By: Rick Landers
An iconic guitar brand, the. Gretsch company reaches back to 1883, and reinvented itself to meet the needs of musicians and developing innovations along the way. A few of the historic milestones included: adding guitars to its mix of instruments, developing its Filtertron pickups, gaining the endorsement of the legendary Chet Atkins, and adding international business partners to better position the brand in a very competitive global economy. And this year, Gretsch’s 140th anniversary, the company is offering another group of milestones, that include its new Gretsch Limited Edition G5622T Electromatic® 140th Anniversary model.
Review: Gretsch Limited Edition G5622T Electromatic® 140th Anniversary model – MSRP: $899.99
Today’s guitar review is of the Limited Edition G5622T-140 Electromatic®, a mid-range guitar that should be a welcome addition to any guitar player’s gathering of stage ready guitars. The guitar draws design features, functional electronic and hardware components, and inspiration from such masterful Gretsch guitars as those cool Country Gentleman and White Falcon instruments, that we’ve seen in the hands of Chet Atkins, George Harrison, Gene Vincent, Brian Setzer, Michael Nesmith, Neil Young and many more legendary players.
Comments from our local community of musicians were all positive, just based on the “look” of the guitar. “Pretty,” “Beautiful,” and other complimentary comments came in around 100%. It’s a looker and the color combination (Stone Platinum over Pearl Platinum), along with the trad-roots design, the cool Bigsby vibrato arm, the new Gretsch pickups all play their part in attracting a crowd of guitar “tire kickers” and subsequent buyer-players.
Let’s first walk through the guitar step-by-step: (A) design and aesthetics; (B) ergonomics and playability; (C) the sound, with a (E) summary of how all of the components drive this guitar as one to be taken seriously by both novices and old hands playing hot licks on stage.
A. Design & Aesthetics
Hands down, the Gretsch hits all the high-water marks when it comes to the well-known, traditionally loved Gretsch double-cutaway electric guitar designs of old. You grab the guitar and you become one with that history, and hit songs from the ’50s and ’60s roll out like they should, completing the picture.
There’s enough chrome to bedazzle, adding splash to the cool two-tone glossy finish. And the finish on this one is perfect, no flaws, imperfections – a guitar pristine out of the box and into the hands of any guitar player to noodle around with or head up the steps onto a stage. The thing’s just pretty and one of the first thoughts is what to wear when performing, so the look of the performer matches the vibe of the Gretsch.
The overall look is appealing, with a traditional design, a color combination that’s modern, it’s a clean machine that looks ready to punch out anything from pop hits, reverb laden surf riffs, cool ballads, and with pedals, dirge laden heavy grunge sonics. The pups are attached in some fashion to the guitar’s chambered spruce center block, a feature helps retain the guitar’s structural integrity, while smartly fastening the pickups to the top.
B. Ergonomics and Playability
This maple laminated body guitar is light and it’s not going to weigh heavy on you even for two or three hour sets. The 22-fret 24.6” (625 mm) scale length maple neck is sized for a wide-spectrum of hand sizes, with a thin “U” shape and 1.6875” (42.86 mm) nut that’s about right for most players. I typically go for 1.75″ nut widths, but the Gretsch’s feel didn’t feel awkward or require me to make any adjustments in how I played. Comfort level overall is fine for younger players and won’t overburden any player. If you’re a stickler for neck size and shape, it’s best to either try out this model, or find a guitar with the same dimensions to make sure your buy is right for you.
I strapped on the Gretsch and found that it is well-balanced and not flopping around, and while some guitars’ weights feel crushing after a while, this Gretsch ain’t one of them. This is what you want, especially as a first time player. If you already play, then you’ll readily get a feel for the action of this model. Some novice players may find the size of the guitar a bit bigger than many, if not most solid-body electrics and so it may be best to find a shop that sells them to make sure they’re a good complementary fit.
When this guitar arrived, I tuned it up and the sound was a bit wonky heading up the neck. This is normal for a guitar, any guitar, with new strings. It took a little playing to get them to settle in. I played chords and arpeggios up and down, re-tuned a few times, until the strings settled in. Then, everything sounded on point, intonation was great up and down the neck, and even when I wagged the Bigsby licensed B-70 vibrato arm around a lot; the guitar stayed in tune.
