Shane_B. Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Can someone shed some light on the model numbers and what they mean? I've been looking at them because they seem to be the only thing lefty in stock anywhere besides $99.99 dollar Squires. I played this guitar today at G.C. and it felt and played perfect. https://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/build/hollow-body/g5420lh-electromatic-hollow-body-single-cut-left-handed/2516021512 I played this at another local shop in silver and while it sounds great the neck was terrible. Too thick and the fret edges were rough. https://gretschguitars.com/gear/build/solid-body/g5230lh-electromatic-jet-ft-single-cut-with-v-stoptail-left-handed/2507220506 The 5420 has a maple neck and was nice and thin and just right. The 5230 has a mahogany neck and felt thick and rough. They specify Slim U for the 5230 but don't specify what's on the 5420. There was nothing "slim" about U though imo. Deceptive marketing term to get you to overlook the fact it's mahogany? I've read that maple necks are better. They both have the same pickups. Both MIK. So far I've seen them made in J, C, and K. The only one I trust is MIJ but playing lefty I don't have much choice. Any Gretsch players out there? Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Dickens Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Not so much, but if you want left handed guitars this is the place: https://www.southpawguitars.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane_B. Posted August 21, 2021 Author Share Posted August 21, 2021 1 hour ago, bdickens said: Not so much, but if you want left handed guitars this is the place: https://www.southpawguitars.com/ I've heard of them. There's a place in Florida called Jerry's or something like that. He sells all lefty's too. No way I can travel that far just to look at them and I won't buy without playing first. But man if I had the time and money I would love to visit both places. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Gretsch guitars are very nice, and have been around for a very long time. They were made famous by Chet Atkins. The hollow bodies were used primarily by fingerstyle players. My dad's had two of them since the mid 60's (both double anniversaries). My younger brother now plays one too. Of the newer models, personally I prefer the sound of the Electromatics over the cheaper Streamliners. Most Grestches use filtertron pickups, which is their own version of the humbucker (they were developed at around the same time, and there's some debate as to which was invented first). To my ears, they're not as dull sounding as humbuckers, but also not as hot. Personally, I've never liked the Gretsch much for distorted sounds or metal/rock playing, but they're great for country, jazz or anything clean sounding. I'm not saying you can't use them for rock (as plenty of people do), but I've never got quite the sound I wanted from them for that genre. In saying that the Jet series are solid / semi-solid bodies, and worth a try if you're going for a more traditional electric sound but want something that is still very different from your standard Strat or LP sound. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 10 minutes ago, msmcleod said: Personally, I've never liked the Gretsch much for distorted sounds or metal/rock playing Philistine............ 😀 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bajan Blue Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 I have a Gretsch Duo Jet 6128 and a Gretsch Rancher - I love my Duo Jet and it is one of my favourite Guitars - The Rancher I do use a fair bit but not so much for recording. It's great live. I have also played a friend of mines Gretsch's - he has a solid body and a Jazz Type Archtop - I can't remember the models, but I think they were the less expensive models - they both looked, played and sounded great - i remember thinking at the time just how well-made they were. I haven't played one of the new Electromatic models, but I'd be very surprised if it wasn't great - I do like Gretsch Guitars😀 You can see me playing my Duo Jet in this video, mainly towards the end Nigel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 The "Chet" Tennessean was my first electric. 3 hours ago, msmcleod said: never liked the Gretsch much for distorted sounds I blame all my bad habits on the fact that I had to "pound" the "dirt" out of the Tennessean even with an Arbiter in front of it... Of course Silverface Bandmasters aren't know for their "grit". t 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane_B. Posted August 21, 2021 Author Share Posted August 21, 2021 I was surprised at the difference between the necks on the two models I tried. Unfortunately they were at different locations so I couldn't do a side by side comparison. The 5230 felt almost like the neck hadn't been finished properly. Like the edges of the frets were sticking out too far. The 5420 was perfect almost like someone took time to do an in depth setup. I'm a huge fan of Chet Atkins. I've found a ton of his LPs at the local thrift stores lately. Haven't had time to see what shape they are in. I made my own wet record vacuum system and it works amazingly well. Can't wait till I have some time to clean them up and see how they sound. Any Don Bowman fans out there? This is my favorite of his. Well that and the Ralph Emery one but I can't post that here ... but his Chet Atkins song is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Fogle Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Chuck Berry, Brian Setzer, Duane Eddy, Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Mike Nesmith either were, or are, some notable Gretsch artists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 8 hours ago, paulo said: Philistine............ 