NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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Ceylon
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NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Ceylon » Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:53 am

I was going to wait until I had it in my hands, but I won't get it until I'm at work later so I'll just open my NGD celebrations early :whistle:

I recently sold a guitar that was given to me as a gift. Though having been a great gift I'd never really managed to bond with it, and while I wouldn't have minded just to have it forever, it's kind of a shame for a good guitar not to be enjoyed. But I knew selling it the money would have to go towards a new guitar, and not like beer or whatever, so not to squander the gift. At least that's what I told myself when I immediately hit the classifieds ads :D

And here's the result, my first Gretsch, a G5622T-CB.

Image

(Tinypic keeps rotating my images no matter what I do)

It's the model with a centre block like on a ES335, with three Super HiLo-Trons that if I read the Internet right are really low-output mini-humbuckers with a single-coily character. I love the aesthetics with the Cat's Eye f-holes, the colour, the three pickups and the Bigsby (also never owned a guitar with one of those). It's like it's in between a classic Gretsch and a Rickenbacker in terms of looks while I imagine it's something like a cross of a 335 and a Stratocaster in functionality. Apparently they were only made for a year or two.

More pics and a detailed review to follow!
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by shadowplay » Mon Mar 11, 2019 3:32 am

Congrats, that looks pretty cool, nice colour it almost looks slightly Jade, Lady S has an old car near enough that shade.

I've almost no experience with double cut Gretsch outside a Viking and a short time on a DC Falcon, never played a three pickup one either. I've always fancied getting one though.

Those pickups are meant to decent, a huge step up from the lacklustre ones they put on earlier Electromatics.

All it needs is a better bridge and your are done.

D
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by leokula » Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:17 am

Holy moses! That is stunning!
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by TeenageShutdown! » Mon Mar 11, 2019 6:38 am

If you look real close, I mean real real close, you can see an eyeball looking through the key hole.

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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by eskmsaul » Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:11 am

Nice! I'm very satisfied with my guitar collection as-is right now, but I think a Gretsch just might be the last piece of the puzzle.

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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Squirrel » Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:23 am

Nice! Always loved the look of these. No idea why they decided to discontinue them and replace them with a much less interesting-looking model.

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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by zhivago » Mon Mar 11, 2019 1:19 pm

Very cool guitar! I love the colour! :-*
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Ceylon » Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:35 pm

Thanks everyone!
The colour's a bit lighter in real life than it comes off in the picture but it's still as Shadowplay says very much jade. (I wouldn't mind owning the right car in this shade either) I'll freely admit I fell for the aesthetics and that that was perhaps the main reason I got it. Aside from the colour it has a touch of like art deco.
I've spent about an hour with it since getting off work and any worries I might have had about it being a nice looking lemon are gone. It's an Electromatic obviously and as such made in Korea but it's incredibly well made and it's certainly the most expensive-feeling guitar I've owned. Every bit feels solid and on point, the neck is chunky but pretty flat, the finish is damn near perfect and even the knobs and switches feel satisfyingly heavy duty. Unplugged it sounds great, a bit more quiet but with more clarity and definition than my fully hollow Ibanez Casino-oid. There's a touch of subtlety to the feel of it (if not to its looks) that had me feeling like my playing was somehow more on point than it usually is.

As for why they stopped making these, well, I got this second hand and it's the second one I've ever seen come up for sale after they got discontinued. Either that means the people who got them hold onto them, or they didn't sell very many to start with, or both. It seems like a cool enough addition to a more traditional line-up that you'd want to keep it around, it being the alternative Gretsch sort of, but maybe it was too out there. Although in terms of functionality the third pickup is kind of brute forced into there. The second upper switch turns it on or off, but there's no way to use it on its own. It's got its own volume knob but if you turn it down the whole guitar goes quiet, and the master tone doesn't effect it, which seems a bit like a missed opportunity but hey, it's three additional sounds either way.

My actual good amp is at our rehearsal space so it'll be a while before I can really try the pickups out but I'll give them a go through my Kustom tomorrow :shifty:
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by shadowplay » Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:13 am

Ceylon wrote:
Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:35 pm

The colour's a bit lighter in real life than it comes off in the picture but it's still as Shadowplay says very much jade. (I wouldn't mind owning the right car in this shade either)

Here's a link to my post on the car that's just been fully restored. Whether it's the 'right' car in this shade 'Moss Green' is up to you.

