Duo Jet vs Pro Jet! - Gretsch Guitar Tone Comparison! 

What I like about your channel that other don’t quite do is the fact that you go straight to the point. Also other guitar channels seem to have forced humor that doesn’t quite fit, while you just stay relatively seriously while sti have fun. Keep up the great work!! Love the vids, you and samuraiguitarist are my favorite (both Canadians 🤔)

A set of TV Jones Classics and an upgraded wiring harness for the Pro Jet would transform that guitar into a huge tone monster for a fraction of the price of the Duo Jet. Both guitars sound great and are lovely instruments. Awesome video as usual!

Imo, the difference is like the difference between Epiphone and Gibson (sound and price wise, before theres any shots at either company) ones less expensive, one sounds a lil better, but end of the day, if you heard one and didnt know which it was, itd be hard to tell

Nice Work! If you have a Vox amp or two, try to pair both Gretsches up to them. Gretsch and Vox produces a unique clean sound as well as a nasty distortion sound. It’s pretty much your counter to Gibson and Marshall.

Much warmer, smoother tone with the Duo than the Pro.. Amazing how different the tone characteristics are.. Go Darrel!!!

I’m really impressed how well the Pro stacked up against the Duo. Great vid, man.

The electromatic guitars are all fantastic, tons of options and excellent build quality. Another great comparison with some beautiful guitars, keep it up Darrell!

Hey! I have that same backing track, "Joe Bonamassa Style backing track in G" - you started playing it and it was driving me crazy because I knew it but didn't know from where!!! BTW, I suck at lead guitar but I was kind of happy to see we started in the same area of the neck and our styles were similar, although you do a lot more bending than I do, something I want to learn how to do better. There's another one I really like I don't know who put it out but it's called "SLOW BLUES backing track in B" - The all caps is how the composer wrote it so it might help you find it, I love playing to that one.

Thank you DBG! No losers here. Both gits look and sound fantastic! While the Pro's brightness may be good to cut through a mix, I prefer the Duo's overall full dimensional tones - cheers!

I like the slightly brighter tone of the Pro Jet.

Your solos for the comparison spoke to my heart. Thanks for sharing your love for music!

I'm a little confused about the Pro Jet....are they still making it? Here in the UK I only see the G5230 T which seems to be the closest comparison but it has a mahogany body and neck with black walnut fingerboard. Which I assume is a better quality wood than the bass wood of the Pro Jet....The Duo jet referred to here is called the G6128 Pro players edition, again all very confusing and costs more than 4 times the price of the G5230

The Duo Jet tone appeals to my preference. Gretsch guitars are brilliant! Love the new Made in Japan players edition models, especially the Broadkaster G6659TFM Jr. Gretsch has really knocked it out of the park with that model! Absolutely flawless from the tone variety to it's visual appreance.

I completely agree that the TV Jones are a better pickup, but man do those blacktop filtertrons sound good!

Nicely done, as usual, and it seemed a fair comparison. Not having played either one, they sound VERY similar - I noticed a tone difference only when both pickups were activated. That said, the solos (very nice) sounded almost identical. The Duo-Jet looks a little classier, but that might just be the black / chrome vs. the faux-gold / red on the Pro-Jet. It's a good red, but I loathe fake gold hardware. Even with the differences (neck joint, etc.), I could be happy with either one.

Ever do vintage? Wonder what you would make of a microfrets guitar? Love the Japanese Gretsch - fuller, wider spectrum of sound.

Great comparison! A couple of things to note... First off, the Pro Jet is now made with a mahogany body and maple cap, not basswood. I think they quit with basswood a few years ago in the newest iteration. Also, when talking about the tone controls, the lowest knob of the three is the master tone, not the center knob. Aside from that, great info! I think they both sound really good to my ears and it's as much a matter of preference and how much money you want to spend as it is anything else.

Gretsch makes some absolute eye candy! They are some beautiful guitars!

I've got an early (2010 I think) Electromatic Pro Jet that someone tricked out with TV Jones pickups and a proper Bigsby before selling it on. I think TV Jones Classics are my favourite pickups, so resonant and complex without ever getting muddy when you add gain.

Great comparison! Maybe my age is a factor but I always hear the highs better on the cheaper guitars. This time the highs were very bright on the Pro. I am with you though about the richer sound of the Duo Jet.

