Gretsch G2224 Junior Jet II Bass SB WN

I got this bass totally on impulse because it looked cool (basically just a bad excuse for buying yet another bass).

I'm generally not a huge fan of mini humbuckers and I've not been particularly impressed with Gretsch basses in the past, including some pretty expensive ones. But this one just looked so cool in Torino Green and was cheap enough to give it a chance.

First of all, the stock strings were junk. The usual light gauge, clanky D'Addario stuff you find on most cheap basses. I tested the bass for about 5 minutes before I decided to change the strings. I installed a set of short scale GHS Balanced Nickels and tried again.

At first the sound was rather thin, particularly on the E-string but after about 5 minutes of playing things started to sound better. A LOT better! The lows gradually got fatter and the sound had none of that horribly bright D'Addario clank. I'm not sure if it was the GHS nickels or the bass that needed some "breaking in" (probably the strings) but the difference in tone during those first 5 minutes was nothing short of exceptional.

I'm normally not a huge fan of mini-humbuckers (or humbuckers in general on bass) but these ones sounded cool. Slightly harsh highs (even though the tonal character is on the dark side) but this can easily be tamed with warm sounding strings. Of course the highs can be subdued with the tone control too but I massively prefer the sound of this bass with the tone control wide open, or at least very close. I tend to prefer the tone control this way with bass humbuckers (as opposed to Fender P or J where I normally roll off 1/3 or so).

The upper mids are VERY forward. This bass has a lot of bottled up aggression inside! The sound is actually slightly distorting when you dig in (but in a really cool way!). The lows are adequate for a short scale but slightly "loose", particularly on the E-string. Still, it's not as muddy as some bass humbuckers can be, at least not until the tone control is lowered. The aggressive upper mids give the clarity needed to cut through the mix. And that's what this bass will offer: CUT through aggressively rather than SIT back in the mix. Still, it does offer some fatness and warmth too, at least with the right strings. Some of the warmth I'm hearing is no doubt the GHS nickels though.

I like the sound better than I had expected. It's certainly the coolest sounding Gretsch bass I've owned. I could never get a good sound out of my much more expensive Broadkaster but this cheap little Junior Jet is punching above it's weight.

The general build quality and craftsmanship is surprisingly good. The neck pocket is VERY tight. The finish is flawless. The neck is GREAT! The fretwork is exceptionally good for this price range. Or for ANY price range really! It's actaully some of the best I've seen on a cheap bass ever. No fret buzz anywhere with very low action (when set up correctly) and no sharp edges. In fact, the fretboard edges feel more like a €2000 instrument. Really smooth. I love the neck profile but this is of course highly subjective. Personally I would prefer a lower radius (more curved) fingerboard but again: highly subjective.

The body looks cool but is a bit uncomfortable. There's no contours and it feels a bit bulky when sitting down. When standing it has a bit of neck dive but I guess that's almost unavoidable with such a short upper horn. It looks better than it feels. I guess that's the price we have to pay for the cool looks.

The hardware seems very cheap. The tuners feel a bit loose and the bridge is like a flimsier version of a vintage Fender bridge. Still, they do the job and it's not like I expect them to break anytime soon (although one of the tuners feels a bit dodgy so who knows...).

Accessories: At this price? Nothing, as expected (except the two hex wrenches needed to adjust the neck/bridge).

The factory setup was horrible. The neck didn't have enough relief and the bridge saddles looked like they were set almost random with tht G-string saddle being the highest! I knew I was going to install heavier gauge strings so I didn't touch the truss rod and voila, PERFECT relief with the GHS nickels (44-106). Pure luck of course. After fixing the saddle heights and adjusting intonation the bass played wonderfully. One nice thing about simple bridges like this one is that at least they're really fast and easy to adjust compared to some of the more high end options that almost needs a degree in engineering to set up (hello Sandberg).

The ONE really negative thing about this bass would be the pickup selector. It feels extremely cheap and cuts out the signal and makes a loud audible click/pop when changing positions. With extensive use I'm pretty sure this switch will fail sooner rather than later. This isn't surprising. Pickup selectors are often the weak link on cheap instruments (and even if the switch was top quality I would personally have preferred separate volumes or a blend knob). Still, it's not the most expensive part to replace if it fails and who knows, it may last for years. But it's still a bit annoying with that loud click.

One more thing: The fretboard wood is listed as "black walnut" in the specs on the Gretsch website. If that's the case it's certainly the blackest walnut I've ever seen. Mine looks much darker than the photos on the Thomann website. Mine is... black. Pitch black. Even "black walnut" isn't as black as this in it's natual color. The fretboard on this bass looks dyed which doesn't really make sense because walnut looks much nicer than this in it's natural color in my opinion. Maybe they changed the specs and now use some of those cheaper dyed wood materials that lots of cheaper instruments use? Or maybe it was supposed to get a LITTLE bit of dye and someone went crazy at the factory? Whatever it is, the wood feels ok when playing but it would have looked far better in a more natural walnut color in my opinion.

To sum it up:

This is certainly not the most amazing bass ever but for the price it's a very cool little instrument that's definitely punching above it's weight. I'm particularly impressed with the neck and the woodwork. The sound can be a bit hit or miss. It's very aggressive (yet dark'ish) and pretty far from more "standard" tones like Fender. For this reason I think it may be better as a second (or third, or fourth...) instrument than as your first bass. Unless you specifically want this kinda dark, yet aggressive sound of course. Probably best suited for harder alternative rock genres. It's not quite metal but definitely not one for the semi-acoustic cafe gig either.

Quirky? Yes! Fun? Yes! Highly recommended if you want a short scale with a somewhat different tone than the usual suspects.