Gretsch G5655TG Electromatic Center Block Jr. Review

Love it

I'm a beginner / getting to intermediate guitar player. Got this for the tone. Love how well it was setup and the fret ends are filed properly. Great buy

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Great Tone at a Great Price.

I have been enjoying this guitar since day one.It has a classy Gretsch look and also plays/sounds great.If Tone is important to you,this Gretcsh has tons of it!.A good match for a wide variety of styles,especially Blues,Rockabilly,Surf,Country and Jazz.

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A 21st Century Gretsch

I have been playing Gretsch electric guitars since 1965.Back then i had a Nashville.This 5655 is similar in style but much improved in comfort and versatility, with a fixed bridge, real f-holes and a tone knob instead of the mud switch. The 5655 is lightweight, thin, and the neck has much better upper fret access than the 1965 edition. The Blacktop Broadtrons are not as powerful… read more as the Filtertrons That I have on my Player's Edition Jet, but they still sound almost as good to my ears thru the same amp, especially when you add an overdrive pedal.I had Sweetwater install Grover locking tuners and I attached a Vibramate Spoiler to the Bigsby to complete the update of this excellent semi hollow guitar.I am really enjoying it and the price.

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Nothing less than incredible

This guitar play incredibly well and it's good reviews are justified. Only two issues I have noticed is: 1) from strap lock screw backs out of the body on it's own. 2) the broad'tron pickups are very hot....a lot of gain. But that is more a thing of opinion and not good nor bad. I'm loving it

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It is flawless..the low profile neck, spruce center block, black top Broadtron pickups and Bigsby tremolo all give this guitar some serious mojo. I don't know that I've ever played such a beautiful and resonant guitar. Surpassed all my expectations for quality and tonality. The only modifications needed imo are locking tuners 19:1 ratio and a stringminder for the Bigsby. Through… read more my new Vox Superbeetle it sounds like a 5k setup I know Ive spent that kind of bread in search of magic tones like I'm getting from the Gretsch /Vox Superbeetle combo.

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Amazing guitar! A sleeping Dragon that roars and growl when you open it up with gain, and sings like an angel.

This is the third Gretsch that I have owned now. To be honest, this was never a brand I ever considered up until about 3 years ago. I absolutely fell in love with semi-hollowbody, and now fully hollowbody guitars, and sought that type of tone. I gave Gretsch a try and never looked back. I could go into exhaustive detail, but this guitar deserves all the attention. Gretsch has a… read more tone all its own, and each type of Gretsch guitar has it's own niche, tone and feel, but every one is still a Gretsch. These guitars have moved, quickly up to my favorites, despite them all being in the Midrange price bracket. They are just so darn versatile. The G5655TG is just a stunningly beautiful guitar. The orange stain and gold hardware are not done any justice whatsoever, even though the photos at Sweetwater are fantastic. This is just gorgeous. I looked over every aspect of it. Not a cosmetic or build flaw that I could find. I also attribute that to the inspection process at Sweetwater, but this is fantastically built. The F holes are immaculately bound, as is the entire guitar. The Bigsby is well built, and stays in tune wonderfully when used for what is intended. Gretsch has mastered these tremolo units. This guitar is also very light and extremely comfortable, and ergonomic, to play. The neck fits into the hand well and the 12" radius is familiar and plays lightning quick. This guitar is very resonant and loud acoustically. I can hear the midrange growl and fullness from the built quality in the construction and this translates directly to the pickups when it is plugged in. Despite having 10's strung on this, it plays lightning quick and smooth. There were no dead notes or buzzing on the frets. The frets were so nicely finished and polished. No rough spots and I only felt minor sharpness on the edges in maybe two spot, but I was being really finicky about it. This is quickly remedied with oiling the fingerboard, as nearly every guitar I have ever gotten has had a dry fingerboard at first. The acoustic chambers are cleanly constructed with no splintering, and no overspray. The hardware and tuners are standard for this range and work perfectly. Locking tuners would make string changes a breeze, but nothing else really. Between the exceptionally cut Graphtech nut to the great setup out of the box, this guitar is a winner in all aspects. It is just STUNNING. The best part are the Blacktop Broadtron pickups. They are just amazing sounding. The Broadtrons are full and thick, with the classic Gretsch twang and clarity. These have more midrange oomph and growl. The resonance of the Semi-Hollow construction add so much more air and fullness to the tone and bottom end without becoming boomy. The top end is sweet, but still Gretch-style clear with less strident top end. Clean they still sparkle and give you goosebumps, with full and warm, but clear tone. The neck pickup is clear, even under distortion and the are very responsive to minor changes in pickup height. This leads me to my next point. For whatever reason, this model ships the pickups with really low height. Mine came with around 7/32 on both pickups and the bridge pickup was too low, to the point of wiggling on the bass end. That could have easily happened in shipping. Tonally, I think this might be done to make the guitar more vintage-toned Gretsch, but it doesn't nearly represent the tone of the Broadtrons and their actual description on the Gretsch website. Adjusting these pickups to even what the factory recommends makes a HUGE impact. And since they are Filtertron style pickups, you still get the amazing clarity and sparkle that only Gretch is known for. Single note-lines are singing with a sweeter top end and midrange fullness that easily adjusts to every amp I have, from my SuperSonic 22 to my Marshall, Blackstar and Boss Katana. Metal style crunch and chug is right there with dialing the amp in right. I covered anywhere from jazz, to 80's pop to old school metal and even Godsmack with this guitar! That isn't a joke! The Midrange growl is perfect. Open and airy, but full and snarly with almost a PAF style singing honk to it. It's subtle, but enough to make the guitar sing rather than sound nasal. In fact, one of my favorite settings is on the Katana, on the Brown channel. You don't need a lot of top end with these pickup; keep the bass around 3 o'clock, the mids around 11 o'clock and the treble at about 10 o'clock. Playing with the gain at this point and using the tone/volume knobs yields any tone you can think of. Do as the old players did and use your controls!!! The pots have a great, gradual, full sweep and I don't see a need to change them at this point. I would recommend taking a look at the strings. if they sound plucky or strident, you may want to change them out. But, that's on any guitar. Finally, the awesome thing about Gretsch, is you can add, literally, as much gain as you want and it will still stay clear. It will make you think, 'is my distortion pedal even on??" It's AWESOME. Don't over look Gretsch. Even their solidbody guitars are build with large acoustic chambers and a laminated, arched top, like a semi-hollow, so they have that airy, resonant tone too. The Broadtrons are wonderful and versatile. Any player owes it to him or herself to try Gretsch. Honestly, they are quickly overtaking PRS as my favorites, but it's a close race!!! Check it out!!

