Thoughts on Gretsch 2210 Junior Jet (and mod specifics?)

[Sal A]

Hey guys. I just ordered one of these cheap Gretsch models.

I guess I am looking for a good second electric on a budget that is 1) a complement to my Reverend TrickShot (tele) that will also allow me to learn and play around (as a hobby) with mods.

It hasn't come yet, and I imagine it might sound great and be setup great from the start if I am lucky?

Targets to upgrade (maybe)?

1) wraparound bridge: change for a higher quality one that is adjustable; which one?

2) tuners: hipshot?

3) nut: bone? I am not comfortable with this one myself yet...

4) Switch? What's wrong with the one on it? How easy is it for a dope to do by himself?

Thanks guys.

 

[Sal A]

Well, I got mine, and it sounds awesome. The switch is fine, the pickups are great, and a fine alternative to my single coil guitar. I do think I will change out the bridge, and get the locking hipshots, just because I want to.

by the way I ordered mine online, and it came very poorly setup, despite the reputation of the shop. I did get the action lowered to a moderate level, and also adjusted the intonation slightly.

my only wish? It were a matte or satin finish instead of gloss.

anyways, it just sounds fantastic.

 

[Bluego1]

Happy NGD! Love my white one. Haven’t changed a thing.

 

[Sal A]

Thank you! I wish I could right my photo!

The white ones are the classiest of all for sure.

 

[MisterZ]

Gretsch makes a nice guitar, all levels (pro line, electromatic, streamliner). Have fun!

 

[StevesBoogie]

For what it is worth, I made a mental note to come back to this post in the event that I ever had the opportunity to play the G2210 or the G2215-P90 at my local Guitar Center.

I was able to spend an hour with the G2215-P90 yesterday. I realize the guitar is different than the G2210, but there are enough similarities to allow me to post some things that I thought of this guitar.

The good

• Overall, I am impressed!
• I loved the weight of the guitar. Heavier than I would have thought, but nice and sturdy
• I really liked the neck. It's a little thicker than I would have thought
• I loved both pickups very much
• The BroadTron can get a really unique tone! Really liked this bridge BroadTron. I didn't think I would, but I absolutely did
• The P90 (not on the G2210) was much louder than the bridge pickup, but I am mostly a neck pickup player anyway
• The overall finish, feel ... really do like what I felt and saw
• Simplicity. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT
• Ergonomics. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT ... I really love the volume located at the lower front horn and the tone at the rear!
• I also like the lightning wraparound bridge. I tend to rest my picking hand partly on the bridge. I have an Epiphone Les Paul with the tune-o-matic bridge that has individual saddles that kind of feel sharp and in the way on my picking hand. This one has a much smoother feel. Totally minor observation but I had to post it

The (not so) bad

• Frets were sharp. No doubt you will have to address some fret TLC
• I didn't like the tuners. Since your post is asking about mods, this is the first thing I would mod
• Action. It was high, but I recognize this is a floor model at GC, so it won't be representative of what this guitar is 100% capable of
• Dry fretboard (rosewood). Again, same rationale as above. A quick fretboard conditioning will make it come alive
• Tuning stability. Those floor models never stay in tune!!! Likely the strings were never stretched, but I don't want to rule out the possibility of this being a true problem - but, new tuners, new stretched strings, a proper setup, all those things likely will solve this
• This guitar has a tilted headstock similar to Les Pauls. According to some (me included) this could impact tuning stability (I swear by the String Butler I have on my Epi)

I really and instantly fell in love with the way this thing felt in my hands and in my lap. And the ergonomics.

Some fret TLC, a proper setup, new tuners, fret conditioning, will be needed - all my opinion of course.

I really don't know if you'd want or need to go right off the bat with swapping out the bridge and switch and nut.

Overall, I really liked the guitar! I felt that the tuning instabitlity and dry fretboard decreased my experience with it. To be perfectly honest, if that floor model guitar showed better tuning stability and a slick fretboard, it might have come home with me. Still might! Just going to keep it on the backburner for now. Also, if I am going to continue to be perfectly honest, I really could not dial in a decent sounding tone on the amps that were on the floor at GC.

For reference here is the link to the guitar I played:

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Gretsc...Jet-Club-Single-Barrel-Stain-1500000330237.gc

 

[Bluego1]

For what it is worth, I made a mental note to come back to this post in the event that I ever had the opportunity to play the G2210 or the G2215-P90 at my local Guitar Center.

