I got a G5420TG and a G5420T – but one of them has the wrong body depth!!?

[GlenP]

that makes a lot of sense, now that you mention it ...
for the 5410 (1/4" shallower than your 6120..

actually the partcular model 6120 Players Edition Nashville that I have is a 2.5" body, not the full 2.75" of the more historically accurate 6120s. It is a modern compromise to sacrifice some of the acoustics for more comfort.

I am not an acoustics expert, but the body chamber and strings definitely interact. Feedback comes from external acoustic excitation of the body that gets transferred into the strings, for example. The total dimensions of the body are like a band-pass filter for the acoustics that can propagate in there. Those dimensions are related to the wavelengths of sound, in certain multiples and fractions of the wave, analogous to organ pipes. You need the really long larger diameter pipes for the low end bass notes, right? Deeper guitar bodies will retain more of the rich bottom end. Just look at the size of an acoustic bass compared to a violin.

How much of the body acoustics gets picked up by the magnetic pickups? That is a good question, and a large part of that is in how the body interacts with the strings themselves.

 

[juks]

1mm for me would be whatever. 5mm is a lot IMO.

 

[Danno]

if I could only keep one, I'd keep the Korean-made one.
I don't usually like gold hardware, doch it looks great on Cadillac Green!
P.S. I subscribed to your YouTube channel; great chatting with you.

Agreed I'm not a fan of Gold hardware but I love that green

 

[JB5410]

actually the partcular model 6120 Players Edition Nashville that I have is a 2.5" body, not the full 2.75" of the more historically accurate 6120s. It is a modern compromise to sacrifice some of the acoustics for more comfort.

very cool ... I thought they were 2.75" for some reason, but I too prefer 2.5". maybe I'll get one for myself as a retirement present ... in 15 years or so!
I don't think I'd like the 2" with painted f-holes, though ... but I digress.

 

[audept]

Welcome to the forum, @adamore !

 

[G5422T]

How to measure body depth.

Measure the distance, top to the back, at the tailpiece. It should meet the advertised spec.

Now here's a fun one. For 5422 owners, do this measurement by the neck too. The body is tapered.

 

[adamore]

How to measure body depth.

Measure the distance, top to the back, at the tailpiece. It should meet the advertised spec.

Now here's a fun one. For 5422 owners, do this measurement by the neck too. The body is tapered.

Hey, @G5422T !
Thanks for providing this info, I was hoping to see my measuring method corrected if wrong. I measured at the horn. This turns the above discussion on its head to some extent, I will provide an update after I have done some diligent re-measuring. Sorry for the cliffhanger, just gotta find the time to do it properly ...

I tried to google how to measure body depth on a Gretsch, but I couldn't easily find any good info, where did you learn this, @G5422T ?

Have A Gretsch Day!

 

[Highroller]

As far as I know, Gretsch has bounced around between those two body depths on their single-cut hollowbodies for years, decades even. Proline and Electromatic alike. Doesn't seem to matter, and there's little clear logic to it. It's confusing for sure, but in the big picture, not horribly important once you plug in.

They're both OK imho - it's more a matter of how the guitar feels in your hands than how it sounds. I doubt most people can really hear the difference between the two. It's a pretty subtle thing.

 

[G5422T]

Hey, @G5422T !
Thanks for providing this info, I was hoping to see my measuring method corrected if wrong. I measured at the horn. This turns the above discussion on its head to some extent, I will provide an update after I have done some diligent re-measuring. Sorry for the cliffhanger, just gotta find the time to do it properly ...

I tried to google how to measure body depth on a Gretsch, but I couldn't easily find any good info, where did you learn this, @G5422T ?

Have A Gretsch Day!

Learned this from "the man" himself, Joe C.

 

[adamore]

Hello again,
Thanks for all your comments!

One person (@G5422T) said body depth is measured at the tailpiece. Since nobody protested, I checked these measures. Approximate body depths at tailpiece:
1. Gretsch G5420TG Cadillac Green (Korea ’21): 72mm (2.83")
2. Gretsch G5420T Orange Stain (China’22): 70mm (2.76")

So, if this is true it is the G5420TG which is not according to specs, being too thick by some 2mm (.08").

