As the title reads, after my exams are done I am looking into buying my first ever "expensive" guitar as a present to myself. Now the term "expensive" varys from person to person, and for what im looking for is a hollow body, filtertron loaded guitar with a bigsby in and around the £800-£850 ballpark. Ive been interested with gretsch guitars both asthericly and tonaly for a while and had a chance to try a few when looking. My number one choice at the moment is this: https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/2506014512/semi-hollow-hollow-body/gretsch-g5422t-2016-electromatic-hollowbody-w-bigsby-orange (Gretsch Electromatic G5422) since it fits me as the body is thinner than a traditonal gretsch, and its fully hollowbody. However my gripes lay in me not having much experiance in shopping around for guitars and being relotively new to it, so i was wondering if anyone here on the forum could perhaps point me in the direction of any guitars that either are "better value" or higher spec for the pricepoint that still meets my needs that i could seek out and compare to the gretsch.
Also it sorta bugs me that a £800+ guitar does not seem to come with a gigbag or hardcase, as i know other brands at lower pricepoints have offered this feature, Andertons seemed to have recognised this tho offering money off the gretsch case which is nice i guess.
Anyway apoligies for rambling, any and all help will be super usefull with my lack of experiance with this kinda thing :)
//Dom
I'm probably the wrong one to answer... I once demo'd a Gretsch Brian Setzer through a Carr Rambler and immediately got the Gretsch bug. Wonderful tone! So now I have a Power Jet, though I put TV Jones Classic pickups in it for a more traditional filter'tron sound. Though I play my Strat and Tele more frequently, the Gretsch gets the most compliments regarding its tone.
The newer Electromatics have very nice features, and the Black Top pickups are supposed to be quite good. So, if the Gretsch sings to you, then that's the one to get,
For comparison purposes at a similar price point, I'd suggest looking at the "American Special" series from Fender and the PRS-SE line, and perhaps a hollowbody Ibanez or the higher-end Epiphones (or lower-end Gibsons.)
But really, if the tone in your head is That Great Gretsch Sound, you know what to get.
BTW, what amp will you be using?
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Cheers mate, for the amp im just running a micro terror as clean as i can through a 1x12.
Given what you are looking for - I would suggest buying a vintage or used Gretsch and playing through either a fender "voiced" amp (6L6, 6V6 tubes) and something with tremolo and reverb - personally i prefer old Ampeg amps (Gemini, Reverberockets) they sound amazing with Gretsch guitars edna re highly undervalued for hand wired tube amps. I make records here in Nashville everyday using that set up.
I have a '64 Gretsch 6120DC and a '65 Ampeg. I bought the Gretsch for $1800 and the amp for $500!
That said, I have a 2x10 Carr Rambler which is great but $$$, and there are countless other amp makers who build point to point hand wired amps. for the price point you are looking at, I would recommend a the Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue. Its a solid amp for the money! And If i'm doing overseas touring, it's usually the one I request for a backline.
I'd try to post a picture of what i have, but i just joined the forum today and they may not allow me to do that.
there is more pics etc on my website if that would be useful to you - bryanclarkmusic.com
Hope you find something!
This Gretsch is probably bez choice
https://musicsquare.co.uk/147182_Gretsch-G5420T-Electromatic-Hollow-Body-electric-guitar.html
But i'm in love with Guild, so I can recommend You also Starfire
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StarfireIINT
