Gretsch G5420T Electromatic. Legit Gretsch Tone?

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In this video I look at another Gretsch Electromatic model. Based on the famous 6120, it promises to provide a cost effective way into the world of the iconic, hollowbody Nashville style Gretsch, orange finish, Bigsby and all. I let you know whether I think it reaches it's goal, giving a rundown of the construction details and features, providing both a basic sound demo along with a playing demo with a full band backing track, to see how it does in a real world mix. After all that, I share my final thoughts and recommendations.

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11 янв 2024

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Комментарии : 70

@gahangore111 6 месяцев назад

I don't think Gretsch can be beat in terms of value for money, their sub-$1000 guitars are so good. Plus they're cool as hell because they're a Gretsch 😊

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

They do have a cool vibe. Thanks for watching.

@Jeffcatbuckeye 3 месяца назад

Numerous videos on RU-vid. Look up Gretsch 5420 setup. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dOQAacxh6Mo.htmlsi=TmE3Y5Rw_cruSc-8

@NovaRedBaron Месяц назад

Just discovered your channel. Your reviews are awesome, and most important of all, they are honest. I recently ordered a Gretsch Electromatic G5565T QM Sweet Tea. Tried one at a local music store and was very impressed, but I decided not to buy it on impulse. Went back to buy it a bit later but someone else had just bought it. So I ordered one. Gretsch, Epiphone, and other Asian builders have really been upping their game lately. I also own two Limited Edition Japanese Stratocasters and the build quality is awesome. You have a new subscriber. Thanks for the effort you put into your videos. 🎸👍

@leonardgriffieblues5845 Месяц назад

Thanks so much. Very much appreciated.

@renanlopes9144 16 дней назад

Perfect, dude! You just told me everything I wanted to know

@leonardgriffieblues5845 15 дней назад

Well glad I could help. Thanks for watching

@JohnShalamskas 5 месяцев назад

The G5420T nails the "Stray Cat Strut" tone. Around 2015 the factory started building them with treble bleed circuit(s), I'm not sure if it is only on the master volume, or on all 3 volume pots. I bought a used 2014 model that had no treble bleed circuits, and if I turned down the volume at all, the treble disappeared. So I added a Fender style treble bleed to the main volume pot, and it was wonderful - I could use the full range of the master volume without getting muddy tone. Eventually I added a 1 nF capacitor across the input and output of each of the other 2 volume pots to help them stay brighter when turned down. Parts cost for all 3 treble bleed circuits was under 3 dollars since I have a local electronics shop - no shipping!

@leonardgriffieblues5845 5 месяцев назад

Yes. Honestly I think a simple treble bleed should be standard on most guitars. Although some of us who’ve played vintage and vintage style Fenders are in the habit of mellowing our Strats out a little with the volume rather than the tone control. But the majority of guitars, especially those with neck humbuckers, would benefit tremendously. Thanks so much for watching.

@ZackyDog 2 месяца назад

The G5420T sounds very nice in the video. I have owned the original 60s models like the '62 G6120 Nashville (PAF Filtertrons) and a '66 Black Hawk (Supertrons). I have a 2005 G6122-162 Country Classic with Ray Butts TV Jones Ful-Fidelity Filtertrons. To my ears, those pickups are the best at recreating The Great Gretsch Sound of the late 50s/60s. I have tried many Filtertron pickups over the decades.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 2 месяца назад

Yeah, the TV Jones filtertrons are pretty hard to beat for vintage tones. The 5420T is a good guitar that gets the general vibe and is accessible. Of course you could put TV Jones pickups in it and it’d get very close, but I imagine the majority buying the 5420 are happy with it and the feedback I’ve gotten seems to confirm that. I plan to feature a pro series model down the road, so stay tuned and thanks for watching.

@johnduckworth474 2 месяца назад

An excellent video, and I appreciate the tips on tuning having got one of these models myself. A lovely guitar for the price.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 2 месяца назад

Thanks so much. Enjoy yours!

@blookbleak 5 месяцев назад

Thanks for the video! This guitar rocks unbelievably! So versatile, you can cover many styles with it! I love using it especially for a a cover version of "Should I stay or should I go", crank it up and it kicks a**! And that "TWANG"...! Of course it's great for Blues, too.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 5 месяцев назад

I have to agree. There’s really no genre this can’t cover. Thanks for watching.

