Gretsch G5622

pauly

Fractal Fanatic
Hi all,
About 30 minutes ago, I picked up a new Gretsch 5266 after being lured by a pre Black Friday price.

I picked it up and played a few chords.

Verdict? Imagine you contracted a Chinese factory to build a guitar for you, but didn’t hang around to supervise.

The finish is ok.
There were loose screws, some areas not polished correctly, the setup is abysmal! I’m going to need to set it up myself. Not unusual to do that with a new guitar, but it’s setup unusually bad. The nut, for example will need mucho worko. Everything about it screams cheap. Pity, I was looking forward to my first Gretsch, but this ain’t that.

Thanks
Pauly
 
Hi all,
About 30 minutes ago, I picked up a new Gretsch 5266 after being lured by a pre Black Friday price.

I picked it up and played a few chords.

Verdict? Imagine you contracted a Chinese factory to build a guitar for you, but didn’t hang around to supervise.

The finish is ok.
There were loose screws, some areas not polished correctly, the setup is abysmal! I’m going to need to set it up myself. Not unusual to do that with a new guitar, but it’s setup unusually bad. The nut, for example will need mucho worko. Everything about it screams cheap. Pity, I was looking forward to my first Gretsch, but this ain’t that.

Thanks
Pauly
Return it?

Seller should know what they're selling, and what their customers think of it.
 
HI Dave,

Nah - I've already paid $50 to get it shipped to me... another $50 to send it back.. to much wasted money .... I'll set it up properly and either like it, or it can go to the wall of shame. Surely you have one... where all the guitars you don't get on with go?

:)
Paly

Return it?

Seller should know what they're selling, and what their customers think of it.
 
Sad to hear. I like the Japanese-made Gretsch models; they're flawless. I think the only brand I'd trust from China is Eastman. There may be others, but I'm not familiar.

Could also be that you just got unlucky. There are several reviews from multiple sources touting the cheaper models (from China).
 
When it comes to brands lower end models, it pays to play before buying unless you go in knowing you'll need to invest some time and/or more money getting it playable for you. Gretcsh's 'entry level' guitars seem to vary more than some brands I've played; there have been a handful that felt really good, others felt extremely cheap. The only Gretsch I ever purchased was a Power Jet. The fit and finish on it was superb but it's a mid-tier guitar.
 
Yeah it was a bit sad.

We'll see how it comes up ... I whipped off the truss rod plate, and found the truss rod was actually loose!!... Must have been finished by someone who doesn't like their job. As for reviews... Ptoooii! :)

So far -
Truss rod was loose
Strap lock was loose
Pick guard was loose
Nut had the strings a foot and a half from the fretboard (well maybe not that much)
Action needed adjustment
Replaced the strings with NYXLs
Pickups were on weird angles and height - (yet to do)
Intonation needs doing (Yet to do)

Mostly the normal stuff you look at with any guitar, but a loose truss rods and other loose screws is not good. Wonder what else they missed. Once I've done the intonation and pickup adjustments, I'm hoping it'll be significantly better.

Thanks
Pauly


Sad to hear. I like the Japanese-made Gretsch models; they're flawless. I think the only brand I'd trust from China is Eastman. There may be others, but I'm not familiar.

Could also be that you just got unlucky. There are several reviews from multiple sources touting the cheaper models (from China).
 
Hi again,

Well.... what a difference a couple of hours work can make.

After my initial disappointment, I did the work to fix the problems it had, and set it up properly, Now I can say I like it! It's not like anything else I've had (yer typical Teles & LPs etc), so it's going to take some adjustment, but it's opening another whole world of amp models I'd never even considered in the past. Don't get me wrong.. It's still a cheap guitar but it's now musical.

And it plays alright now. The only thing id do now would be smooth the frets as they are a little bit crunchy, but I'll see what a few weeks of my heavy hands will do.

All I did was;
  1. Search for, find, and tighten the loose stuff,
  2. Changed the strings,
  3. Adjust the truss rod,
  4. Adjust the nut slots (they were way off),
  5. Adjust the action,
  6. Adjust the pickup heights
  7. Adjust the intonation
Overall a good result, but I do struggle to understand how a guitar could not be set up well (not perfect...I get how things can change in the box) from the factory. If I was a beginner, I would have hated it, not known how to make it better, and taken up football.

Thanks
Pauly


Return it?

Seller should know what they're selling, and what their customers think of it.

Sad to hear. I like the Japanese-made Gretsch models; they're flawless. I think the only brand I'd trust from China is Eastman. There may be others, but I'm not familiar.

Could also be that you just got unlucky. There are several reviews from multiple sources touting the cheaper models (from China).

When it comes to brands lower end models, it pays to play before buying unless you go in knowing you'll need to invest some time and/or more money getting it playable for you. Gretcsh's 'entry level' guitars seem to vary more than some brands I've played; there have been a handful that felt really good, others felt extremely cheap. The only Gretsch I ever purchased was a Power Jet. The fit and finish on it was superb but it's a mid-tier guitar.
 