Ease of playing is one of the most important aspects of any guitar, but especially for novice players who’ll lose interest fast if a guitar’s too heavy, awkward to play or the action is not set-up right; resulting in fingers getting sore, without an adjustment. And the more novices who stick to playing means guitar companies have better chances to sell more guitars, as novices nearly always become regular players looking for their next guitar. And, there’s always a next guitar, like boaters always looking for bigger boats.
So, hat’s off to Gretsch for making a guitar that’s not singularly focused on making a sale, but thinking about developing new generations of guitar players. Players who not only buy their guitars, but who stick to it and buy guitars over a lifetime. That said, this Gretsch will suit newbies and more advanced players, especially those with vintage guitars who tend to want to keep them at home. This guitar will fit the bill well for stage work, as well as doing its job in a pro recording studio.
And don’t forget that if you add an optional hard shell case, that’ll add some more pounds to your instrument’s carry-weight. And if you get an optional gig bag, please do yourself a favor and get a padded one with straps for toting your guitar on your back.
C. The Sound & Summary
All things being equal, when it comes to guitars, all things are decidedly not equal. Sure, you probably want a certain “look” when you perform and that can be part of your guitar buying checklist, and the feel of the guitar is an important factor, but musicians look for either a certain sound or a spectrum of sounds.
The Gretsch “box” itself is a hollow body with a chambered center block, helping make a guitar that’s as much fun to play un-amped as it is amped to “11” (Well, almost!) The body’s interior space allows vibrations to move about and out of the f-holes, as well as get some sonic enrichment from the hollowed out center block, driven by the Broad Ton pups.
I tested the Gretsch out on three types of amps: (1) Fishman SA330x with 300w subwoofer, (2) Roland Cube EX, and (3) a classic Peavy Chorus 2-12s, that might be used in different situations from listening rooms, busking and farmers markets to decent sized venues.
I played an array of music that included ballads, folk stuff, a little jazz and some hard rock. Tone being a big issue, but I was also checking to hear the guitar’s resonance, sustain and given some hollow-body guitars tendencies to release feedback, pushed the Gretsch to see if I could get it to squeal back at me.
I recall that another well known brand started out with a hollow body electric with a solid top in 1954, but when feedback became a problem quickly donned the model with a laminated top. The Gretsch is laminated, so I expected feedback to be little to none, but the proof is in the playing. And, at times a guitarist may actually want to effect feedback on a song or two.
The Gretsch G5622T-140 has two Gretsch developed Black Top Broad Tron™ humbucking pickups, to seemingly compete with Gibson’s P-90s, as well as to get the punch and gain sought by rock players who kick up the volume, while at the same time retaining the unique Gretsch Sound that pickers seek in order to get those slick twangy Nashville licks.
For those who like to strum and pick, with the Bigsby vibrato arm ready to bend some notes; they’ll run into a metal nub that won’t allow that kind of playing, but the nub looks like it can be removed and easily filed down, and the spring can be replaced cheaply, for about a buck, if that’s desired. I also played a few songs robustly, with the strings getting slightly out of tune – again, probably because the strings were new.
The guitar worked its way from some gently played finger style ballads, once I found the right sweet spot for the song, and given the volume used on both the Fishman and Roland, the guitar did its job fine, and cranked up the guitar held its ground nicely. I played a number of songs for about an hour before plugging into the decades old Peavey with twin-12s and let her rip at full volume, and with the sound breaking up into a growl, the Gretsch wasn’t straining at all and hard rockers would be pleasantly surprised and pleased, although I couldn’t coerce any feedback out of the guitar-amp set up. The new Gretsch Sound was there for the taking, with the sweet bends and twang, no surprise there. All in all, this is a very good quality guitar, that’s aesthetically sweet looking, even charming, easy and fun to play; overall a fine guitar at a very reasonable price.
Gretsch Company’s Description
In celebration of our 140th “Double Platinum” Anniversary, we proudly present the Limited Edition G5622T-140 Electromatic® 140th Anniversary Center Block Double-Cut with Bigsby®. This exceptional instrument honors Gretsch’s historic past while providing essential features for the modern player.
FEATURES
Specifications
