Gretsch G5120 Electromatic Hollowbody Electric Guitar

Feature:
11 - for the Bigsby. This is hands down the best tremelo I have ever even heard of. You cannot knock your guitar out of tune with this thing. Well, maybe you could, but you'd have to be doing on purpose. You can even trem a riff of bar chords with this thing, and it will not go a cent out of tune. Rest - Two volume knobs, one for each pickup. Master tone knob. 4th knob is global/master volume. All function well. Guitar stays in tune excellent. Laquer top and hollow body make for a nice bright acoustic sound. Neck is interesting. I don't think it qualifies as neck-through, but it does not have an obvious joint either. Plays great, action is easily adjustable, frets will buzz with low action, no surprise there.

Quality:
Yep, excellent stuff. Really pretty. Really functional. Really well put together. Excellent quality materials.

Value:
This guitar is fabulous for what it is. It is not however overly versitile. I you know you want this sound, it is a great value. If you are thinking of the sounds of other hollow bodies you have heard, you may not get it here. This instrument, to me, doesn't have the drive and tone and sustain of a 'Lucille' blues guitar. You will not get the punch and bite of whatever The Reverend plays or The Stray Cats. And of course, this will not do for a metal, hard rock guitar at all. Could be suitable for country or surf sounds, if you can get the treble up. All in all, a good value, but there are a lot of things that a hollow body guitar can do that this guitar just does not do to perfection. It can probably be tweaked to suit most music (save hard rock/metal), but it would be a little one dimensional. If you tweak it for jazz, it isn't going to be good for blues. If you make it sound rockabilly, it will lose some of its best acoustic properties. etc.

Desirability:
Okay, there are not many people who are going to be impressed by a hollow body Gretsch. Still, if you are playing The Stray Cats or something, you are going to look hot to those in the know. The sunburst on this one is my personal choice for appeal. Orange and Maroon shades are not bad either. Personally, the clear pick guard really takes this things sexiness down a peg. I would get the newer one if possible for looks. The Bigsby actually looks cool as well, like it's from another era. Overall though, I don't think people are going to get this guitar. A nice hot Les Paul being an everyman rock-n-roll standard woul probably get my 10 in sexiness.

Sound:
This really is a sweet sounding guitar. I'm not sure what strings are stock on this guitar, but it would seem that nice fat strings are a good idea. They turn this thing into an excellent acoustic/electric. This plays as well acousticly (with larger gague strings) as any of the acoustic/electric hybrids I have tried out. There is a little bit of a flaw with the electric sound (to my ear). I had read that the newer version of the Electromatic had a Bigsby, an opaque pick guard, and hotter pickups. I am not sure that I got said pickups on mine, even though the pick guard and the Bigsby were present. It is a great great, mostly acoustic sound from these pickups. I was hoping for a rockabilly guitar from the electric side of this thing. I wanted high end bite that could cut diamond. What I got was a warm acoustic/electric sound, which is beautiful. Still, think twice about this one for a treble end bite, rockabilly sound. It could probably be improved with some high end strings that were thin gague and bright tone, so I wouldn't rule it out for rockabilly entirely. Those in the know might be able to settle the dispute here, but for me, it was a small disappointment. If I use it for some Reverend or Zippers, I am going to have to turn up treble and volume on my amp, probably replace the strings with a heavy low, twangy high variety. Separate Compression and Reverb pedals might be help tone and sustain as well.

Ease of Use:
Yep, if you can play a guitar, you can probably play this. Only note is that the neck nut width is slightly wider than your more 'playable' electrics. It's just a bit more like an acoustic nut width. I have stubby fingers though, and I have no problem playing this thing.

Support:
Benefit of the doubt - didn't use.

Overall:
You want it, and you have a good idea what you are getting into, you buy it, you be happy. This is an outstanding guitar. It doesn't do absolutely everything you would hope for right out of the box, but I think it can be made to be a lot of great things. It's pricey for something that sounds like an acoustic electric when you first plug it in, but it still sounds great. I am sure I can get more twang or cut or bite or drive out of the thing. It's just going to be a matter of what I want to do with it, how flexible I want the sound to be, and finding out the true limitations of the guitar. Only iffy iffy point will be finding out if those pickups just really aren't hot enough to get the high end sound I want. It will be a great guitar regardless, but the question remains as to whether I have to buy another guitar for high end twang and bite that won't quit. I may have to look at single coil solid body like a Tele or split coil hollow body, if they make one.

Feature:
I consider the tremlo-bar a plus? I don't use it,but others might?

Quality:
I wouldn't say its the best made guitar? are the worst? Its a very good (guitar/value) guitar!

Value:
yes this product is worth its price.

Desirability:
I bought the orange,and its looks damn good !

Sound:
Its got the Twang Factor,sounds great,sounds even better in recording.Its not for every type of music but when it comes to (product/value)its a good deal !

Ease of Use:
Its like all guitars,trial and error on what sound your shooting for?

Support:
no i haven't.

Overall:
The reason i gave the guitar a 9 instead of a 10 is because you can't find a hardshell case for this guitar anywhere? the ones you do find,that will fit? cost almost as much as the guitar? Its crazy!!