@philnewton2011 5 месяцев назад

Ballsy! Great playing, Leonard.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 5 месяцев назад

Thanks my friend.

@steves.5342 6 месяцев назад

I'm really glad you like the guitar since I just bought one. Happy to hear it just likely needs a setup. That much I can do and I have some jeweler's files that seem to work well on the nut slots. Great playing but, since we're probably close in age, you screwed up my possible excuse of being slow because of age. Still, always nice to get just one more guitar!

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

Well I’ve slowed up a bit as well, but so far no one’s noticed except me. LOL. Thanks so much for watching and enjoy the guitar.

@jeremybaker195 4 месяца назад

Great shirt bro. 👍

@leonardgriffieblues5845 4 месяца назад

😎😊

@redcatcliveupnorth7338 6 месяцев назад

Another good video Leonard😊😊 I have 2011 G5435, build quality is very good, basswood body ,very resonant ,u shapeneck, the blacktop filtertrons are definitely not normal humbuckers - they do blues to ac/dc. These can be found cheap in the uk, highly recommended. And it looks really Cool in black with a bigsby😅😅

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

That’s great. Finding a guitar you really enjoy is always a very good thing. Thanks so much for tuning in.

@davidwood351 6 месяцев назад

I love the sound of Gretsch guitars, I don’t have one, but I do have the Fender Coronado II, kind of a Gretsch vibe. I enjoy your playing style.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

Thanks so much.

@joshfeatherstone8546 3 месяца назад

Thanks for the video , man. I love the 5420t. I have a couple Korean ones. One in orange stain and the other in Fairlane Blue. A lot of guitar for the money. 😊

@leonardgriffieblues5845 3 месяца назад

Solid guitars that won’t require a second mortgage. Enjoy them and thanks.

@GRBAquatics 6 месяцев назад

Very Cool, Thankyou. Awesome Demo/Review of the Gretsch G5420T. I recently purchased an 'Airline Silver' G5420T on 'Black Friday' Sale in Australia saving hundreds of dollars. WOW. What an awesome and Fun Guitar. So Happy with my purchase. But this is my 3rd Gretsch, starting with a G5210 Black single cut, single pick-up rock machine, then a G5248T Gold Sparkle Double Jet with Bigsby and now My Dream guitar a Hollowbody G5420T. I would have preferred an Orange G5420T as in Eddie Cochran Guitar, But I'm still super happy with my bargain 'Airline Silver' Model. So Much Fun To Play and SO inspirational to make me play at my best. All The Best. Cheers

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

That’s great. Glad you’re enjoying it and thanks for watching.

@jeremybaker195 4 месяца назад

Hay, man. The G 5210 is now the jet with P90s. What year was yours? What pickup? I know they reuse model numbers. I tried to look up a G5210 but all that comes up is the P90 version. I'm always interested in seeing Gretsch models I've never seen before. I really wish they would put out a run of the G5125 ( and other numbers) with the DeArmond pickups again. A Jet with the DeArmonds.🤤 You just know they would fly off the shelf.

@buddhamus 6 месяцев назад

Nice overview of the Gretsch Electromatic. Gretsch is the one guitar maker from my early influences that I haven't tried. I've often thought of getting one, but could never decide on which model. I've always liked the Country Gentleman because of George Harrison, but I like the Duo Jet as well, along with the models that Steven Stills and Neil Young played. Maybe one of these days. By the way, nice playing.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

Thanks so much. The Electromatics are good guitars, but in my experience do need some setup work. If you don’t do that dork yourself, I’d recommend buying from a shop that includes a good setup. Many do. Thanks for watching.

@johnwalsh3919 6 месяцев назад

Nice Leonard , I bought that guitar in 2018 and I love it, I have it hanging on the wall and I admire it every day , I’m lucky enough to own quite a few guitars way more than I should have but there’s something about an orange gretsch , have a great weekend and I’m looking forward to your next video ✌️🧷🎸

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

Thank you my friend. I really appreciate regular viewers like you. Enjoy your weekend as well.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

Thank you my friend. I really appreciate regular viewers like you. Enjoy your weekend as well.

@garypannone7755 6 месяцев назад

I was so lucky to find one of the last Korean made models. It is a great guitar.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

Nice. I’m happy you grabbed on. There are still quite a few used Korean made ones out there, but if you’re after new they’re going to be hard if not impossible to find. Thanks so much for watching.

