Initial impressions....
Aesthetics. Wow! An all-around stellar guitar even without factoring in the price (630 USD). Fit, finish, and construction were equivalent to any MIJ Gretsch I've played. Initially, the TOM bridge w/rosewood base was a bit awkward with the Bigsby, as I'm used to roller, bar, or bowtie bridges with a Bigsby. After a while, however, the stock TOM didn't seem that odd. The main shortcoming of the guitar is the tuners -- MIK Waverly copies -- but that's an easy 50-60 USD fix with a set of Grover Imperials. The body is noticeably smaller than the G5120 and the guitar is not a copy of a double cutaway 6120 -- it's smaller and in a good way. The one aesthetic drawback, for me, is the clear perspex pickguard instead of the silver Gretsch logo'd one shown above. It's far from a deal breaker and, again, something that can be fixed for relatively little cash.
Sounds. Acoustically the guitar played/sounded great. Very resonant and full sounding despite being a rather compact hollowbody. Electrically, I was very impressed; it shined through a less than ideal amp (a HR Deville). I would've put it through its paces with an Epi Valve Jr., as I plan on acquiring a Blackheart BH5-112 Little Giant for the Gretsch, but it took the GC staff almost an hour to locate a Valve Jr. I could use. The stock pickups were quite nice, albeit rather hot -- not vintage '60s Gretsch. Still they had plenty of that rockabilly, twangy Gretsch goodness to them and are perfectly suitable. The neck pickup really shined whereas the bridge pickup was a bit on the treble side for my personal tastes. That said, the strings were the usual run of the mill and far too thin (.09s) GC POS roundwounds; an upgrade to quality flatwound .11s should -- I *think* -- rectify the bit too treble bridge pickup.
Conclusion. I plan on going back and running the G5122 through the Valve Jr. later in the week before deciding whether to pull the trigger on it but suspect it is only a matter of time before I have an NGD with a G5122. I'll post a follow up later in the week with my further impressions.
