NGD Gretsch - help me decide!

[sciuri]

NGD Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-59!







Help me decide! I can really only keep one: MIJ Duo Jet or MIK Electromatic hollow body?

I’ve had the Electromatic (G5422T) for about 6 months as my first ever Gretsch, and it took about that long to really bond with it, so I never went on to do my originally planned upgrades - TV Jones Classics, new wiring harness, TruArc bridge. I thought maybe I just like solid body-sized guitars with more spank and sustain, so I starting GASing for a Duo Jet.

The MIJ Duo Jet plays great and sounds great, but now I’m torn. I like the TV Jones Classics more than blacktop filtertrons for sure (more sparkle, less midrange nasally bridge sound, but not apples to apples with the very different guitar construction). The MIJ has better hardware, and it’ll retain its value way more than a modded Electromatic would. But surprisingly, playability for me is pretty similar for both, with the MIJ having a more unique neck carve (soft V vs thin U), a better setup, and a little better tuning stability. I thought I’d have an easier time deciding (e.g., it’s been easy for me to choose an MIA/MIJ Fender over a MIM one).

Part of me is still attached to the Electromatic and wanting to mod it up, but there’s no guarantee it’d end up as good. My mental image of a Gretsch has always been a hollow body, and my slight aversion to Les Pauls doesn’t help the Duo Jet’s case. My brain says the Duo Jet is the “better” guitar, and it certainly sounds and feels better stock than the Electromatic does stock. I'll spend more time with both and suspect with time I'll appreciate more about the MIJ, but I'm going back and forth at the moment.

[windmill]

The 6128 everyday !

Hope this helps

[Flurko]

I've never been a fan of the double cut hollow Gretsches, so it would be an easy answer from me. A single cut would be a whole other thing, but this particular shape never clicked for me.

[sal paradise]

I love the duos. I’d probably go Riviera/335 for that semi-hollow if you wanted it.

[Jonesie]

Duo Jet by a wide margin. Double Cut Gretsches are weird.

[sciuri]

Duo Jet by a wide margin. Double Cut Gretsches are weird.

I've never been a fan of the double cut hollow Gretsches, so it would be an easy answer from me. A single cut would be a whole other thing, but this particular shape never clicked for me.

Thanks for your feedback! I had no idea double cut Gretsch guitars might be less preferred, if that's actually a popular opinion. The double cut Country Gentleman was my original goal (via Lou Reed, who I assume got one because of George Harrison, and then ultimately I began to learn/fake my way through Chet Atkins). But I don't love the color options for the Country Gent. A double cut hollow body also provides some variety for my collection, as I have a single cut Guild that is among my top 3 and my go-to jazz box.

I love the duos. I’d probably go Riviera/335 for that semi-hollow if you wanted it.

There might be something about thin semi-hollows I can't get along with. I had an Epi ES-335 and a Ric 330; both were gorgeous but I didn't bond with them, I think partly because the bodies are wide and I have a small build. Somehow I don't mind acoustics or big jazz boxes, but thinner semi-hollows somehow confuse my expectations, which is probably why it took me a while to bond with the Electromatic G5422T and why a Country Gentleman might not be a good fit for me.

[Flurko]

I just thought about it some more, and I think the reason I enjoy double cut hollow Gretsches less is because of the ungainly neck joint, the overall shape looks great head-on in the pictures of Lou Reed and such, but the mass around the neck joint looks weird in a way that isn't the case with similar designs such as a Gibson 335. Design is weird.

[sal paradise]

Duo Jet by a wide margin. Double Cut Gretsches are weird.

I've never been a fan of the double cut hollow Gretsches, so it would be an easy answer from me. A single cut would be a whole other thing, but this particular shape never clicked for me.

Thanks for your feedback! I had no idea double cut Gretsch guitars might be less preferred, if that's actually a popular opinion. The double cut Country Gentleman was my original goal (via Lou Reed, who I assume got one because of George Harrison, and then ultimately I began to learn/fake my way through Chet Atkins). But I don't love the color options for the Country Gent. A double cut hollow body also provides some variety for my collection, as I have a single cut Guild that is among my top 3 and my go-to jazz box.

I love the duos. I’d probably go Riviera/335 for that semi-hollow if you wanted it.

There might be something about thin semi-hollows I can't get along with. I had an Epi ES-335 and a Ric 330; both were gorgeous but I didn't bond with them, I think partly because the bodies are wide and I have a small build. Somehow I don't mind acoustics or big jazz boxes, but thinner semi-hollows somehow confuse my expectations, which is probably why it took me a while to bond with the Electromatic G5422T and why a Country Gentleman might not be a good fit for me.

Sounds like you should swap the pickups & keep the duo jet too.

[sal paradise]

I mean, what would George Harrison do?

