Gretsch G5420TG-59 - Vintage Orange - Sweetwater Exclusive Reviews

I have been playing guitar since the sixties as both a full time and part time musician. I have owned Gibsons and Fenders all made in America. The only hollow body archtop I owned was a Gibson Super 400 but due to size and feedback on stage I ended up selling it some years ago. Since then I have wanted to replace it with another hollow body that wasn't so large and that sounded great for jazz. However I also wanted it to sound good for classic rock, rockabilly and country. I looked at quite a few of the hollow body manufacturers and Gretsch guitars seemed to meet those requirements. I came across the 5420 TG 59 and fell in love with the looks especially the classic orange color. Since I never owned an overseas manufactured guitar (it's made in Korea) I was concerned about the overall quality. The price of the higher end Gretsch guitars was well over my budget (and my wife's approval) so I listened to every youtube demo on the 5420 Electromatic and read the reviews that were available. The majority were positive and I loved the sound of some of the better demos so I pulled the trigger and ordered it from Sweetwater with the help from Shelby my sales engineer. After receiving it and waiting 24 hours I plugged it into my 65 DRRI and was immediately impressed. The fret work is excellent and overall construction is as good as any of my other MIA guitars which include an American Pro Strat, Gibson ES 335 and Taylor acoustic. The color is gorgeous and playability is great. Some reviewers talked about replacing the stock pickups but IMO the blacktop filtertron pickups have a great tone. The jazz tones from the neck pickup are beautiful, rich and full through my 65 DRRI. Switch to both pickups and a little slapback and you can get a twangy rockabilly sound. Select the bridge pickup with some overdrive and you get a great classic rock sound. Ypu csn slso get grest country tones from any combination of the pickups. The feedback is minimaI when i crank the volume on my amp so it's not an issue. I put on a set of 10s (it came with 11s) , used the string lock method and lowered the action without getting any string buzz. The neck tension was perfect from the factory.c Some of the reviews reference tuning stability problems but I have not experienced any. It stays in tune even after using the Bixby. I love that it has a pinned bridge l and treble bleed circuit. No other guitar that i know of sounds like a Gretsch and dollar for dollar this is a great guitar. If you are looking for a very good guitar under $ this is an excellent option. I also recommend purchasing a Gretsch case and humidipak to protect the guitar. I have never bought a guitar without trying it first and I have no regrets for doing so. Thanks to Sweetwater for their 55 point I inspection and great purchasing experience.

This is just a beautiful instrument. Full stop.

Okay I will continue…

I ordered a demo version of this guitar and the one blemish pointed out in the high res photo was barely if at all visible to the eye in person. The guitar was delivered in the Gretsch case I also ordered and it was a perfect match. I admit it, I waited only 18 hours after the delivery to open it up and start playing it. It was hard to wait, but the guitar was well packed only needed a tweak on one or two strings to be in tune and it holds tuning well. Honestly for the price the quality and playability of this guitar is amazing.

The Sweetwater limited 5420TG-59 is a beauty to look at, to hold, to share photos and of course to play. I've been riffing with some slap back echo to get that Setzer Rockabilly sound and then adding crunch on the DSL40 (that I bought a several years ago from Sweetwater) to get that early Bachman Turner Overdrive sound. Takin' Care Of Business sounds great! What a pleasure to play.

I've shared some photos on various social media sites and the reaction is the same every time…"wow that is a beautiful guitar…Congratulations". One things that I can't tell is which pickups this has on it. The Sweetwater product page basically says that these are sweetwater/gretsch special filtertron reverse engineered pickups and not the FT5E's. On one of the gear/hack sites, gearheads and gretsch-heads were adamant that once the production moved from Korea to China in 2022, all the guitars have the FT5E's and claimed that the ad had old data in it. In the end, I can't tell as it sounds like an AWESOME Gretsch hollowbody to me :-)

For this transaction I used some Gear Exchange e-gift cards I earned selling some gear. I highly recommend that if you've got pedals, cables, wireless gear and other stuff you bought over the years that you really aren't using, sell it to someone who will on Sweetwater's Gear Exchange. Finally, I want to thank my Sales Engineer David Wharam who worked with me to get my order put together — always a pleasure to work with and always comes through with advice and providing the best customer service throughout the buying experience including follow up.