I was able to spend an hour with the G2215-P90 yesterday. I realize the guitar is different than the G2210, but there are enough similarities to allow me to post some things that I thought of this guitar.

The good

• Overall, I am impressed!
• I loved the weight of the guitar. Heavier than I would have thought, but nice and sturdy
• I really liked the neck. It's a little thicker than I would have thought
• I loved both pickups very much
• The BroadTron can get a really unique tone! Really liked this bridge BroadTron. I didn't think I would, but I absolutely did
• The P90 (not on the G2210) was much louder than the bridge pickup, but I am mostly a neck pickup player anyway
• The overall finish, feel ... really do like what I felt and saw
• Simplicity. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT
• Ergonomics. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT ... I really love the volume located at the lower front horn and the tone at the rear!
• I also like the lightning wraparound bridge. I tend to rest my picking hand partly on the bridge. I have an Epiphone Les Paul with the tune-o-matic bridge that has individual saddles that kind of feel sharp and in the way on my picking hand. This one has a much smoother feel. Totally minor observation but I had to post it

The (not so) bad

• Frets were sharp. No doubt you will have to address some fret TLC
• I didn't like the tuners. Since your post is asking about mods, this is the first thing I would mod
• Action. It was high, but I recognize this is a floor model at GC, so it won't be representative of what this guitar is 100% capable of
• Dry fretboard (rosewood). Again, same rationale as above. A quick fretboard conditioning will make it come alive
• Tuning stability. Those floor models never stay in tune!!! Likely the strings were never stretched, but I don't want to rule out the possibility of this being a true problem - but, new tuners, new stretched strings, a proper setup, all those things likely will solve this
• This guitar has a tilted headstock similar to Les Pauls. According to some (me included) this could impact tuning stability (I swear by the String Butler I have on my Epi)

I really and instantly fell in love with the way this thing felt in my hands and in my lap. And the ergonomics.

Some fret TLC, a proper setup, new tuners, fret conditioning, will be needed - all my opinion of course.

I really don't know if you'd want or need to go right off the bat with swapping out the bridge and switch and nut.

Overall, I really liked the guitar! I felt that the tuning instabitlity and dry fretboard decreased my experience with it. To be perfectly honest, if that floor model guitar showed better tuning stability and a slick fretboard, it might have come home with me. Still might! Just going to keep it on the backburner for now. Also, if I am going to continue to be perfectly honest, I really could not dial in a decent sounding tone on the amps that were on the floor at GC.

For reference here is the link to the guitar I played:

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Gretsc...Jet-Club-Single-Barrel-Stain-1500000330237.gc

Hmm. My 2210 stays in tune really well. It’s actually one of the things I’m most impressed about. It rarely needs more than minor adjustment. Better than most of my guitars.

 

[Sal A]

Thank you for the great review!

I swappers the tuners out. I realized I had an old set of Grover Rotomatics sitting in my gear box, and on they went. Perfect drop in. I also took your advice and polished all the frets, and I changed out the bridge for a Golden Age …

I got the action down quite a bit, and frankly after polishing the frets I am shocked how playable this is.

 

[rockymtnguitar]

I really like mine. I haven't done any mods yet, but had considered the tuners. I bought it specifically for Open G tuning/slide, so I actually raised the action some. I agree that the craftsmanship and appearance is great. I like the comment above that it's heavy but sturdy. Certainly not too heavy for comfort. Nice aggressive sound and handles my beginner slide attempts very well.

 

[Bird Dog]

I really like the one I just picked up. It’s a fine instrument for the money. I got the chocolate brown “Imperial Stain” model with two Broad’Tron humbuckers. The fit and finish is excellent. I was worried about the lack of intonation adjustment with the compensated wrap-around bridge since my band tunes to E flat. I need a couple standard tuned guitars as well, so I didn’t let that stop me. Turns out it intimates well in E flat. The tuners are not high dollar ones, but after snugging up the set screw at the top of the tuning peg, it’s staying in tune very well. I bought it as a upgrade platform, but I don’t think the tuners will need it for quite a while. The neck took very well to being tuned down. It seems rock solid stable. Playability is outstanding. There are no bad spots on my neck and no sharp fret ends.

