Gretsch G5421 Electromatic Jet Club Firebird Red

Been buying, selling, working on and attempting to play guitars since The Ventures played Wipeout. Still can’t play worth a #&@$ but I have become a pretty good guitar tech and judge of what a good instrument is and this Gretsch is a good one! And that’s a big understatement! The fit and finish of this guitar is absolutely amazing. The quality, playability, feel and value for the money are as good as any guitar I have ever owned or worked on regardless of price. I know, sounds like hyperbole but honestly it’s that good. As I said though I’m just a mediocre player so I can’t fairly assess how it’s going to stack up in a band situation since I only play at bedroom level volume and only play by myself but for my situation it sounds fabulous. The pickups are not traditional Gretsch sounding, they are very clean, not muddy humbuckers that sound fabulous with just a touch of reverb and delay, just the way I like them. I may at some point try a couple of TV Jones’ but for now I’m more than happy with the stock ones. I’m not a gear snob but I feel justified in saying this Gretsch blows any Squier or Epiphone in this price range clear out of the water. Mar9. After playing for several hours I’ve a couple of things to be aware of, first make sure the stop bar tail piece is not set to low or the B and high E string will touch the back edge of the bridge causing a faint sitar sound, also the pickups are very sensitive to height adjustment. Start with Gretsch recommended 3/16” then balance them to each other by raising or lowering but as I said they’re touchy so do it in small increments.

Really love this guitar. I'm a beginner and I was looking for an entry guitar at a reasonable price point. No doubt in my mind that the quality of build and sound better other brands. A friend with many years experience is amazed that the jet club was only $299. I got the firebird red. In most on-line photo this color looks to be a bright red, but it is actually a beautifully rich red without being too dark. The weight and tone are nice and I seem to be able to mange most cord lower-level cord shapes with less strain that on an acoustic guitar.

Good guitar for what I paid, but I had to spend an hour taking care of all of the sharp fret ends, take the pickguard off and remove the bridge pickup so I could adjust the height and I had to replace the tuners which would hardly turn.After all of that it plays and sounds very good.

Guitar came in with good set up …beautiful guitar.. I got it at discount

I'm pretty sure this is discontinued -- the current replacement line is the Streamliner single-cut solid-body at roughly $259.This is my first electric guitar. Despite what you hear about entry-level Chinese-made guitars, my 5425 was playable out-of-the-box with no significant buzzing or dead spots. Once I lubricated the nut (by rubbing a pencil tip through the slots) it's had pretty solid tuning stability The neck is straight, the action is low, and it intonates "competently" (meaning the 12th fret is very close to a perfect octave above the open string).Despite the Gretsch name, though, the pickups are fairly standard humbuckers that may be (it's debatable) voiced "similar" to the classic Gretsch sound. They are not Filter'Tron type pickups. While a lot of Gretsch fans will complain about the Broad'Trons (available on the Jet Pro, one model grade above Jet Club in the pre-Streamliner era), they are at least similar in design to the classic Filter'Tron.Nevertheless, for entry-level humbuckers, they sound great. There are aftermarket pickups that can be swapped in (most notably TV Jones, widely recognized as the superior 'Tron-style pickup manufacturer, closest to the original sound and better overall than Gretsch to the point that mid- to high-end G's just come with TV Jones' in them.)Anyhow, the 5425 is an easy-to-play Single Cut vaguely les-paul-shaped entry-level guitar with good tone, good construction, good intonation and tuning stability. I have no regrets. I now own a P90-based Tagima (also entry-level) and love each one for its own qualities.

I loved the "guitar" itself, not this used version re-packed by the seller, shipped by amazon.Otherwise if for the guitar, a top rating.However this one with it's large "ding" damage spot bottom back edge between bouts, this is the review, and at that price.--- --- ---Otherwise, it's a great guitar. Nearly in sound like the much more expensive non-bolt neck of the T-bird (with it's useless Trem bar, hahhh... orig design was a mistake on that re-offering).It's got great tonal range through the two pups. However, for me where it shines is on a clean, slightly over driven bridge pup only full tone/vol knob or one tick backed off.The T-bird is capable of slightly more Hi-Z's and bite, but this G5425 with no added electronic filters, and etc., is slightly warmer if most would even hear it. I do and would. But in a live venue mix, not a big issue and with all the "Active" boosts available.As far as "beginner" guitar? Why? I think any smart gigging musician would be happy to use this and not their $1K+ unit if did not have to. Not to mention the T-bird is allot! heavier (the down side there), than this pretty light unit.The strings it came with on this Scale, unless this Seller Changed them?, were a bit stiff (nice strings but "tight" cores)... this guitar would do fine with a looser cord 10's or even 9's, no tone, volume loss as I hear it, anticipate that change.Overall, it's well made. In no way did I see (other than then nickle - quarter sized ding-damage, not an OEM issue) ... did I see any, "wish it had" stuff. At the price point I paid for this, with shipping included and esp if did not have "Tax"... -- one to well consider for any level player.