OH MEN I WAS DYING TO SEE THIS VIDEO! LOVE U SO MUCH 😭👌🏼🙌🏼

i have the G5434T-LTD Electromatic Pro Jet, it is a great guitar and i love it but, there are a couple of things that need to be said. The first is the break angle from the bridge to the break bar on the Bigsby, it is way too steep and leaves the strings pressing against the back of the bridge which causes problems with tuning after using the Bigsby, it will also wear grooves into the back of the bridge. Simple fix is to bypass the break bar ( you realy don't need it imho. now waiting for people to tell me i'm crazy ) The second is the pickups. I've heard a lot of people say the Blacktop Filtertrons have a weak sound. Simple fix, just raise them up as close to the strings as you can ( or desire )..... sounds great!

I've been making a point to just listen blind to the side by side on these comparison videos and maybe if I was using headphones I'd notice but can't tell them apart with speakers and some real world ambient noise. Both sounded fantastic.

I like both but I’d have to choose the Duo. Much more rounded and full tonal values. The Pro sounds very thin not nearly the depth. Nice brightness though. One suggestion for you Darrell if I may, when you talk about features you might mention the benefits of those features Great video. Thanks!

Wow. The pickup comparison produced some very interesting and, in parts, unexpected subjective preferences for me personally. Clean tone: I preferred the neck PU of the Pro and the bridge of the Duo. Bridge on the Pro was serious ice pickage on the top 3 strings. Blues tone: The bridge of the Duo had a more balanced, pleasing tone for me on this one. Again the Pro was a bit bright on top for this sound, but some EQ could remedy that. Mixed PU Clean: Here they kinda broke even for me. Neither were offensive and to me just offered different flavors variants but with a little EQ tweaking can be made to fit. Higher gain tone: The edginess of the Pro bridge paid dividends here imho, I prefer the crunchiness and string definition, the Duo was a bit dull and muddy for my taste. Solo: Neck PU went to to the Duo, bridge to the Pro (to be fair tho, the Duo bridge solo was at the end and short); The Duo's tone had more of a satin sheen, smooth and good sustain. What also surprised me that the fit and finish on the Pro looks much nicer with the binding meeting up at the neck joint and no towering block on top of the body. Is this possibly related to the tailpiece mounted on the Duo? Does it just have that much more "ground clearance" than the Bigsby? Would the neck fitting and height match the Pro had the Duo also been fitted with a Bigsby? That bridge with the rollers just looks really tall from here but that might just be how it looks on screen and I've not had one like that in my hands. Just a thought. I own a black G5439 Pro Jet with a LP style hard tail and my neck is set like the Pro you have there. The Pro Jets are really good value for money in my book, I've never regretted buying it and use it almost daily. Nice review/comparison duder! -Diem

I was so in awe of your playing, I totally forgot you were doing a side by side review. Thanks!

U need to get ahold of the newer Gretsch electromatic Jet Club. They're affordable and still feature gretsch pickups and chambered body.

Hang on... The "Pro" model is the cheaper version? What an odd naming scheme. Hmmm... not exactly a huge difference in sound, is there? The Duo Jet has a bit more overall body in the sound but they are remarkably similar. Given that I love the red and gold colour scheme, I'd take the Pro. Since we're fantasizing. Of course, if someone were to give me a Duo Jet I wouldn't refuse. ;-)

streamliner vs electromatic vs duo jet?

The way the bridge strings, pickups and neck sit up so high on Japanese Gretsch was super surprising to me the first time I played them. Now I consider it one of the things that make it unique.

Makes me glad I sprung for the Duo Jet. Both sound great, but I really think the warmth and depth of the Duo Jet wins the day. Great playing, great vibes, great video!

I found this kinda funny...I actually like the Pro Jet better on the higher gain setting...loved the Duo on clean...sounded fuller... another great video

This video was very helpful. Accept for my starting on a Gretsch Corvette in high school ca '72, the Gretsch world has been a complete mystery for me. The Chinese Gretsch was really impressive. I'd rather have the ebony fret board Japanese guitar but the thousands ain't happening--especially after my recent purchase of a PRS S2 Studio--the Swiss Army knife of guitars. Great work as always Darrell.

THANK YOU. I've been looking heavily into the Duo Jet, so I needed this.

They both sound great, I thought. The both have the same sound, but sound like different ages: The Pro Jet sounds like a brash teenager, the Duo Jet a sophisticated mature adult.

