I had my eye on the Gretsch G5420T-140 since it came out. It's the 140th Anniversary model. It instantly grabbed my attention and I have had to keep telling myself, "You don't need another guitar, you don't need another guitar, etc..." But it's a Gretsch and I didn't have one. I have a Tele Cabronita and the Fidel'itron pickups are in the Gretsch ballpark. So the Gretsch 140th model release came and went. Everytime I saw one I went through the same - don't need another guitar - exercise. But, of course, I kept searches for it up on Reverb, Guitar Center and Musician's Friend, just to torment myself.
Well, you can guess what came of all that angst over probably 2 1/2 years of pining for one. One of my searches on Guitar Center came up with one used in Round Rock, Texas. I started to sweat in anticipation and then talked to my wife as I always do for a sanity check. She said "go for it!" We give each other a modest monthly allowance for fun money, which I save for a situation like this so the money was there.
I called the GC and Jacob (great guy) looked it over for me and said it was very clean..and it comes with a hard case. Sold! It arrived about a week later in a big Gibson J200 box. I opened it with some trepidation since it is a hollowbody and - the shipping journey. No forklift punctures, no UPS driver kicking it out of the back of the truck (our UPS driver is actually really careful and courteous). It was perfect. I looked it over very carefully and if it had been played I couldn't see any evidence. The intonation was right on, the action good, no fret buzz anywhere. It was like they had set it up just for me. It's my first Gretsch and the fit and finish is perfect. I am very impressed.
I have a couple other hollowbodies, my Xaviere XV-950 and Ibanez AF75 so I am familiar with the style. The Gretsch is heftier than those, with Bigsby, but still comfortable. Really like the master volume and master tone setup. It fits my playing style. I am still getting used to learning the best approach to playing it but never get tired of looking at it.
Well, you can guess what came of all that angst over probably 2 1/2 years of pining for one. One of my searches on Guitar Center came up with one used in Round Rock, Texas. I started to sweat in anticipation and then talked to my wife as I always do for a sanity check. She said "go for it!" We give each other a modest monthly allowance for fun money, which I save for a situation like this so the money was there.
I called the GC and Jacob (great guy) looked it over for me and said it was very clean..and it comes with a hard case. Sold! It arrived about a week later in a big Gibson J200 box. I opened it with some trepidation since it is a hollowbody and - the shipping journey. No forklift punctures, no UPS driver kicking it out of the back of the truck (our UPS driver is actually really careful and courteous). It was perfect. I looked it over very carefully and if it had been played I couldn't see any evidence. The intonation was right on, the action good, no fret buzz anywhere. It was like they had set it up just for me. It's my first Gretsch and the fit and finish is perfect. I am very impressed.
I have a couple other hollowbodies, my Xaviere XV-950 and Ibanez AF75 so I am familiar with the style. The Gretsch is heftier than those, with Bigsby, but still comfortable. Really like the master volume and master tone setup. It fits my playing style. I am still getting used to learning the best approach to playing it but never get tired of looking at it.