😀 I was fortunate to see them about 10 years ago in a small venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 9 hours ago, msmcleod said: Gretsch guitars are very nice, and have been around for a very long time. They were made famous by Chet Atkins. The hollow bodies were used primarily by fingerstyle players. My dad's had two of them since the mid 60's (both double anniversaries). My younger brother now plays one too. Of the newer models, personally I prefer the sound of the Electromatics over the cheaper Streamliners. Most Grestches use filtertron pickups, which is their own version of the humbucker (they were developed at around the same time, and there's some debate as to which was invented first). To my ears, they're not as dull sounding as humbuckers, but also not as hot. Personally, I've never liked the Gretsch much for distorted sounds or metal/rock playing, but they're great for country, jazz or anything clean sounding. I'm not saying you can't use them for rock (as plenty of people do), but I've never got quite the sound I wanted from them for that genre. In saying that the Jet series are solid / semi-solid bodies, and worth a try if you're going for a more traditional electric sound but want something that is still very different from your standard Strat or LP sound. I don't like the trems on them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 1 minute ago, Paul Young said: I was fortunate to see them about 10 years ago in a small venue. I used to play the Love album to death when it came out, but thought they were a bit disappointing live tbh - sound quality wasn't great though, so maybe more to do with that than the performance itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, paulo said: I used to play the Love album to death when it came out, but thought they were a bit disappointing live tbh - sound quality wasn't great though, so maybe more to do with that than the performance itself. It's often that way with live performances. There use to be this small venue in Scottsdale, AZ where you could see many famous band that got started in the 80's, I'm sad it shut down and it wasn't due to covid. They were in the city and wasn't a really good location for it. They decided not to renew their license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Paul Young said: It's often that way with live performances There was one particular venue I used to go to a fair bit and I'd gotten to the point where I thought it must be the venue acoustics or something that was responsible for the bass heavy, muddy sound because almost everyone seemed to sound that way, I'm talking major bands of the time, so you'd think they would have pro sound guys who knew their stuff, but then I saw Earth, Wind and Fire in the same venue and it was probably the best sound that I've ever heard anywhere. So it wasn't the venue....... Edited August 21, 2021 by paulo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, paulo said: There was one particular venue I used to go to a fair bit and I'd gotten to the point where I thought it must be the venue acoustics or something that was responsible for the bass heavy, muddy sound because almost everyone seemed to sound that way, I'm talking major bands f the time, so you'd think they would have pro sound guys who knew their stuff, but then I saw Earth, Wind and Fire in the same venue and it was probably the best sound that I've ever heard anywhere. So it wasn't the venue....... I got to see Alice Cooper and Motley Cure. Crue was too loud and I though maybe those sound guys are clueless, deaf, or using ear protection used on runways. Some of us were born before the louder is better era, Edited August 21, 2021 by Paul Young Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigb Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 5 hours ago, paulo said: There was one particular venue I used to go to a fair bit and I'd gotten to the point where I thought it must be the venue acoustics or something that was responsible for the bass heavy, muddy sound because almost everyone seemed to sound that way, I'm talking major bands of the time, so you'd think they would have pro sound guys who knew their stuff, but then I saw Earth, Wind and Fire in the same venue and it was probably the best sound that I've ever heard anywhere. So it wasn't the venue....... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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