ThePluckedString
Electromatic
Hi All, I’ve posted a few times here, but thought I’d introduce myself and how I came to be a Gretsch fan. The Variax HD was so cool being able to change virtual guitar bodies, pickups, even capacitors. But I found that I liked real magnetic pickups better than the Variax sounds, so I sold it. But not before I discovered that the Gretsch guitars in the Variax were some of my favorite. I didn’t know what a Gretsch was before that.
I grew up playing acoustic and so my first Gretsch, a G5420t, felt very at home to me. After a couple years I upgraded to TVJ Classics, and a couple more years, a Compton bridge, both bigger improvements than I could have hoped for. I’m a home and church player and mostly very clean, but I do love how Gretsch guitars sound so complex and massive when they get dirty.
Then I decided to go big and get a Japanese Proline model. I did a ton of research, and it came down to the Player Jets with Dynasonics and a tension bar Bigsby, or the ‘53 Duo Jet with TVJ T-Armonds. I listened to every demo I could find of those two and ended up with the ‘53. It’s still my favorite guitar. The sound is incredible!
Now I have one Gretsch each from Japan, Korea, China, and Indonesia. I’ve done mods to all but the Japanese ‘53 Duo Jet. Pickups, bridges, Bigsby springs, etc. I have a PRS S2 with “D-type” pickups, a Supra with goldfoils, an Eastman T484 with Fralin Unbuckers, an American Pro Jaguar, and a couple others, but four Gretsch guitars. I guess that says something about the tones I like most!
Not pictured is my Streamliner Jet Jr. (featured in another thread), but that’s my Gretsch family. Kinda like Papa, Mama, and Little Bears from Goldilocks, but they’re all just right to me.
I grew up playing acoustic and so my first Gretsch, a G5420t, felt very at home to me. After a couple years I upgraded to TVJ Classics, and a couple more years, a Compton bridge, both bigger improvements than I could have hoped for. I’m a home and church player and mostly very clean, but I do love how Gretsch guitars sound so complex and massive when they get dirty.
Then I decided to go big and get a Japanese Proline model. I did a ton of research, and it came down to the Player Jets with Dynasonics and a tension bar Bigsby, or the ‘53 Duo Jet with TVJ T-Armonds. I listened to every demo I could find of those two and ended up with the ‘53. It’s still my favorite guitar. The sound is incredible!
Now I have one Gretsch each from Japan, Korea, China, and Indonesia. I’ve done mods to all but the Japanese ‘53 Duo Jet. Pickups, bridges, Bigsby springs, etc. I have a PRS S2 with “D-type” pickups, a Supra with goldfoils, an Eastman T484 with Fralin Unbuckers, an American Pro Jaguar, and a couple others, but four Gretsch guitars. I guess that says something about the tones I like most!
Not pictured is my Streamliner Jet Jr. (featured in another thread), but that’s my Gretsch family. Kinda like Papa, Mama, and Little Bears from Goldilocks, but they’re all just right to me.