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Found my new love

So I've had the guitar for a couple of weeks now so I feel I can give a good review. First of all this guitar looks incredible! I can't stop staring at her. I catch my jam buddies looking at her as well but I don't let them touch her, she is all mine. But lets be honest, looks only get you so far. This thing can sing as well. My biggest concern buying this was that it wouldn't… read more compare with my other guitars. I always end up putting custom pickups in them to fine tune my sound. I don't think I will do that with this one. She sounds great as is. So far she has stayed in tune even with my using the vibrato. I'm very impressed.

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Gretsch Azure Metallic...Worth The Wait!

Before I get to the Gretsch, Let me give a great well done to Nick Church! I had to wait almost three months for my guitar as it was on order from Gretsch. He did an OUTSTANDING job helping me with order, keeping me posted on its status and notifying me when it arrived. I have worked with Nick on multiple purchases and he always out does himself. Nick is an outstanding Professional… read more and I look forward to working with him in the future! Also want to tip my cap to the tech who did my inspection and setup.....perfect out of the box! This is my fourth Gretsch and smallest of the lot. I am not normally a fan of blue but the workmanship and finish is amazing! Photos do not do justice to the actual color. It has a richer, bluer finish than it shows, stunning. It has that classic Gretsch sound and I am amazed at how clean the highs and lows are. It still has that humbucker growl but not overpowering. No issues staying in tune with the Bigsby. It is lighter than my Les Paul and it also sounds brighter than my Gretsch hollow bodies. All in all this guitar is a winner and it was worth the wait! I just want to plug in and play!

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Awesome!

I normally don't write reviews but I feel this needs to be said. I have been playing for many years and have played many guitars. Without getting into all the technical stuff I will simply say if you like the Gretsch sound then I recommend buying this guitar. I have owned a couple of Gretsch guitars over the years and this center block JR is by far the best one I have ever played!!!!… read more Enough said

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Simply Perfect

My Cadillac Green Gretchen G5255TG arrived May 1st, just a few days after I ordered it, perfect condition, nicely set up with new strings and I thank ALEX CAMPOS for this, along with the folks at Sweetwater. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, this IS my first electric guitar - wow! But I'm also 66 years old and bought my first acoustic guitar, oh about 54 years ago... I've… read more had and sold a number of Martin Guitars, 6 & 12 string, Alvarez Guitars, even some Yamaha guitars so I do have some experience with guitars... But I digress, this Gretchen is a beautiful guitar - nicely balanced weight, beautiful, glossy finish, very nice Bigsby tailpiece and all furniture gold toned. In other words, a visual feast! Action is VERY nice and, as soon as my Marshall 50 arrives, I'll be playing with all the many, many tonal variations between guitar and amp. Then, I'll get to work...