My wife ordered this guitar for my 65th Birthday and when it arrived I was blown away. First of all it was packaged inside 2 boxes, and the case was wrapped in a bag. When I opened the case, I found that the case fit the guitar perfectly. The finish on the guitar is flawless and the gold hardware looks stunning. After about three hours I picked it up and plugged it in. With very little effort I tuned it up. The first session I played for about 2 hours nonstop using the Bigsby several times. The guitar stays in tune extremely well and playing it through my Peavy Chorus amp is clean and clear. One tiny bridge adjustment and we were off. The pickups sound great and are very responsive to tone adjustments. I have had many guitars in my 50 plus years of playing, Fender Tele, Strat. Gibson Les Paul, Rickenbacker semi hollow to name a few but this is my favorite. This is my dream guitar. Charls was most excellent checking in with me and answering all my questions. I have heard good reports from a fellow guitar player about Sweetwater and I must say they are a 10 out of 10!!

The G5420TG-59 is the first Gretsch to be added to my collection and it is hands down my favorite. The look, sound and playability right out of the box is excellent. I can only imagine what the higher end version is like. You could play anything on this guitar and it will sound great. I can't believe I have overlooked Gretsch all these years. And a big thank you to Zack at Sweetwater for helping me over the years. Sweetwater will always be my go to for my guitar purchases.

Beautiful orange stain pays homage to the iconic 6120 .
New retro engineered filter trons sound amazing
The neck is just the right balance between slim and chunky
Tones range from twang rockabilly to fire breathing rock
Great value and really satisfying to play
Can't put it down

Ordered and received this guitar from Sweetwater beautifully immaculate almost tuned guitar.. So nice that sweetwater actually takes the time to inspect tune and clean the guitar then readbox it... Way different than buying at guitar center were they just hand you the shipped box... I have six other electric guitars all solid bodies and one acoustic, so this is my first hollow body electric guitar, it is truly one of the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen, The build quality and craftsmanship on this guitar is so impressive...sound quality is amazing.... If I did not know better or know about guitars and someone showed this to me and told me they paid $3,000 for it I would easily believe that... A very highly recommend this guitar... For some reason it won't let me post photos but there's plenty of photos of this rig

This Sweetwater exclusive Gretsch checks all the boxes. The pickups really shine the build is clean and finish every bit a fine example
Strung with 11 's it's punchy and growls. It can rock or jazz it up or rock a billy.
Can't be happier.

I am a relatively novice player, and was looking for an affordable Gretsch hollow body guitar that would inspire me to practice. Well, when I come home from work, and see this beauty on the stand, I am certainly inspired to pick it up an make progress in my playing.
The fret work on this guitar is excellent. My local guitar tech was able to set the action quite low, and there is absolutely no fret buzzing whatsoever. I'm not particularly fond of the neck shape and super slick finish, but it certainly seems playable for pretty much anyone. While orange is generally my least favorite color, I am just amazed at how how strikingly beautiful this guitar is. I had strongly considered choosing a G5420 variant in a different color, but was stuck on the idea getting the historical 1950's "standard" Gretsch G6120 color. I did not go wrong! I may end up with Gretsch hollow bodies in other colors, but this orange beast will likely always be my first guitar crush. I absolutely love this guitar!

Beyond expectations. Prior to ordering, I was considering the Ibanez Artstar. Honestly, the decision factor was based on the Gretsch 5420TG-59 reviews. Believe what they are saying...all true.

As much as I wanted to play it when it arrived, I let it sit for about 24 hours and acclimate in my guitar room before playing. Perfectly set up from the Sweetwater techs! Plays like a dream and the individual volume controls make this an excellent sound machine. The tones are sweet! If you're in the market for a hollow body, seriously consider the Gretsch G5420TG form Sweetwater. Their customer service is top-notch! This is the 4th guitar I have purchased from Sweetwater. Every experience has been beyond great! Props to Mike Arango for the wonderful service each and every time!

If you're looking for The Gretsch Vibe without spending three grand, this is it.
It gets a great jazz tone, and it'll rock or twang.
Versatile, well made, and beautiful.
I did replace the ugly pickguard with a cream colored one that marches the binding.
If I have a gripe, it would be a wish that it had come with a gig bag or a case.

Have wanted a Gretsch for years to round out my tone arsenal in the studio. This one fit the bill perfectly; it's reasonably priced, is absolutely gorgeous, plays well, and has that fantastic Gretsch tone. Plus, the Bigsby!! On a side note....the Bigsby and the arched bridge are a bit of an adjustment (haven't had a trapeze bridge/tailpiece before), but I'm getting used to it, and it's fun to play AND to look at. Just what my collection needed!!

Put some chrome fiatwound on..Sounds like a million bucks. Fits great in the Ibanez case.

