THE GREAT GRETSCH SHOOTOUT
Gretsch’s historic home was in Brooklyn, New York but it has long-since left NYC and like most large-volume guitar manufacturers, the company now has production facilities all over the world. Streamliner models are made in Indonesia, Electromatics in Korea and the high-end models are built in the Terada factory in Japan. At the very top of the tree are the mouthwatering Masterbuilt Custom Shop models made by Stephen Stern and his team in Corona, California.
When it comes to getting the best twang for your buck, it’s not necessarily about spending as much cash as you can. Modifications and hot-rodding have been part of Gretsch culture for years: the Electromatic models–and more recently the Streamliners–are popular platforms for upgrades.
To help find the right Gretsch hollowbody for you, we’ve chosen three similarly spec’d production guitars to put under the microscope. The affordable end of the catalogue is represented here by a Rivera Blue G2420T Streamliner (£485).
Next up is a G5420T (£989), from the Electromatic Series, with an iconic Orange Stain finish and chrome-plated hardware. Finally, we make the substantial leap to the G6120T Players Edition Nashville (£2,609), with its mellower orange finish and gold-plated
