Gretsch Guitars G5655T-QM Electromatic Center Block Jr. Single-Cut Quilted Maple With Bigsby Electric Guitar Speyside

Great playing out of the box. Fit and finish are great. Couldn't be happier. Filtertrons are a grate pickup. To me more versitle than a standard humbuckers. I would highly recommend buying one of these.you won't be disappointed. When I left with mine they had a few just like it on the wall. I would hurry over to the clackamas store to get one for yourself.

I used to scoff at the thought of paying more than a couple hundred dollars for a guitar, even as times have changed, and I played my "starter" guitar almost exclusively for over 10 years. However, this guitar has made me reconsider my perspective on what a guitar is worth and what you should be willing to pay for one. To preface, I am a long-time casual player and while I consider myself reasonably "skilled," I don't play gigs or record songs. I believe Gretsch has outdone themselves with this guitar. On the surface level, its appearance is beautiful; I bought the Hudson Sky variant for its mellow color and how nice the quilted maple looks on it, which alone is a very nice touch if you want a guitar that won't slap you with a sharp, in-your-face color. I initially picked up another color variant (Sweet Tea) when I was in a store just to mess around, and fell in love with how the guitar sounds and feels, and I decided to mull it over (again, I am not adjusted to paying $1k for a guitar) and look for a color that I preferred. The neck of this guitar feels very good in my left hand and moving up and down the fretboard is relatively easy. It is also a bit smaller for a semi-hollow body weighing in at only about 6 pounds, and the slimmer profile makes it very easy to play over the body with your picking hand. Being a semi-hollow body, I am also able to practice and play the guitar without an amp and it will still clearly articulate. The tuners are very stable and I put 8.5-gauge strings on it; even with some Bigsby use, I do not have issues with tuning stability. (Please note that the Bigsby is most likely not suitable for whammy dive-bombs.) To dig deeper, the tone of the G5655T-QM is phenomenal. It has a little bit of the classic "Gretsch twang" without being overbearing and adds character to whatever you are playing. There is little to no noise from the pickups, which all sound good. This guitar is also very versatile, despite having a little bit of the classic Gretsch tone, and sounds great over a wide variety of genres. You will need a distortion pedal to play hard rock and heavy metal, but it can naturally handle music with low to moderate gain. There are a couple of minor grievances to keep in mind. While the single cutaway is deeper than on some other Gretsch models, you might still have difficulty reaching high frets, especially on the low strings. However, it is not a deal-breaker for me and I can reach the vast majority of frets just fine. Second, and this issue may be related to the fact I bought the only model and it was the store model, some of the higher frets are slightly sharp. Some oil and a more controlled atmosphere have helped to reduce some of the issue, but when I am paying $1k for a guitar, quality issues like sharp frets shouldn't be a problem. Overall I believe the G5655T-QM is an excellent guitar and I would highly recommend it to those who are invested in playing and are looking for a quality guitar.

Guitar performs well

Looks Fantastc and Plays Great! Love the Sound!

I had been seeking out a smaller hollow body electric guitar and had seen the "sweet tea" version of this model demo'ed on You Tube. After that, I knew that it was exactly what I was looking for. I spied it at my local Guitar Center and traded a couple pieces of gear for it (AND got their discount). I brought the guitar home and was very pleasantly surprised that the set-up and intonation were spot-on, surpassing my expectations. The guitar is of high quality workmanship, with excellent hardware and a gorgeous finish. Extremely pleased and would highly recommend!