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A Great Giotar

First of all, the picture does not do this guitar justice.I have the Cadillac Green model and it is spectacular! I have been playing for 61 years and this is probably the best guitar I have ever owned. Out of the box all that was needed was to tune up the g string a little. No adjustments were needed. I plugged it into my Mustang 3 amp and just went through my personal presets and… read more could not believe the response the pickups gave out. I mainly use 'clean' presets with just a handful of 'Clapton'. presets I made. I have fender strat standard.gretsch duo jet electromatic, another great guitar,Danelectro 12 string, Ibanez 7 string jazz guitar and epiphone LP custom pro and I noticed that I need to tweak some of my presets to really bring out the unique sound of this guitar. I went on my computer and went to my Amplitube Max and really had some big time fun. I went trough most of the amp models and could not believe what I heard. I then went to GTR 3 and look out. I also have PRS super models plugins and you can guess my thoughts on that. Buy this guitar now. Buy it and all your gear from Sweetwater. Enough said, let me plugin and go to heaven.

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Worth it

Upon receiving this guitar I was very surprised by how perfectly it was set up from the factory. Aside from some minor intonation adjustments needed on the bridge saddles, the action was low with no fret buzz whatsoever. While I've owned many Gretsch models, including the Setzer signature, I never really felt comfortable with the large hollowbodies. That is why I decided to get… read more this model. The thin body and compact size feels more natural to me, easier to handle. Sustain is certainly increased by the center block, but it doesn't choke out the body, it's still pretty loud acoustically - unplugged. The neck is slightly thinner than what I'm accustomed to but not uncomfortable. The 4.5 rating is due to the pickups being a little duller than I expected. However, I put it through an equalizer pedal with a slight rise in the upper frequencies and that brought it up to par as per taste. The Bigsby works quite well after stretching new strings and rubbing graphite into to nut slots. I was actually amazed by the tuning stability. The master volume retains high frequencies as the volume is decreased making it exceptionally functional. Tested this guitar last night at a high volume gig in a three piece band and got so many compliments on its sound and appearance. I had a hardshell Gretsch case from a Duo Jet and it fit perfectly.

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Exactly what I was looking for!

This Gretsch captured all the elements I have been looking for in my next electric guitar. I had a bunch of oddly specific needs for a Gretsch that I'll spare you from here, but some things I love about this guitar: - The BroadTron pickups are perfect to me. Filtertrons were a little too bright for my tastes, but these have some of the heft of humbuckers without losing the definition… read more and chime Gretsch is known for. - I love the look of the semi-hollow body, and the detail is very crisp and well done! - My main instrument is acoustic, and I have a dual gig-bag designed to carry both an acoustic and an electric. I was worried I wouldn't ever able to fit a semi-hollow Gretsch into the electric side, but this guitar fits perfectly, even with the Bigsby! - The controls are very usable, and I have been able to get a variety of sounds using just the guitar volume and tone controls while going straight into my Vox amp. Clean and chimey, crunchy, mellow, and everything in between. - I enjoy having built in strap locks. They're not as easy to add and remove as aftermarket ones like Grovers, but they get the job done. - I haven't been big on using vibrato systems before like on a Stratocaster, but I've actually found the Bigsby very useful to add some shimmer. It's easy to flip out of the way too for when I don't want to use it. Tuning has also been surprisingly stable. Setup make a world of difference! The only complaints I can think of: - The pickguard arrived slightly loose, and would slide down as I strummed. It wasn't too hard to retighten it, but it did cause some of the gold paint to get scratched off underneath, and it still sometimes clacks against the pickup rings as I strum. - I forgot that this doesn't come with a case. It's not been an issue since the double gig bag I already owned doesn't have anything else in it, but it would've been nice to have a case or at least gig bag come with the guitar. - Again, the strap locks are nice to be included, but they take a while to take on and off. Perhaps the biggest issue is that these are designed differently than other strap pins I've had, meaning my options for replacing them are more limited. Overall, I am very pleased with this guitar, and at the rate it's going, this is going to surpass my other electrics to become my main electric guitar!

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Gretsch G5655TG Azure Metallica

The over all build is impressive, and of course with the 55 point inspections it played out of box nicely. The new Broad'Trons have a lot of woof in them, the bottom end is wide (The neck pick up is almost like a Phat Cat P90). The highs (Bridge) never spike. The middle position I found I had to roll off the Neck pickup off a little(personal taste). There is plenty of clarity with… read more the Broad'Tron with the output of Humbucker. The neck is very nice, and plays like a Les Paul Custom I once had. Treble Bleed in master volume does it's job. I have never had an issue with the Bigsbys in either of my Gretsch's. Over all I'm very impressed with the stock build.

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