Actually joineda small oldies R'n roll band and preferred taking up a Cort Newyorker for 300 euros with a Bigsby. I invested in a pair of FBS UL'tron HB low impedance in HB format (filtertron type). The existing wiring is surprisingly well done BTW, and getting it out for soldering the new PU was a PITA, but the instrument is a nice job (Korean made) for the buck.
 

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Hi again,

Well.... what a difference a couple of hours work can make.
That's good to hear. Sounds like you got hold of one that maybe slipped through QC. Enjoy!

If you like the Gretsch vibe, then definitely consider one of the Japanese-made models. They won't disappoint.
 
Glad you're getting it sorted out. I like the Gretsch tone/vibe, I have a set of TV Jones Power'Trons in a PRS CE-24. Kind of wish I still had the Power Jet but it just wasn't for me at the time.
 
On a budget guitar I don't mind these kind of things as long as they are all taken care of in a good set up and a fret dress . If the fundamentals are all good the rest is an easy fix. The first thing I do to any guitar I buy is disassemble it entirely and fix all the issues that are usually there regardless of price point.
The only guitars I have ever had that needed nothing doing at all were A Vigier Excaliber Indus and an Aristides 060 both just perfect inside and out, set up intonated and ready to go flawless.
 
The main reason I bought a Japanese made one! I looked at the Electromatics pretty hard but just wasn't looking for a budget guitar that I I had to do a bunch of work into to get it to play and/or sound right.

I'm really liking the used 89 Vintage Sparkle Jet I bought last month. I did put a set of locking tuners on it and admittedly I don't care much for the way the vintage bridge functions, though it does have a great vibe! I little bit of work and some tips from @Andy Eagle, most of the minor issues I personally had with it are gone. Still need to put a treble bleed on it but that's it.

I really liked the new players edition Jets but I didn't want to swing for the fence on price nor did they have it in the Color I was tempted with.
 
Hi Sixstring,

Yes I can see the value in the Japanese ones, however they are 4 times the price which I wouldn't have wanted to spend. The only reason I bought this one is it was so cheap, I wouldn't lose much if I didn't like it. This has increased my interest in a 'nice' Gretsch guitar, though I'll never buy (a good) one online now that I've seen how quality can vary.
I'm still reeling from that truss rod not even being finger tight!

Thanks
Pauly

The main reason I bought a Japanese made one! I looked at the Electromatics pretty hard but just wasn't looking for a budget guitar that I I had to do a bunch of work into to get it to play and/or sound right.

I'm really liking the used 89 Vintage Sparkle Jet I bought last month. I did put a set of locking tuners on it and admittedly I don't care much for the way the vintage bridge functions, though it does have a great vibe! I little bit of work and some tips from @Andy Eagle, most of the minor issues I personally had with it are gone. Still need to put a treble bleed on it but that's it.

I really liked the new players edition Jets but I didn't want to swing for the fence on price nor did they have it in the Color I was tempted with.
 
Hi Sixstring,

Yes I can see the value in the Japanese ones, however they are 4 times the price which I wouldn't have wanted to spend. The only reason I bought this one is it was so cheap, I wouldn't lose much if I didn't like it. This has increased my interest in a 'nice' Gretsch guitar, though I'll never buy (a good) one online now that I've seen how quality can vary.
I'm still reeling from that truss rod not even being finger tight!

Thanks
Pauly
At least you were able to fix the issues and get it to play! I get the whole 4X on the price! and I was somewhat hesitant about buying it. Believe me I went back and forth a lot on making that decision.

Then I looked at it from the standpoint of quality, fit and finish and playability! and that is what meant the most to me. I have been down the road on so called budget guitars road a few times and it just didn't work out for me. I like the idea of finding a used quality guitar and save a few bucks on it that way if down the road I have to sell it it will be a little easier to do so.
 
Same with budget anything eh!

At least I know, next time I want to spend four and a half thousand on a guitar, the Gretsch will get a look in.
I’m enjoying this little G5622 actually, using amp models and playing thing I never would have considered before. For a cheap guitar, it’s “good” cheap.
Thanks
Pauly



At least you were able to fix the issues and get it to play! I get the whole 4X on the price! and I was somewhat hesitant about buying it. Believe me I went back and forth a lot on making that decision.

Then I looked at it from the standpoint of quality, fit and finish and playability! and that is what meant the most to me. I have been down the road on so called budget guitars road a few times and it just didn't work out for me. I like the idea of finding a used quality guitar and save a few bucks on it that way if down the road I have to sell it it will be a little easier to do so.
 
Same with budget anything eh!

At least I know, next time I want to spend four and a half thousand on a guitar, the Gretsch will get a look in.
I’m enjoying this little G5622 actually, using amp models and playing thing I never would have considered before. For a cheap guitar, it’s “good” cheap.
Thanks
Pauly
That's awesome! I love Gretsch. I think the China models are the entry-level tier these days. It seems like all the big manufacturers have at least three tiers anymore. I think you could probably get into a truly great Gretsch for more like $2-$2.5K though (unless you're international).
 
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