Crayon Sky Music

In the last few years, Gretsch has started offering Korean-import instruments of extremely high quality, including the celebrated Gretsch G5122. This guitar offers a lot of “twang” for the buck. So, if you’re interested in a guitar with a little different feel than, say, a Gibson Les Paul or Fender Stratocaster, you should probably give the G5122 a look. What does it have to offer?

The hollowbody G5122 sports a laminated maple top, body, and neck. A 22-fret rosewood fingerboard is standard, as are the medium jumbo frets. The scale is 24.56″ with a nut width of 1-11/16″ (43mm). The guitar is also outfitted with two chrome-covered Dual-Coil humbucking pickups.

The hardware definitely adds to the guitar’s style. The G5122 features G-Arrow Knobs, standard Gretsch strap knobs, chrome hardware, and vintage-style machine heads. A Bigsby B60 vibrato (hey, this is a Gretsch after all, right?) and an Adjusto-Matic bridge complete the picture.

We tested the G5122 through a Dr. Z MAZ-18 NR combo and a Fender Twin Reverb. Through both amplifiers, the Gretsch just oozed vintage twang. We couldn’t help but play some of our favorite Beatles, Chet Atkins, and even Brian Setzer licks. The stock pickups did a fine job of translating the naturally large sound of the guitar.

The clean tones were big, clear, and powerful. When we cranked the amps a bit, it had just enough grit to cut through a mix. This is definitely no shredder axe, so don’t buy it if you’re in a Dragonforce tribute band. But if you’re into classic rock, blues, jazz, or country, you could definitely find a use for the G5122.

Few guitars are perfect, however, so we did have some niggles here and there. The tuners, though keeping the tuning well, still felt cheap and could stand to be upgraded. The floating bridge felt a bit odd, but it didn’t affect the intonation.

We were very pleased with the overall fit and finish. The guitar has a unique Walnut Stain finish that also contributes to the classy, vintage feel. Honestly, it make the guitar look a lot more expensive that it really is. We were also happy with the action. We had no issues with either lead or rhythm work. We only had to make some minor adjustments to the bridge and truss rod to get things working the way we wanted.

It’s hard not to love the Gretsch G5122. It has the playability, the looks, and the sounds to set it apart from the crowd, especially with the beautiful finish. It’s light enough to play a three hour set and not break your back. Most of all, its price (around $700 new) is affordable.

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