I have this Gretsch Gretsch Guitars FSR Two-Tone Electromatic Pro Jet with Bigsby Electric Guitar Candy Apple Red and White G534TG. Love it!

I like the black one for the fuller sound when playing clean at the nut, but I really thought the red one had a better sound soloing in the end.

great video, I think the pro jet did a pretty good job considering the same duo jet beat a Gibson LP, in my opinion, in one of DB's other vids. That said, I have a 5655 center block ltd that is my first guitar at 51 Years old. I've been playing 3 months now and I'm really enjoying it. I'd love to see preview on the semi hollow center blocks from a master player like DB. The only problem I can identify is the strap connector screw keep coming out of the guitar body.

Pre 1967 music: Duo Jet Anything after Cream: Pro Jet

Interesting comparison Darrell! I have been eyeballing a Pro Jet for awhile. I will need to take a closer look.

I know it's subjective but I really preferred the warmth of the Duo-Jet pickups on the clean stuff. The Pro-Jet was great for the crunchy stuff. For the higher gain, I liked both but give the edge to the Duo.

Darrell, I hope YOU are having an excellent day. nice job with the single cut Gretsch coomparison. Any plans to do a Duesenberg?

Darrell - if a guitar can be built so much cheaper in China, why build the more expensive guitar in Japan? I think it's because the Japanese pay more attention to detail so thus the more expensive should be built there, your thoughts? I don't know that much about Gretsch, I purchased my first one after watching your comparison with the Les Paul video. pssst, I still say the Les Paul is wayyyy better lol. How does the one I have - Electromatic stack up against the two you have? Mine looks like your black accept I don't have the duel tone controls. I bought it used and it's supposed to have some great Gretsch pickups that were changed the next year to inferior ones, do you know anything about that? I also purchased a new G5440 (I think that's the model) yeah it's a big ol jazz style and to make it really stand out I bought it in the bright orange!! Lol if you knew me you would understand why an orange guitar is way out of my style lol.

Finally!! The shoot out I’ve been waiting for!

Interesting... thank you... I like the pickups in the Duo better (tend to not like the brightness too much), but I imagine a little tweaking of the tone knob on the Pro would do wonders...

Gretsch guitars are killer instruments! I have an affordable Streamliner G2622, plays freaking amazing. As good as my Gibbo LP :)

Beautiful job, playing both guitars. In my opinion: Pro Jet is a good guitar, but Duo Jet is an excellent one. The Duo has a fuller, more well rounded (I'd even say, velvety) sound. The Pro sound is sharper, you can say brighter - but, to me, the Duo sound is definitely more pleasant, and more powerful too.

You can't have that Surf Green Tele in plain view while I'm trying to pay attention to your video! All I keep thinking is..."I NEED a Surf Green Tele with a Bigsby"

They both sounded great !!! Darrell you play really precise and on tempo !!! I love the looks of the ProJet red and gold looks amazing!!!!

I find the Pro to be overly bright while the Duo is more refined and smooth. I'm not a fan of fingerboards high off the body. In fact, I hate them. It messes with my picking. I own a couple Gretches, a White Falcon Professional Series and a Penguin Special Edition. Both play and sound really good and I absolutely love them. I can't recall if the fingerboard is high on either of those, but it's gonna bug me now until I get home to look! I just can't see buying a Gretsch without a Bigsby, it just seems wrong. For the 'in the mix' section, the tone you had on the Duo was just drippingly sweet. The amp, the guitar... they just worked so well for a very magical tone. And it doesn't help that the guy playing has a really good emotive feel for expressive playing, either.

Both are amazing, and the Pro Jet was definitely a big surprise. Shows how awesome some mid-range guitars can sound. Definitely wouldn't mind geting my hands on one of those!

Great review! Maybe I missed it, but any thoughts on the "very" different bridge designs? the Duo has the older style that can adjust the string width, but has no intonation, and the Pro is just the opposite. significant design differences not mentioned, but otherwise a great comparison of tonal differences.

I have to say, that the differences between the two up until the mix, was so subtle. But then I thought that the Pro one had a much crisper cleaner sound.

Oh boi!!! 3 videos in one week. My man darrell is on fire

Great comparison, I have the older G5435T Pro Jet and it is a piece of art. Low action, tuners hold great and so joyful to play.

