Gretsch G5222 EMTC D. Jet BT V-St. NAT

I purchased this Gretsch G5222 Electromatic Double Jet Black Top Broad Tron V-Stoptail in Aged Natural (short name) a month ago mostly for the Malcolm Young-y look and the G6131MY being way too expensive for my budget to buy "just for fun".

To summarize: I am VERY happy with the look, feel, sound and playability of the guitar and the G5222 is VERY much bang for your buck. I will dig deeper into details for those who are interested.

I already had two "South East/Far East made" and three US made guitars before and I am sorry to say this but this China made G5222 shows better craftmanship than my US made LP Std and US made Strat Spl! The wood works, finish, joints and bindings are pretty much perfect! The guitar set up was close to perfect after unboxing and my only concern with a bit too low action is probably just my personal preferences.

When ordering I was hesitant regarding the laurel fretboard, which, according to me, sometimes can be greyish, a bit rough and "tiger striped". The delivered G5222's fretboard is silk smooth, warm dark brown somewhere in between rosewood and ebony! It looks and feels great – no need to sand nor dye. The frets are a bit rough like brushed stainless steel in look and feel. Easily fixed in an hour with micro mesh pads or something similar.

The sound and feel of the (no name) vol and tone pots are very convincing and again actually better than some of the US made parts mentioned above.

When investigated through a magnifier some of the chrome hardware, such as the bridge, the stop bar and pot knobs look a bit cheap. The chrome layer seems to be very thin.

The tune knobs look a bit cheap but feel very convincing and the guitar stays well in tune. No problem with finish as with earlier mentioned chromed hardware.

When looking into the cavities in the guitar the wood work is somewhat rugged, which definitely is of less importance and pretty much as my US made guitars as well. The wiring and electronics seem proper and old fashioned, in a good way. The pots are of no known name but definitely do the trick. All wiring is "tidy" and properly soldered and there are no printed circuit boards as on my way more expensive Gibson's.

The guitar is somewhat "front heavy" (causing neck dive), actually more than my SG, which depends on where the front strap button is mounted. I have tried with several different straps but have hard do get rid of the problem. The system with threaded secured strap buttons is by the way very smart.

Finally, and probably most important. What is the sound like? The sound is great but I was a bit disappointed because the difference from my Burstbucker Pros and '57 Classics in my Gibson's aren't significant – which may be a high rate of the Broad'trons in the G5222. (I have ordered TV Jones Power'trons…)

To summarize: VERY much guitar for your money!

I was looking for a guitar for my AC/DC tribute band. I'm playin' as rhythm guitarist (Malcolm Young). This Gretsch, with a beautiful natural painting, is exactly what I wanted. Original sygnature of Malcolm is too expensive for me at this time, but Gretsch G5222 EMTC D. Jet BT V-St. NAT have as good presence as original guitar of Malcolm Young. Very good choice and purchase for me!

I'd like to thank Thomann for having a lot of guitars and other stuff. Are you looking for something that you can't find? Check thomann's website and I'm sure that you'll find what you are lookin' for!

I bought this guitar because I wanted humbucker sound from a more traditional guitar shape. I never liked the feel of a Las Paul style shape. The build quality of this guitar is amazing, the finish and the detail are very impressive, what you might expect from a guitar costing three or four times the price. The set up was amazing out of the box and the sound from the broadtron humbuckers is big, and full bodied like a Gibson humbucker, but also with a lot of bright single coil tones like a Fender Strat. I use a Marshall valve amp, and with the volume rolled back, the breakup / overdrive sound from the amp is exactly what I was hoping for. Very versatile sound, ideal for any style of music, clean or dirty. Very responsive to touch. A pleasure to play. This guitar has its own style and sound, its not trying to copy any other sound or style. Its a Gretsch 100% from me.