Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar 

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

I have always admired Gretsch pickups...but could not afford an American Gretsch...(guitar prices are assinine these days)...and the look of the Corvette is compelling...so I took the plunge via MF who you can trust...when it arrived (as a gift from my wife)...the first reaction was that it felt as solid as an older PRS I had some years ago. This does not feel Fender-ish or Gibson-ish...but Smith-ish.....lol....and I don't mean that in a bad way...it just feels like a PRS...you know what I mean......quality to the touch....

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

This is a fantastic instrument. Though it's an Electromatic, it's at the head of the class. A great mid-price guitar with a high-end sound and feel. It's light-weight, has a unique look and sound, and feels solid in your hands.
It's just a marvel to play and listen to with its wide ranging tone.
I could go on with this love letter to my guitar, but I digress. You have to play it to believe it.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

Excellent guitar. Has a very bright twangy sound with humbucker qualities to it. I love this guitar because its unique in sound and very comfortable to play. I'd say this is lighter and thinner than an SG. The neck makes it really fun to play. DO not regret buying this guitar.
This is a great guitar. Has a unique sound. Its twangy, bright, but also can be pretty heavy when distorted. Good for country, rock and blues. Bigsby is excellent. Only problem with the bigsby is the entire guitar wobbles when you use it being that the guitar is so thin and light. Very versitile guitar. Theres two volume, one tone knob. The megatron pickups are really sensitive to height adjustment. The pots should be swapped out though. The volume and tone knobs seem to decrease by half when turned a quarter of the way. Also, the input jack is really cheap and falls out quite easily. I had mine replaced with a good one. THe neck is really unique. Its alittle shorter than your standard neck (but still a regular size neck) and it has a slim but round profile. Its very comfortable. In terms of frets, they were not bad. Setup wasnt the best but wasnt bad, just had to lower the action. Also this comes with strap buttons, definitely a great feature.
All the things I discussed above are some issues but can be easily fixed. Overall the quality of this guitar is very good. The guitar seems very durable, the neck join is solid. But the things to remember is replace the input jack and replace the pots. Also tuners might be something you would want to replace as well but its not entirely necessary. The bigsby can cause it to go out of tune occasionally but if you string the guitar properly, and put alittle lead from a pencile in the nut slots its fine. This guitar is made in China but it is pretty good quality and will definitely last through the years.
Excellent value guitar. Its hard to find a good sounding guitar with a bigsby for this price.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

I own everything from Rickenbackers to Gibson to BC Rich to Charvel to Fender to Paul Reed Smith--Les Pauls, SG's--some Epiphone guitars with EMGs thrown in, or with Gibson '57 and BurstBuckers. The Gretsch Corvette in my collection remains THE instrument to surpass in the overall, and while each guitar has something special to it, sound-wise or aesthetically (or both), the clarity, power, and authority of the Corvette sound and its fine playability (wide-neck, low action), particularly for rhythm, stands alone. Only the Paul Reed Smith Single Cut, with its extra-extrodinary humbucker pickups, rivals the 'Vette. So if you're thinking 'Gibson SG' or a 'Gretsch semi-hollowbody' to take you to that next level, I recommend you think again.
The Bigsby is well secured, has good resistance, does not interfere with strumming or picking, and though it doesn't dive bomb like the Floyd Rose, the Bigsby does not throw the tuning way out. In short, everything is quality made and well appointed on this model. The Corvette's Metatron pickups expel an absolutely fantastic sound, eating distortion while projecting unrivaled clarity and bite. The Corvette has less sustain than the SG, but it's not as potentially muddy---the 'Vette rings all six strings, making it a preeminantly and outstanding rhythm instrument. The Corvette has the incredible capacity to stop sound on a dime, which gives real definition to chords and notes without a hold-over from whatever changes you're coming off of. The 'Vette's tonal range is not as massive as one might get with a good semi-hollow with superior pickups, but its clarity while distorted or clean makes up for it, and it does it better than the rest.
From the tuners to the pickups to the set neck to the knobs to the pickguard to the Bigsby, the guitar is expertly crafted. The sharply beveled mahogany on the Corvette adds artistic distinction--coupled with a glossed, rich, and utterly gorgeous coat over a nice wood grain, it catches the eye; it is not a dull mahogany. The Corvette is thin as an SG, but is more dynamically architectured, and has more weight and substance. The Corvette is superior, no matter who makes the SG, and I love SG's. Nothing about the Corvette is cheap or flimsy. It's solid through and through. Absolutely beautiful to behold and undoubtedly durable as a tank, yet it's a thing of art.
This guitar is the best mid-priced guitar made.....period. Don't waste your time with the Schecters or the ESPs. While Epiphone and Paul Reed Smith make absolute winners in the $500--$700 range (ex.: The Epiphone Korina Flying V or the PRS Single Cut), the Gretsch Corvette, an instrument hardly ubiquitous and made by a seemingly archaic brand in today's age, is the best value I've ever gotten for the money spent on a guitar.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