@jeremybaker195 4 месяца назад

My Chinese G5427T ( GC Exclusive flame mapel) has the scarf joint in the same place. You mentioned the blacktop Filtertrons. I was told by Damin Chivers on youtube (who is a Gretsch rep) that the Blacktops are modeled on Tim Armstrong's Baldwin era Gretsch. If you look at the first few years of the blacktop on Electromatics, they look just like the Armstrong model. Same pickup rings same mounting style. Then they went to plastic rings and the mount to the rings ( no mount holes on top of the pickup) in the beginning they had ceramic magnets but before they even switched to the FT-5E Blacktops I believe they switched to AlNiCo magnets. I'm not sure when they did this exactly, but there is more than one post ( probably dozens) in the forums with people saying they took their pickups apart a d they had AlNiCo magnets Gretsch dosen't give much information on their pickup at all until they did the FT-5E pups. They do list those with AlNiCo. Before the Blacktops don't give any specs at all. So yah The Tim Armstrong model is where they started. Modeled after his personal guitar. Where they went from there is conjecture and educated guesses up until the FT-5E were released. I hope that was helpful. Great playing great video. New sub as of today.🙂👍🖖

@leonardgriffieblues5845 4 месяца назад

Thanks so much. I wasn’t aware of the Tim Armstrong connection and wondered why those blacktop filtertrons were based on Baldwin era pickups. I thought that was a strange choice since a lot of Gretsch guys prefer the older filtertrons. In any case I thought they sounded fine and get the Gretsch flavor pretty well.

@Mike_S_Swift 5 месяцев назад

I picked up a like new 5420T Candy Apple Red 21’ Made in Korea model. Got it with a nice case not a Gretsch case but pretty nice. I jumped on it as the price with case and MIK would be hard to find down the road. Don’t see many Candy Apple Red ones either 😂 Thanks for the video.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 5 месяцев назад

Yeah, you don’t see a lot of the candy red ones. Glad you got a nice one and thanks for watching.

@thomasd9237 3 месяца назад

I have a 5222 & a 2655p-90 They're both great guitars & affordable 👍👍

@leonardgriffieblues5845 3 месяца назад

Nice. Yes, they usually need a little setup work, but they’re very well made guitars for very reasonable prices. Thanks so much for watching.

@guitarzan0515 6 месяцев назад

You know, the only thing wrong with theses types of guitars, is they are Too Big for my 5ft height 😘🥵😆😆😆😆 One of these would go from my ankles to my chest!! But these truly are fabulous looking and sounding guitars!! Great demonstration as usual! Thx!

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

Well, actually you’re in luck because they make a smaller version. It is a centerblock model rather than fully hollow, but it has essentially the same look. It’s the G5655TG. There’s also a quilted maple top version of the same thing. Personally I prefer the plain top. But hey, that’s just me.

@yodasecondave 27 дней назад

I’m in the process of shopping for a new guitar. Sold my strat. I’m torn between the Gretsch electro magic 5420t and the Epiphone Les Paul 59 standard. I play a lot of acoustic, old country and folk. I also love to play a lot of punk rock green day, living end, but also into grunge, 90s pop rock like third eye blind, love the 80s stuff ,particularly U2, cure, clash, cult, inxs. I also grew up on zeppelin and like the old blues rock. No idea which way to go….any thoughts?

@leonardgriffieblues5845 26 дней назад

In terms of quality, they're similar. Factors like fretwork are likely to be luck of the draw with either model and I don't think there's much to separate them in terms of build quality and quality of materials. But obviously they're very different guitars with radically different personalities. I'm sure I don't have to tell you a big, fully hollow guitar is a very different animal to a solidbody. The Epiphone LP 59 does have the Gibson pickups and that's going to suit most players except those that are after the specific Gretsch, filtertron sound, which is absolutely it's own thing. While the blacktop filtertrons aren't especially accurate, they still sound way more like a Gretsch than a Gibson humbucker. One thing to keep in mind is the neck profiles. The 59 LP has a fatter, 50s style neck whereas the 5420 has a more average, slim neck. For many players, the neck profile is the number one consideration since that is, after all, what you'll be interacting with. I don't know how much help this is. The best thing would be to find local examples and see which feel you prefer. Either can cover a lot of ground.

