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

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.

Nur ganz kurz möchte ich an dieser Stelle mein Statement zur kürzlich bei Thomann erworbenen Gretsch G5222 EMTC D. Jet BT V-St. NAT abgeben: 5 von 5 möglichen Sternen gebe ich für sie! Diese Gitarre klingt absolut "super"! Es ist sowohl eine "brüllend- bassig- mittige" Rockgitarre - jedenfalls an meinem Marshall JMP 2203 100 W aus dem Jahr 1980 - als auch ein in anderen Musikstilen absolut empfehlenswertes und sehr gut klingendes Instrument. Mit wenigen Ausnahmen: Im eher rein "funkigen" Bereich möchte ich sie dann doch nicht ansiedeln. Im Jazz, Blues und vor allem auch im Rockbereich dagegen umso mehr. Ganz ehrlich, ich bin weder ein Profigitarrist noch ein blutiger Anfänger, aber folgendes möchte ich doch noch zur Gretsch 5222 sagen: Ich habe bislang mehrere Strats "Made in USA" besessen (derzeit noch eine Highway Strat "Teal Green" aus dem Jahr 2002 (modded mit Jeff Beck Mini Humbucker an der Bridge- Position sowie 2 Single Coils von Di Marzio, Hs-3 (mittig) und Hs-2 (Steg) für ein wenig Yngwie- Sound (zusammen mit meinem DOD YJM 308), außerdem eine original Gibson Flying V aus den 80- igern sowie einige "low- budget- Gitarren (Jackson Dinky/mit 2 Duncan-designed Humbuckern; Squier Strat; Yamaha Pacifica). Das bedeutet, dass ich zumindest ein wenig beurteilen kann, wie eine E- Gitarre vornehmlich im Rocksegment klingt, klingen soll, bzw. gut klingen soll. Daher kann ich mit Fug und Recht sagen: Diese Gretsch 5222 klingt - jedenfalls für meine Ohren und für die einiger anderer auch - WESENTLICH (!) besser als die vorgenannten Gitarren! Sie hat mehr "Growl", mehr Wärme und mehr Biss, vor allem auch als meine Strat mit Jeff Beck Mini- Humbucker (u.a.) und als meine damalige Gibson Flying V mit ihren 2 Dirty Fingers Pickups. Meine Ohren täuschen mich nicht: Obwohl die vorgenannten Gitarren um ein Wesentliches teurer waren, bzw. sind, klingt die Gretsch 5222 "um Meilen besser und satter" und bleibt dabei immer transparent und nie verwaschen. Whow, ja, ich bin wirklich beeindruckt! Ein wenig schade mag allenfalls sein, dass sie bei "wüsten Soli" nach einiger Zeit zu einem leichten "Verstimmen" neigt, allerdings keine große Sache! Ich bin insgesamt jedenfalls absoulut zufrieden mir dem Sound und auch mit der Verarbeitung der Gretsch 5222! Wirklich eine rundum "supergute" Rockgitarre, die ich nur wärmstens empfehlen kann! Vor allem für DEN (!) genialen Preis!!!!! Keep on Rockin!!!!!! :-)

An die Firma Thomann: Besten Dank für die sehr schnelle und reibungslose Lieferung!!!!!! Ebensfalls 5 Sterne hierfür"! :-)

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!