I’m a bit of a pickup snob and tend to end up installing Fralin’s. I can’t shoot a lot of holes in these Broad’trons though. I know the Gretsch purist don’t like them. Whatever they like about the old Gretsch pickups is probably why I’ve never liked them. These do sound more PAF like, but have a bit more bite. They are very warm sounding with good sustain and the EQ curve is very nice. Bass is about right and the mids are warm. They bite just right to me. Chords and clean rhythm sound warm and full. These PuPs are stone quiet - no buzz. I realize these are likely simple Asian made pickups, but they are nice. The front and middle positions both sound great. The bridge is a little too high for me, but I’m that way with nearly all bridge pickups. Here I am on a Tele forum and I don’t like 90% of Tele bridge sounds. Too spikey. If you really want to play harder rock on the bridge, you’ll possibly either need to EQ you’re amp such that the neck pos will be muddy, or replace this bridge Broad’tron with something like a Fralin High Output or Dimarzio Gravity Storm bridge. If you have a versatile pedal board, a simple EQ pedal or midrange boost may make the bridge position totally playable without sacrificing the other positions to being too muddy. Also, as mine sits today, with an overdriven amp and no pedals, the middle position sounds killer for rock soloing and rhythm. And the neck position really sings. If you’re neck pos soloing type of guy, you’ll like this guitar.

Another thing I really like, is the smoothness of the volume and tone controls. They bleed off volume and highs, GRADUALLY. They don’t go straight to mud after a quarter turn like so many. Very usable.

Overall I really like this guitar. We’ll see how it ages, but it’s very solid and simple. Not a lot to go wrong. If I’d paid twice as much, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about. It may get new tuning machines someday, but without even graphiting the nut yet, it’s staying in tune well. It may get a Fralin bridge humbucker someday, but at this point I’m enjoying it as is.

 

[Bluego1]

I really like the one I just picked up. It’s a fine instrument for the money. I got the chocolate brown “Imperial Stain” model with two Broad’Tron humbuckers. The fit and finish is excellent. I was worried about the lack of intonation adjustment with the compensated wrap-around bridge since my band tunes to E flat. I need a couple standard tuned guitars as well, so I didn’t let that stop me. Turns out it intimates well in E flat. The tuners are not high dollar ones, but after snugging up the set screw at the top of the tuning peg, it’s staying in tune very well. I bought it as a upgrade platform, but I don’t think the tuners will need it for quite a while. The neck took very well to being tuned down. It seems rock solid stable. Playability is outstanding. There are no bad spots on my neck and no sharp fret ends.

I’m a bit of a pickup snob and tend to end up installing Fralin’s. I can’t shoot a lot of holes in these Broad’trons though. I know the Gretsch purist don’t like them. Whatever they like about the old Gretsch pickups is probably why I’ve never liked them. These do sound more PAF like, but have a bit more bite. They are very warm sounding with good sustain and the EQ curve is very nice. Bass is about right and the mids are warm. They bite just right to me. Chords and clean rhythm sound warm and full. These PuPs are stone quiet - no buzz. I realize these are likely simple Asian made pickups, but they are nice. The front and middle positions both sound great. The bridge is a little too high for me, but I’m that way with nearly all bridge pickups. Here I am on a Tele forum and I don’t like 90% of Tele bridge sounds. Too spikey. If you really want to play harder rock on the bridge, you’ll possibly either need to EQ you’re amp such that the neck pos will be muddy, or replace this bridge Broad’tron with something like a Fralin High Output or Dimarzio Gravity Storm bridge. If you have a versatile pedal board, a simple EQ pedal or midrange boost may make the bridge position totally playable without sacrificing the other positions to being too muddy. Also, as mine sits today, with an overdriven amp and no pedals, the middle position sounds killer for rock soloing and rhythm. And the neck position really sings. If you’re neck pos soloing type of guy, you’ll like this guitar.

Another thing I really like, is the smoothness of the volume and tone controls. They bleed off volume and highs, GRADUALLY. They don’t go straight to mud after a quarter turn like so many. Very usable.

Overall I really like this guitar. We’ll see how it ages, but it’s very solid and simple. Not a lot to go wrong. If I’d paid twice as much, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about. It may get new tuning machines someday, but without even graphiting the nut yet, it’s staying in tune well. It may get a Fralin bridge humbucker someday, but at this point I’m enjoying it as is.

You might prefer the Broadtron on the 2215 bridge that @StevesBoogie played. It’s the new BT-2S. I’ve got both guitars. The 2210 has Broadtrons and the 2215 has the 2S, and, of course a P90.