@cliffrhodenizerjr.1333 3 месяца назад

Thanks Leonard! I have the same model but having trouble getting it dialed in right. Neck relief, string height, and intonation all good, but can't find that optimal pickup height. If you dont mind, could you tell me what height you have your pickups at, and what strings do you like on this? Anyone else with a G5420T care to chime in, I would be grateful.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 3 месяца назад

Unfortunately I have to sell review guitars on in order to keep my channel from losing too much money. As I recall, I just set those by ear. I believe from 3 to 5 millimeters from the poles to the strings is usually recommended. Some seem to like them as close to the strings as they can get but mine weren’t that high. I’d say start about 4 mm from the poles and move them up or down until they sound best. Sorry I can’t give you whet I did, but hopefully this is helpful. Thanks so much for watching.

@B49337 2 дня назад

Hey, just wondering if you have a video demo on the 6120?

@leonardgriffieblues5845 23 часа назад

Not yet. It’s on the list. Thanks for watching.

@viperBSG 5 месяцев назад

I know the Blacktop's use Ceramic Magnets not Alnico (Not a thing wrong with that) and that the most recent G5420T's have FT5E Filter 'Trons.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 5 месяцев назад

Yes, I discovered the change when researching this video. I haven’t had an opportunity to play the newer pickups yet. Thanks for watching.

@henrychew5604 6 месяцев назад

I have the same exact guitar which is not able to be in tune after some playing. So what exactly did you do to the nut to fix the tuning issue?

@GraemeCampbellMusic 6 месяцев назад

I bought a roller bridge, it makes a big difference

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

The problem was the nut slots weren’t properly angled toward the tuner posts. Very common with 3x3 tuners that flare out from both sides. Especially the D and G strings. Tuning issues on those kinds of guitars (including Gibsons) is the nut slotting 90% of the time. It’s too much to ask for the strings to take a sharp turn and return to pitch. Lubrication helps, but it won’t likely solve the problem unless the nut is cut correctly. All that said, quality nut files and a little experience greatly increase your chances for success. There are plenty of RU-vid videos on this stuff, and I’d recommend studying up before attempting it for the first time. Or just take it to an expert.

@wakan2a 5 месяцев назад

I had a 6120 ( Japan made) which was not that good and an old Anniversary sunburst from the begining of the 60´s with HiLo Tron pick up. The finish was awfull but I definitely love the sound of the HiLo Tron ( Ticket to ride guitar)… I was wondering if there was a significant difference between Japanese and Korean models, apart the price…

@leonardgriffieblues5845 5 месяцев назад

Well, I hope to find out for myself at some point. I briefly owned a pro series jet model a few years back and it was very beautifully built. I’ll be completely honest. At this point my channel isn’t big enough to earn much more than coffee money, and there’s no other financial support, so while I plan to make those kinds of comparisons, up to now I’ve been staying in the under $2,000 range for guitar reviews. I’m interested in the Pro Series though, and I’ll do my best to get one on the channel at some point in the not too distant future. Thanks so much for watching.

@outtabubblegum7034 5 месяцев назад

If you never heard about Duane Eddy, you REALLY should.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 5 месяцев назад

Oh yeah, I’ve been familiar with Duane for decades. Very distinctive player. Thanks for watching.

@choplass Месяц назад

Guy looks like an O.G.

@alaindeleon2220 2 месяца назад

last track title please

@leonardgriffieblues5845 2 месяца назад

There’s no title. I create these backing tracks myself, that way there’re no copyright issues. I’ve been writing songs and creating demos for decades so it’s fairly simple. Thanks for watching.

@michaelrosawatkins3928 6 месяцев назад

They don't make Filtertron's like they did back then. No twang now days. Blacktop just a regular humbucker. I own both. NO comparison

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

I would hardly expect an $800 guitar to perfectly replicate the vintage pickups (or the ones used in the modern pro series for that matter). On the other hand, they don’t really seem to sound like standard humbuckers either and it seems they made a real effort to get the flavor. Thanks for watching.

@michaelrosawatkins3928 6 месяцев назад

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 great channel BTW appreciate your efforts.

@leonardgriffieblues5845 6 месяцев назад

@@michaelrosawatkins3928 Thanks so much. Appreciated. 😎

@ExploreAmerica 4 месяца назад

Damn I can’t buy China

@leonardgriffieblues5845 4 месяца назад

Okay. Well as my wife likes to say, you do you. That said, the model I reviewed was from Korea and I believe I mentioned that in the video. But yes, they’ve moved current production to China.