HE’D DO BOTH

[Arthon]

I have a G5655TG (semi-hollow electromatic). I have changed the pickups to TV Jones Classic and changed the bridge for a TonePro Roller because I like the shape and playability, but didnt liked the tone. It made a huge difference; especially the TV Jones. It's a great guitar now and my kids fav (for wath it's worth).

So, I cannot help you since the Duo is a great guitar, but electromatic are really nice when you change the shitty pickups.

[sciuri]

Sounds like you should swap the pickups & keep the duo jet too.

I've thought about it for sure. Maybe put dynasonics in the Electromatic and keep the Duo Jet. But I never thought I'd be a Gretsch guy and never imagined I would have two, much less two black ones. And that would mean another guitar on the chopping block...

I have a G5655TG (semi-hollow electromatic). I have changed the pickups to TV Jones Classic and changed the bridge for a TonePro Roller because I like the shape and playability, but didnt liked the tone. It made a huge difference; especially the TV Jones. It's a great guitar now and my kids fav (for wath it's worth).

So, I cannot help you since the Duo is a great guitar, but electromatic are really nice when you change the shitty pickups.

Glad to hear it turned out well for you! Did you also change the wiring harness? I thought about getting a TV Jones pre-wired harness, but it would require reaming the knob holes to fit the larger pots, which I kind of want to avoid doing. I'm not aware of another readily available pre-wired harness that would fit metric-sized holes, and re-wiring a hollow body sounds like a PITA and something I'd have to pay someone to do.

[Embenny]

I've owned four MIJ Gretsches over the years, and they've all been superb instruments, a real cut above the MIK stuff, so I'm surprised to hear that you find these two close enough to have trouble deciding.

I'm also in the camp of finding Gretsch double cuts sort of weird in an ugly way, so my decision would be pretty easy.

Something I've learned over the years is that it's a bad idea to use a guitar I'm not in love with as a modding platform. I've never started with something "meh" and ended up with something amazing. It's best to spend the time and effort modding a guitar only after it's blown you away with the way it feels.

It doesn't sound to me like that MIK Gretsch blows you away, so it's probably not wise to sink a bunch of time and money into it. Just my perspective from a limited amount of info, though.

[DaddyDom]

Weirdly, I picked up a pal's very dusty Electromatic (MIK?) last weekend.

I have held and sniffed a vintage Chet but this was my first ever modern Gretsch action.

It just fit my hand absolutely perfectly, I never felt a neck I liked more on first impressions. I'm even looking at one now. I don't care about the double-cut aesthetics, it was all about the feel for me.

[kamillebidan]

I had a 2017 (?) wine red G5422T that I upgraded to the nines, but after all that I never really bonded it with it. I think I used it once live and it didn't really mesh well with the band. Then it was a strictly clean part recording guitar, but then I got other guitars that filled that part better to my ears. Sold it after a year.

So I'd go with the Duo Jet if given the choice.

[sciuri]

I had a 2017 (?) wine red G5422T that I upgraded to the nines, but after all that I never really bonded it with it. I think I used it once live and it didn't really mesh well with the band. Then it was a strictly clean part recording guitar, but then I got other guitars that filled that part better to my ears. Sold it after a year.

So I'd go with the Duo Jet if given the choice.

Thank you for describing your experience... that is my fear if I were to mod the MIK Gretsch and it not end up being a long-term keeper.

I've owned four MIJ Gretsches over the years, and they've all been superb instruments, a real cut above the MIK stuff, so I'm surprised to hear that you find these two close enough to have trouble deciding.

I'm also in the camp of finding Gretsch double cuts sort of weird in an ugly way, so my decision would be pretty easy.

Something I've learned over the years is that it's a bad idea to use a guitar I'm not in love with as a modding platform. I've never started with something "meh" and ended up with something amazing. It's best to spend the time and effort modding a guitar only after it's blown you away with the way it feels.

It doesn't sound to me like that MIK Gretsch blows you away, so it's probably not wise to sink a bunch of time and money into it. Just my perspective from a limited amount of info, though.

I always appreciate your perspective, Mike.

Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough to detect a huge difference lol! I judge mostly based on feel, which is mainly the neck, frets and fret-ends, and how the strings feel (tension, tactile responsiveness whatever that means, resonance, etc). For Fenders, it has always been easy for me to judge (based on a modest but decent sample size), and for those parameters, MIA=MIJ >>> MIM > Squier, and in some cases Squier was pretty close to MIM and cleaned up quite nicely, but I've yet to meet a MIM that came close to MIA or MIJ. For Gretsches, I expected a gap as large as what I experienced from MIM to MIA/MIJ Fenders, but it's a significantly smaller gap I think for these two guitars. They're both poly, but the MIK does somehow feel more poly, if that's real or not lol.

I haven't modded the MIK Gretsch after several months precisely for the reasons you described. But somehow I'm still reluctant to let it go... but I am gradually talking myself out of putting too much money into it.