely pick up the sparkle in this guitar. Throaty bass response, top end sparkle, and twang is a tasty and addictive combo. I have a Les Paul with Burstbucker pros, and they are my favorite pick ups ever. I also have a tele with Texas Specials, and that has a beautiful spank to them. The Filtertron's are somewhere in between the humbuckers and single coils. These Blacktop Filtertrons are pretty good sounding but from what I have heard, a swap to TV Jones will give the G5420 unmatched clarity in tone. These are great guitars and I found mine to be finished fantastically. Frets were dressed and polished, nut was cut and fit perfectly, and as nutty as this might sound, the action was a little too low for my tastes. I will probably raise the action a tad, but that's just my own thang! So, if you are in the market for a big ol', hollowbody rock box with some pretty, piano like qualities, this G5420T might be what you are looking for. Cheapest way to That Great Gretsch Sound!

Very Good Stock, Truly Great Modded

Sound:The Blacktop Filtertrons in the guitar are by no measure bad pickups, but if you're looking for the classic Gretsch sounds they don't exactly get quite there. They sound good with some type of drive, but I play clean a lot and felt they were lacking something there that I was looking for. Tone is kind of like a Filtertron and PAF mixed, something I'm sure a lot of people will really like. If you're into Gibson type sounds, you'd probably be pretty satisfied. But as mentioned before I wanted the classic Gretsch sound, so I did swap out my pickups for some vintage style Filtertrons. I bought the guitar knowing that I'd most likely be switching them, so no big deal to me. Really just comes down to taste.Features:I am not a fan of TOM bridges, switched mine to ... MoreSound:The Blacktop Filtertrons in the guitar are by no measure bad pickups, but if you're looking for the classic Gretsch sounds they don't exactly get quite there. They sound good with some type of drive, but I play clean a lot and felt they were lacking something there that I was looking for. Tone is kind of like a Filtertron and PAF mixed, something I'm sure a lot of people will really like. If you're into Gibson type sounds, you'd probably be pretty satisfied. But as mentioned before I wanted the classic Gretsch sound, so I did swap out my pickups for some vintage style Filtertrons. I bought the guitar knowing that I'd most likely be switching them, so no big deal to me. Really just comes down to taste.Features:I am not a fan of TOM bridges, switched mine to a Compton bridge right away. Lots of people are fine with the stock TOM, just not a design I like.Ease of Use:Don't take the fact that I've modded this guitar to mean that it needs any modification! It was an excellent guitar right out of the box, played excellent and sounded good. I like to tinker with my guitars though, and feel like I've taken a very good guitar and made it great.Quality:Very solidly built, as good as my American Fenders and Gibsons.Value:For less than $1000, you're not going to find a better hollowbody guitar in my opinion.Manufacturer Support:I haven't needed any support yet, don't imagine I will. I have heard good things though.The Wow Factor:I get compliments all the time about how great the guitar looks and sounds.Overall:Pretty much as long as I've played guitar I wanted a Gretsch hollow body. Although I'm not really a rockabilly player, I always adored Brian Setzer's guitar tone and wanted something like that in my arsenal of tones as well. The G5420T was a great way to begin that tone journey, without spending the $3k-ish of the Prolines.

Very good but quirky

Most paid reviewers will say that these guitars are built way better than other guitars in the same price category. I agree but they do have their issues. First the good: The setup and action are fantastic. The build quality is superb. The Ft-5E Filter'Tron pups are bright and clear. The neck is fast and the fretwork is top notch. The finish and binding are almost impeccable. The tuners are good and well finished. The quirks: It's a gloss finish so the neck is a little tacky if you like natural or satin finishes. Tuning a Bigsby is similar to a strat but less stable with use. The pups are bright and not ideal for a traditional jazz sound. However, it can be attained. These sound somewhere between a tele and a P90 without the hum and thin compared to a standard hb. ... MoreMost paid reviewers will say that these guitars are built way better than other guitars in the same price category. I agree but they do have their issues. First the good: The setup and action are fantastic. The build quality is superb. The Ft-5E Filter'Tron pups are bright and clear. The neck is fast and the fretwork is top notch. The finish and binding are almost impeccable. The tuners are good and well finished. The quirks: It's a gloss finish so the neck is a little tacky if you like natural or satin finishes. Tuning a Bigsby is similar to a strat but less stable with use. The pups are bright and not ideal for a traditional jazz sound. However, it can be attained. These sound somewhere between a tele and a P90 without the hum and thin compared to a standard hb. The individual volume pots go 10-6-3-off at low volume. At gig levels, they are a bit more sensitive so it's easier to blend the pups in the middle position. But for practice levels, they're fairly useless. The master volume is fine. The tone has a weird sweep but it is usable. Only flaw, tried to include it in the photo, is that the stain didn't get under the neck. I don't care but I know this would drive some people insane. Yes it's worth the money. It looks great if that's your thing. It'll play any style of music very well. The guitar itself sounds and is built very well. It feels better than the Gibson Les Paul 60s studio that I owned. I don't need to change the pups or the pots. I sanded and polished the neck to make it slick. And if the tuning bothers me, I can get a trapeze tailpiece for $18 on Amazon. It's still cheaper than getting a streamliner and changing the pups. (Although those pups are better for jazz). If you want a warmer sound, look to models that still have the broadtron pups. I'm used to teles and strats so I like my tone a little too bright and not having to dime the tone knob. I'm very happy with it.

Wow, Color me impressed!

I've been hunting for a quality hollow body for some time and finally settled on the Gretsch G5420T and I'm glad i did. I chose the classic Orange and I must say, this is a striking guitar, fit and finish are excellent, It's a guitar you'll find yourself staring at marveling at its beauty.Play-ability is wonderful no buzzes, dead notes or the like. Action and intonation are spot on. It's a joy to play. This is a BIG guitar (like a Dreadnought) but I'm a big guy so all is well. It plays nicely, kind of like my Taylor Acoustic but with a massive voice. The controls, tuners and Bixby tailpiece all work as expected. If you're on the fence with this one, go ahead and pull the trigger, you'll be a happy camper.