Duo Jet vs. Pro Jet? winner = "Players Edition" Jet BT! superior to both, due to the Broad'Tron 65 pups & V stop tail. sounds incredible but also handles gain way better.

Great comparison! I especially enjoyed your excellent Solos! Very beautifully done! Thank you Darrell!

So which Jet was your favourite? As a long time fan of the firebird, I've got to say that the CAR and gold Pro Jet is a BEAUTIFUL guitar! The Duo Jet is definitely a touch more understated in looks, but has a richer and more complex tone :) Guitars: PRO JET: imp.i114863.net/7PGr3 DUO JET: imp.i114863.net/rMzrG

I love blind tests and sound comparisons because they open our eyes (err, ears) to how good inexpensive instruments really sound compared to their expensive counterparts. The one thing they cannot tell the viewer is what the guitars feel like to play. That's the intangible that can only be derived in person, and it often justifies the price tag :)

I thought they both had interesting tone qualities as well as they both shared qualities. I would have to vote for the Pro Jet (sounded a hair more twangy and had that clean country tone and plus im a sucker for red and gold, lol

Both sound great. The black one sounds a little brighter. I think it works a little better with dirt. I prefer the red one clean. I wouldn't kick either out of the amp.

I like the sound of the Duo only very slightly more than the Pro. There is not even close to $1800 difference here! I'd buy the Pro for sure.

I love these vids. I'm not a guitar or gear nerd yet and im just getting into this stuff but you make learning a whole lot of fun. Thanks ks for makeing great videos

Gretsch owes you for giving them a new client. Never cared about gretsches, ended up craving for one day and night until yesterday. Now I'm enjoying my Pro Jet!

Both had a great sound. I'm impressed with the filtertrons, too.

Really enjoyed the part where you had both guitars in a mix along side each other :)

2 great guitars indeed duo is in my near future forsure

I just got a G5120. I was never a big Gretsch guy. Their necks were too thick and I associated them with a bygone era. However, I was very, very pleasantly surprised and have to reevaluate my original stance on Gretsch. The 5120's neck was just right, the pickups were very good and versatile, and the neck was just right for my hands. It's a great guitar and quite beautiful to look at too.

I just ordered a G5210 from Sweetwater in Broadway Jade after playing it in a local guitar shop. Love it!

So, here's my question. When are you going to release an album of you playing blues like we hear on the channel? I'll be the first in line to buy. Hell, I'll buy a couple extra to give away as gifts.

duo jet sounds much more pleasant imo!

both guitars have distinguishable characteristics that sound amazing. by just listening, can't tell what's more expensive.

I think I actually prefer the pro over the duo. Maybe because I’m 7-8 coors in, but to my ear, the pro jet just cuts through more

Thanks for the comparison. But, if the 'Pro Jet' is the 'Electromatic Jet' g5230, note that it has a mahogany body, not basswood. If it were basswood, it would be much lighter than the Duo Jet. And, besides the mahogany body, they both have a maple top.

Nice comparison! I've got the gold Pro Jet and I like it a lot. Pickups sound a bit brighter and tinnier than the Duo though.

What a wonderful blessing to have these top notch Gretsches at any price point really. I never doubted if I got my money's worth with Gretsch. The factory setups, materials and quality control are outstanding. Such a relief.

So I have a gretsch 5220 coming within the week; it’s the new updated pro jet. They stopped making those pro jets. I’m either going to install tv classics or T-Armonds in it. It would be a really cool vid if you put tv classics in your pro jet; then compared the tone of your Pro jet and your Duo jet. That! Would be an amazing vid. You could do some proof on whether or not the woods play that much of a role in tone when using the exact same pickups in these two guitars. Another Great vid btw.

Nice video. Difficult to compare without putting your hands on them. My biggest concern would be the quality of the hardware. A lot of Chinese guitars builds cheap out on metals and polymers. If Gretsch is controlling the quality of the components, and the quality of the factory, the basic construction should be just fine, while the playability and sound have more to do with good setup. I would be more curious to compare the 5435 and 5230, basswood vs mahogany.

I honestly like these better than Les Paul. I have a les paul but I want this one.

The Duo Jet is not 'full' mahogany, it's heavily chambered body, basically hollow inside. Also are you sure it's TV Jones? Unless you upgraded the pickups, it's a regular Gretsch filtertrons, or supposed to be anyway. I had that same Duo Jet model, very cool! Thanks for the video!.