D
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Ceylon » Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:15 am

shadowplay wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:13 am
Ceylon wrote:
Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:35 pm

The colour's a bit lighter in real life than it comes off in the picture but it's still as Shadowplay says very much jade. (I wouldn't mind owning the right car in this shade either)

Here's a link to my post on the car that's just been fully restored. Whether it's the 'right' car in this shade 'Moss Green' is up to you.

D
The '64 230SL? It might not have been the very first car I'd choose for myself but I sure wouldn't turn it down either. A pretty and sprightly-looking car for an late summer/early autumn drive.

Since you mentioned a better bridge, and I might just start a separate thread on this eventually, I did pretty much instantly start looking into the tone-chambered aluminum Compton. Would you go for that over the Tru-Arc? What makes either of them better than the stock TOM apart from TOMs being generally thought very little of on here?
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Debaser » Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:17 am

Nice Gretsch! Always wanted a Cat’s Eye.

I’d stick with the TOM, unless you have buzz or rattle. It’s not that Compton or Tru-Arc isn’t good stuff, it is. It’s that you have a solid block body, a tension bar Bigsby, and metal bridge studs. You won’t have the same set of issues as a guitar with a floating bridge and no tension bar.
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Ceylon » Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:53 am

Debaser wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:17 am
Nice Gretsch! Always wanted a Cat’s Eye.

I’d stick with the TOM, unless you have buzz or rattle. It’s not that Compton or Tru-Arc isn’t good stuff, it is. It’s that you have a solid block body, a tension bar Bigsby, and metal bridge studs. You won’t have the same set of issues as a guitar with a floating bridge and no tension bar.
Thanks! Yeah, the Cat Eye is pretty neat.

That makes sense. I never really played any guitars with floating wood bases but now that you mention it I could see how there could be a greater room for improvement in that kind of construction. I figured people mostly got the Comptons as tone upgrades, but then is it more fair to think of them as something like the Staytrem for Gretsches?
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Ceylon » Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:54 am

EDIT: double post for some reason
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by DiAmoroso » Tue Mar 12, 2019 10:42 am

I'd say definitely go for the Compton bridge. I added one to my G5420t and it really brings the guitar to life, similar to what a Mastery does for a Jag/Jazzy, but a fraction of the cost. I got the non chambered aluminum, and am very happy with it. I wanted bright, but was afraid that the chambered style would be way too bright. The effects of the bridge are very real, and if you give Wayne your correct measurements the bridge will just slip right in place no fuss. In my opinion it's the single best upgrade you can give to your Gretsch to improve tone, sustain, and feel.
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Re: NGD: Not even New Gretsch Day, just Gretsch Day

Post by Debaser » Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:33 pm

Ceylon wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:53 am
Debaser wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:17 am
Nice Gretsch! Always wanted a Cat’s Eye.

I’d stick with the TOM, unless you have buzz or rattle. It’s not that Compton or Tru-Arc isn’t good stuff, it is. It’s that you have a solid block body, a tension bar Bigsby, and metal bridge studs. You won’t have the same set of issues as a guitar with a floating bridge and no tension bar.
Thanks! Yeah, the Cat Eye is pretty neat.

That makes sense. I never really played any guitars with floating wood bases but now that you mention it I could see how there could be a greater room for improvement in that kind of construction. I figured people mostly got the Comptons as tone upgrades, but then is it more fair to think of them as something like the Staytrem for Gretsches?
I upgraded one of my G5420s and G5122 Electros with ABM bridges, and they have the ‘solid bar’ tone, since the TOM body is milled from bell brass, and use rollers to reduce friction with vibrato use. Those are not that easy to find it seems. As for the bar bridge, I love what they do for a Gretsch—increase sustain and volume, stabilize Bigsby tuning. I have lots of Tru-arcs, and used a steel Compton for a bit.

Only drawback is limited intonation adjustment, but I’m sure you’re down with that. There won’t be any adjustment ability if you don’t float the bridge. I don’t trust the factory placement of bridge studs, so I’ll look at the better made TOMs. dBridge made custom bar bridges with a customer’s unique intonation setting, but he’s not taking any orders at the moment. Tim at Tru-Arc also makes adjustments for models, but I’d say not as precise to include a persons string gauge and action setting, I would think. Compton bridges are back up after a long break, and they are a good deal..

All I’m saying is with a bar bridge on factory studs, intonation will be a bit of ‘luck of the draw’—the guys who have ‘perfect’ intonation will be more vocal about it then the guys’ who were close enough but not really. At least a Staytrem is adjustable ;D
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