Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

This guitar has more tone than I thought!
The hollow body really resonates well.
A lot of guitar for the price!

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

Suprisingly nice instrument. Great fit & finish. Blacktop pickups are sweet. Shipped safely. Only setup required was adjusting bridge for best intonation. Super play-ability!

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

This guitar feels just like an acoustic as far as the bulky feel of an acoustic goes, but the sound is amazing! This guitar is very fun to play, but the drawback to the playability is how the body cuts into your strumming forearm with a strap attached. A second note is how beautiful this guitar is. I own a bunch of guitars to include an explorer, SG standard, les paul, and a flying "V", but this guitar is my new favorite. This distortion is clear and lethal, and the clean side is very "twangy". I play mostly ska and punk sounds through it and have come to the conclusion that this guitar is perfect for whatever sound you want to have come through it. Last drawback, add some more cash to the price tag cause it does not come with a case or gig bag, which is strange for such a nice guitar. Manufacturers usually will include a case with a guitar of this quality. Other than that, worth ever penny!

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

Have owned solid bodies and wanted something new. This guitar surpassed my expectations. Great finish and great workmanship. Played both the 5420 and 5120 and I encourage anyone looking at the 5120 to check this one out. The 5420 electronics are simply superior. I'm not an expert but it was obvious doing a side by side. And for a little more the 5420 is worth it. Great action, great tone, and a bigsby!

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

My experience with the G5420T has been the same as PartialtoMarshall's: this is a guitar with a lot to like compromised by sloppy manufacturing.

The good....
* The neck design enables hours of fatigue free playing, if you have fairly large hands. Fret installation is outstanding.
* The Blacktop pickups are almost as good as Gretsch HS Filtertrons for playing clean (however, Blacktops get muddy and the distortion is not very appealing with high gain).
* The no-name tuners are not bad, although locking tuners would work better with a Bigsby.
* The Bigsby was correctly installed and works properly.
* The clean interior speaks of a well constructed body.
* The finish was expertly applied and looks first-rate.

The bad....
* The Adjusto-Matic bridge rattled non-stop and killed the tone. My first move was to replace it with a brass Compton bar bridge that has no moving parts and delivers great sustain.
* The bridge base was not shaped to fit the archtop at all and required meticulous sanding.
* The nut was grey plastic junk - poorly slotted and way too high - and was replaced with bone.
* The pots and wiring harness were substandard. While the guitar was in the shop I had it all replaced (CTS pots and orange drop capacitors).
* The cheap pickguard was installed crooked - I took it off and filled the holes with the mounting screws.
* The binding in the f-holes was crude and required a thorough going over with emery cloth.

Lest any one think I am being too picky, I also own a comparably priced Godin archtop that was built to a higher standard. I am happy with my G5420T now, but whipping it into shape was a costly hassle. Gretsch needs to pay more attention to quality control and stop cutting so many corners.

BTW This guitar has a floating bridge. Any one who is unfamiliar with positioning one of these for proper intonation might want to watch the Gretsch Guitars Tech Tips YouTube video on the subject.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

This guitar devilers everything that its earlier verison didn't( the g5120)! The looks are amazing! The white binding around the f -holes is really nice, I have the orange version, which is a nice color, it is more of a deep orange-red color. The pickups. oh the pickups! They are great! They deliver an actual gretsch sound. MUCH BETTER THAN THE G5120 PUPS!!! This is a greta guitar for the money. I would highly adise getting one of these. If you want that great gretsch sound get this model not the 5120!

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

I bought this used in Orange. I haven't had any problems with it as far as build quality. The pickups are outstanding and the Bigsby is a lot of fun to play around with. Love the look, feel, and tone. I don't have anything bad to say about this guitar and highly recommend it.

Comments about Gretsch Guitars G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar:

I really like this guitar - sound, looks, value. I also have one of the earlier 5120 Electromatics and love that guitar too. The 5420 has a slightly livelier, brighter, and even more Gretschy tone than the 5120. Both are quite beautiful guitars. My new 5420 has a deeper orange and the top, while not technically considered a figured wood, has such grain patterns as to almost appear burled. Really beautiful and the finish is excellent. I love playing it and hearing it's complex tone. Now for the bad. My first purchase was the Cadillac Green FSR 5420. It looked nice, sounded good, but the strings would not center over the pole pieces of the PUPS. If the bridge was moved to adjust this, it would spring back from string tension to its original position. I figured the Bigsby was not positioned correctly. Had to send it back and exchaged for the slightly more expensive orange model - which was dead on arrival - no sound from the amp when plugged in. Sigh ... I decided to fix it, figuring it to be wiring related. I resoldered several questionable looking joints and everything is fine now. I really liked the looks and feel and sound of the guitar otherwise I would never have gone to the trouble. The wooden base of the bridge was also not matched to the contour of the top very closely. I used some Stew-Mac tools and supplies to sand it to a perfect match. I know - this is a lot to do to an almost $900 guitar. It is beyond what is reasonable to expect for your money IMHO. Fortunately, I have enough experience to deal with some of these issues. This is typical of my experience with Asian guitars in this price range. Sometimes you get absolutely stunning value, sometimes you get a clinker - that's the way it is. Almost all of them require a good set-up. DIY or pay somebody competent. So, with all issues addressed, do I still love her? Yes, it was worth it for me. I would still recommend the guitar. Just a heads up of what you might expect of any brand in this price range. I have a great guitar now - but it took a little work to get it there. Seems typical these days.