Got a good deal on a used Gretsch G5627T P-90 Speyside (a Guitar Center exclusive, not found on the Gretsch site):
I gave it a setup, swapped the strings out for some D'Addario nickel wrap 10s (wound third). I have been playing it for a good couple of hours a day for almost a week.
Pickups: They sound quite good. As P90s go they might be on the underwound side, but only just. They are not hum cancelling in the middle position, I think I will eventually do a polarity change on the neck pickup to fix that. This confirms my suspicion though that P90s are the kings of clean tone. Yes, I said it.
Neck: feel is similar to my G5420T. I think it's a bit chunkier and I think it gets a bit wider as you go up the neck. Width at nut is 1.687", and it's pretty comfortable. Fretwork is very good, polished fret ends and no uneven frets. The neck sticks out from the body much further than my 5420, and there is a bit of neck dive as a result. Definitely heavier than the 5420, but it's not a boat anchor. I think I'll need a wider, "stickier" strap for this one.
Overall quality: quite nice, on par with my G5420T. I'll say that the wood grain is actually better - quite nice looking, front and back. The Speyside finish is really pretty. I love that the headstock is translucent brown and not black like most Electromatics. I was iffy on the tuners at first, but it seems to stay in tune well.
I gave it a setup, swapped the strings out for some D'Addario nickel wrap 10s (wound third). I have been playing it for a good couple of hours a day for almost a week.
Pickups: They sound quite good. As P90s go they might be on the underwound side, but only just. They are not hum cancelling in the middle position, I think I will eventually do a polarity change on the neck pickup to fix that. This confirms my suspicion though that P90s are the kings of clean tone. Yes, I said it.
Neck: feel is similar to my G5420T. I think it's a bit chunkier and I think it gets a bit wider as you go up the neck. Width at nut is 1.687", and it's pretty comfortable. Fretwork is very good, polished fret ends and no uneven frets. The neck sticks out from the body much further than my 5420, and there is a bit of neck dive as a result. Definitely heavier than the 5420, but it's not a boat anchor. I think I'll need a wider, "stickier" strap for this one.
Overall quality: quite nice, on par with my G5420T. I'll say that the wood grain is actually better - quite nice looking, front and back. The Speyside finish is really pretty. I love that the headstock is translucent brown and not black like most Electromatics. I was iffy on the tuners at first, but it seems to stay in tune well.