Also, interestingly, both bodies are tapered towards the neck joint by some 1.5mm (.06") and 3mm (.12"), respectively. The G5420T is considerably more tapered.

The originally proposed 5mm discrepancy to specifications would have been quite a big deal according to myself and others. The above discrepancies are not that big of a deal, I'd say. What do you think?

It would be interesting to hear of other G5420T and G5420TG measurements!

Have A Gretsch Day!

(I apologise for any weird mm/inch conversions, a factor 2.54 conversion is a bit messy. And for any weird Swenglish expressions)

HELLO!
I just bought my first Gretsch! Now I really wonder about why the G5420T does not have the 2.75” body depth the specifications said.

I actually bought two electromatics, for comparison, and will return one.

These are the ones I got:
1. Gretsch G5420TG Cadillac Green (Korea ’21),
2. Gretsch G5420T Orange Stain (China’22),

Here is a video mostly of the look of each guitar, pointing out the differences in appearance and body depth:

The only difference I expected between these, judging by the specifications, was the new FT-5E Filter’Tron pickups in the ’22 model. I have not made a thorough comparison, but the two guitars sound fairly similar according to my first impressions.

To my astonishment, however, I noticed that the Korea ’21 TG body was much deeper than the China ’22. As you can see in the video, the depth is about 2.75" (70 mm) in the Korea ’21 TG and only about 2.55" (65 mm) in the China ’22 T.

I would not have been too surprised if the Korea ’21 TG had been 65 mm which is (close to) the standard 6118 depth, since the TG is a “limited edition” model of sorts.

The G5420TG feels quite a bit better acoustically and playability-wise but this might be due to the fact that is was set up by the store and has lower string height. The G5420T was left in the original Gretsch packaging and thus set up at the factory in China.

I will most likely keep the TG since it plays better and I love the cadillac green sparkly finish, which is also way more rare than the orange stain. The orange stain has a nice wood structure but is a bit too dark orange for my taste, also it is of course the staple colour of Gretsch for good and bad.

Does anybody want to comment, especially on the depth difference? (Perhaps I also measured the depth wrongly at the horns; The arch of both the back and top of course mean the actual depth is bigger than my measurements for both guitars. )

(Also, If you want to subscribe to my Youtube channel, I’d be most thankful and would also be able to choose my own URL once I get to 100 subscribers.)

View attachment 209244

 

[Scott Fraser]

Looking at the pics of both, I'd say the Chinese one has a fatter, more rounded cutaway than the Korean model, which looks a bit more pleasing to my eye.

 

[Les Pedals]

Isn’t Cadillac Green 5420’s a Limited Edition model? We have three different Limited Edition 5420’s models and I think they are all different in different areas.

 

[Henry]

The only specs that matter are the specs in the advertising for the specific gutitar you are buying. I would not rely on generic specs like on the gretsch website. In fact I recall someone posting a disclaimer from the website stating the specs are informational only and to verify specs with the seller.

It's why I hesitate to tell people things like string spacing, etc. The only spec that matters is in your hands and you can measure it.

 

[Dianick]

All measurements aside…
What bothers me the most is the reaction the rep from Fender/Gretsch has towards Adamore and most likely every other customer. Telling us to just accept what the factory in China decides to use this week.

This is what earns China made products a bad rep.
Most of the time they start out good, making everything just as specified according to the initial contract. After a while they start cutting corners, saving 2ct here and there. Then they take it even further, in the end making a bad product that reflects bad on Gretsch. In a couple of years time everybody avoids a Gretsch “Crafted in China” like the plague.

I’ve seen it happen many times with optics for shooting. They can produce a rifle scope in China as good as a German brand does. As long as they stick to the specification agreed to in the initial contract. But in the end they never do.

Fender/Gretsch should be the one calling the shots. The China factory should just make a product that meets the specifications agreed to. But when a rep from the brand itself writes a reply like he did to Adamore we can all see where they will end up in a few years time.