I love Snowflake. Enough said. I had been looking for a sound different than all the Les Pauls and Ibanez guitars flowing through where I live, but never knew what to get. Then, I found out one of my hero's (Jack White) played a Gretsch so I decided to go for it. I do NOT regret it.
I got this beauty a week or so ago and love it. I even gave it a name: Snowflake. Everything is wonderful. The only thing I dislike is my neck pickup. Its very quiet for some reason. I may change it soon. But it still, it sounds amazing, I just need to turn it up a bit more when I use the neck pickup.
The guitar is pretty well made, aside from my input jack constantly falling out. Thats a pretty easy fix though. But its irritating that its like that.
The sound I get from running Snowflake through my amp compared to the the $650 I paid for it is completely one sided. Other than the pickup and input jack, its a magical sounding instrument.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

I thought that I'd never own the "Vette" until I played one. Now I'm sold, the MegaTron PUs are the best, a perfect match for the guitar and the Mahog wood. Its light to wear, very easy to play due to short and comfy scale neck and should wear like iron. Thanks Gretsch !

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

I was fortunate enough to buy a Gretsch Corvette Electromatic in Mint condition in a pawn Shop for a great price. I love the appearance and feel of this Guitar. The pickups are really different from humbuckers I'm used to. The tone is really something else and I can see it working for me in many different settings from Church to Blues jams to freestyle rock guitar solos. The Bigsby is great and you simply have to stretch the strings properly before doing a gig with it. I would recommend this guitar to anyone who wants a unique look (very retro and chic), and a sound not like everyone else has. I chose it because it looks like something Keith Richards would play and I have had great experiences on my friends old Gretsch Committee model guitar. I also own a Gretsch Banjo that is 30 years old, so you can't go wrong with Gretsch. I have large fingers but the smallness of the fingerboard is like a special treat . It is no problem at all. The Guitar responds well , clean or distorted, through my Polytone amp which I've owned for 22 years. I would definitely recommend this Guitar to anyone.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

Very good guitar for the money. I have always played on fender guitars, but I had a friend who owned this guitar (that I bought from him). I was looking for a different guitar sound and was looking at getting a jazzmaster or something close. The first thing I noticed is how the strings feel. It feels like a thin-neck Gibson, but has some Fender thrown in. I don't know how to describe it. It has awesome tone variety but never buzzes like the single coils. At the top pickup it has a good jazzy clean or deeper solo distortion sound. In the middle, a very nice chorusy clean or all round good rhythm sound. At the bottom, a nice cut-through, biting overdrive or clean country lead sound. Well made guitar for the musician on a college-kid budget. Most awesome for the price and a nice mix of Gibson and Fender sound and playability.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

I purchased this Gretch maybe two years ago. Over-all guitar was a disapointing "OK". I did return the guitar. I did not like the pick-up tone; little variety to be gained with any knob or amp adjustments. Trem bar worked way better than I thought it would; but I seldom use one. I couldn't in fact get the strings out of tune. The Fender rep was surprised as this may have been unnusual. Musician's Friend took back the instrument no problem; Fender called and seemed genuinely interested in feedback; and best of all I found a '70s era Epiphone Crestwood two weeks later.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5135 Electromatic CVT Electric Guitar:

You know I got this guitar for my 18th birthday and I haven't been playing guitar for that long at that time and was not experienced enough to realize the greatness of this guitar. I decided to take this guitar with me to college just so i can play it when i'm not doing anything. I didnt realize that i would have a music major rooommate and have so many friends that were music majors. The point in hand is that every one of my friends fell in love with my Gretsch. I actually lent my gretsch to a friend of mine for a gig because he liked it so much(he ended up buying a gretsch after trying my guitar, not the same model though) and a great tragedy came to the guitar it got ran over by his car on the way to the gig. The headstock was badly damaged but everything else was fine, it sure is a tough guitar. I literally cried in tears when it broke. My friends in the band were good enough to pay for the damages and so we took it to a luthier to get it fixed. We got a structural repair for the guitar, no cosmetic repair. The luthier did an excellent job on the guitar. It still plays as excellent as the first day I got it, perhaps even better.This guitar is simpy amazing i get so many comments about cool it looks and how great it sounds. It sounds great for blues and jazz, it's a versatile guitar. The action is really low, no fret buzz. The tone is amazing. The strings stay in tune well even with the bigsby tremolo. The neck is very smooth.The paint job is marvelous and the pickups sound hot. The only thing I would do is replace the jackplate with one that screws in because the original jackplate fell off. But overall I love this guitar to death.