I knocked my Pro Jet over a few days ago..... it went with a loud bang on the back of the head.... picked it up and it was totally in tune.. (non-Bigsby) after much scrutiny not even a hairline in the finish. Tough tilt back.

Have you tried an Ormsby yet? If not, I'd love to see your opinions

I like the control layout on the Pro Jet and the color, I like the ebony fretboard on the Duo Jet and sound of the pickups seem a bit richer. Nice comparison thanks!

I’ve got a classical guitar with a raised fretboard, which is a nice ergonomic feature to be sure. But considering the price, I’d get the Pro Jet. I love the way Gretsch guitars feel in my hands.

I like the tone of the duo jet but that pro jet.....wow, gorgeous! Wow!

These are both great! If I could only have one of them I'd go with the Pro Jet

i have a G5435 Limited Edition Electromatic Pro Jet, Fairlane Blue and i love mine. tho on here the duo sounds a little more grity to me

Sure you can cut off that bite that the Pro Jet has, but you can never add clarity and top end to a guitar that doesn't have it. By the way, love you videos Darrell, keep up the excellent work!

Hey Darrell, I have a gold top G5435T. Really wish I hadn't gotten the T model with the Bigsby. Would have probably gotten much more use out of it than I do. In fact I rarely ever play it at all. Always liked the look of a Bigsby, something about the old school classic looks. So this model has a chambered mahogany body. Not weight relief, actual chambered like a semi hollow LP, Maple cap, mahogany neck. Rosewood fretboard (which is why I'm either selling it or stripping the parts off it before I come back to the US, CITES ll) and the bump top block inlays with the Filtertron pups. I absolutely love the sound and clarity of a Filtertron. Much more even than the PAF's. It's a personal thing, and a hearing problem thing. They are brighter than a PAF. I want to stick one in the neck position of a Tele. Next project ;) But personally on these two guitars of yours, Duo Jet all the way. The Pro jet is a great guitar. It really is. But when in the mix with a bit of drive on it, the bridge kind of disappeared. I was surprised. Anyway, take care buddy, Bob in Germany (Pretty soon it's going to be Bob in Nevada....)

Omg I’m so excited about this vid! I just started it

Always really great videos Darrell. Thank you bonny lad

Hey Darrell I'm curious , did Gibson reach out to you after your " Done with Gibson " video ?

The Duo Jet sounds a bit better, but the Pro Jet sounds very good. And I'd much prefer the tone control on the Pro Jet to the old fashioned tone switch on the Duo Jet. The Electromatics are really good guitars.

Another excellent review Darrel...thank you so much!! Have a wonderful safe and prosperous 2020

Hey Darrell. I’ve been watching your channel for a while and decided to break down and reactivate my RU-vid account to comment to you. First off, love your videos. You give a lot of great info and I appreciate the debunking/comparison videos that you’ve done a lot. Way too much out on the internet for someone only semi-experienced to make heads or tails of it on their own. I really like the sound of your blue angel amp and have a chance to purchase one just like it somewhat locally. Love the choice of power tube tones. I was wondering if you could do a video on amp attenuators if you use them, and explain what’s good or bad about them. I’d love to have a “real” amp but volume is a real issue for my setup at home, so unless I can bring the dB’s down, I’m stuck with my practice amp setup. Thanks. And please continue with your videos. Very interesting and informative.

Gretsch vs Gretsch. That will always be a happy day for me. Either one gives a great value in it's price range. I really like the TV Jones filtertrons, but the black top FT pickups keep the tonal signature pretty well. I am glad the Gretsch brand did not die out. Hopefully, FMIC does not compromise Gretsch to the point that it looses it's unique attributes.

Really nice, both of them. I like the fuller tonality of the Duo when you play them side by side, but .... hey! Either guitar sounds awesome. Just a question about maple: you say it is stronger than mahogany. Doesn't that actually make maple the better material? Meaning, the top model should be using a maple neck, not mahogany. Or am I missing something here?

Really enjoyed this, you have a really nice natural way of getting the information over and your playing is beautiful. :)

So I’m listening with headphones now and I can definitely hear a difference between the two. The pro jet doesn’t sound cheap, it just sounds a little different. So in conclusion I want a duo jet!!!!!! 😂

both look and sound great and I agree with Ashlynn Preston(comment below)theres not a lot in it but the real difference is £1500 and whether or not you can justify spending that much for the relatively small differences between them