IMHO if you are looking for a Gretsch hollowbody for under a grand, and you like orange, this is the one. You can only get this guitar at Sweetwater. Read the description of this amazing instrument, and then consider that it is made in Korea and not China. That made all the difference to me because Korean craftsman are some of the best. This guitar is decked out with all the embellishments, and it is so well crafted that I can't find a single booger. I wish I could say the same about my Gibsons that cost 3x as much. It arrived fast, and after waiting for it to acclimate for a day I unboxed it. Instant gratification. Stunning guitar. It arrived in perfect condition, and it plays and sounds great. The Sweetwater 55-point inspection is fantastic. I have peace of mind with Sweetwater's 2-year warranty. Overall I am very satisfied. This is a ton of well made guitar for the money, and Sweetwater makes it an even better value with their customer service before and after the sale. You can't really go wrong.

I purchased this guitar , a 5420 TG Vintage Orange, in November of 2020. I play it daily. There are no issues with this guitar. I had a Gretsch in the 1960s and I believe that overall this guitar is better built. I remember that many of the Baldwin Gretsches were lacking. The playability is great, the construction is above average, mine is very good. The sound is very good. The Filtertron pickups are very warm sounding but not high output. The guitar stays in tune and is fun to play! I would highly recommend this guitar to anyone looking for that old time rockabilly sound and is on a budget. You won't go wrong with this guitar. Sweetwater is excellent to deal with, my sales engineer, Stephen Gray, is knowledgeable and great to work with. Buying this guitar was a wonderful experience!

My G5420 TG arrived in perfect condition. It was packed with extreme care. Sweetwater does about everything just right. I tracked the box across the USA, which was fun, and then let it acclimate for almost the full 24 hours.....It played out of the box like I'd owned it for years. This is a unique guitar and all of the praise in these reviews seems deserved. I may not come out of my guitar den for months! I'm playing it with a Fishman loudbox mini and a Baggs Session pedal-- but it plays about as well straight in. Great neck feel and super easy action and playability---The price is right -- Buy this guitar.

I was gonna make the drive to pick this up (6hr round trip) because I was nervous about having it shipped. In the end I changed my mind and had it sent to my local FedEx. I picked it up on 1/19/22 and let it sit for 24hrs.The packing was above and beyond protected. I finally got to open the case and this guitar is completely flawless, setup is perfect. Plugged into my Fender Champion 100 on the clean channel with a couple notches of Reverb and man, what a great sounding and playing guitar! The tone and playability of this Gretsch is phenomenal,as well as being a beautifully crafted instrument. My four other guitars will be experiencing separation anxiety as this is my favorite already.
The level of personal service at Sweetwater is amazing and something I haven't experienced on a big purchase in a very long time. Special thanks to Alex Roderick and everyone else who had a hand in making this perfect for me. You guys rock!

I've always wanted a Gretsch White Falcon specially the Billy Duffy one. But nearly 5k is a lot of money. I needed a guitar with filter trons for some sessions I have coming up. I am a big Brian Setzer fan and when I saw this I immediately said stray cats! The color of the regular orange one has too much red in it. This sweetwater exclusive is exact to the way they made them in 1959. It looks like the legends guitars, Brian Setzer, Eddie Cochran, Chet Atkins, Duane Eddie, Ect. So I ordered this guitar for Christmas. Ide like to take this time to thank Ryan Murray and his assistant Tina for their dedication to the customer. Tina took my order and I ordered the guitar the 22nd of December in the late afternoon. I asked Tina if it would make it here Christmas Eve. She said we will make sure it's on the truck tomorrow morning. It showed up Christmas Eve! This guitar is like a 50s hot rod! It's like a 57 Chevy with a screaming V8 under he hood. A lot of guys online complain about the pickups. They sound great! I had to adjust them a touch but that's no issue. I swapped the strings for daddario 10-46 and the guitar plays like butter! The frets are like mirrors! Rolled edges on the fingerboard and they didn't touch the binding once when dressing the frets! Props to Gretsch for their attention to detail. The bigsby stays in tune without any issues. The guitar was perfect out of the box. I plugged it into my rig with my Wampler Brent Mason hot wired pedal and it was instant Stray cats. These pickups are hot. But not too hot, just enough to get some punch. The intonation was perfect out of the box. If your looking for a good quality Gretsch without breaking the bank, this is your guitar! Highly recommended!

Sweetwater had the right guitar a decent price and at the right time for me to grab the guitar I've wanted for a very long time. Plays beautifully, looks amazing and was delivered quickly without any hassles. kudos to whomever packed it up, no problems at all.

This is my first hollow body guitar, and it is a gem! Aside from the flawless finish, and craftsmanship, it plays and sounds fantastic. Got the old school Country & Rockabilly tones I was looking for, but also discovered some great Rock tones as well. I own a Strat and Les Paul - both USA made, and the Gretsch 5420TG is every bit as well made. The Bigsby tremolo works so nice, and the guitar stays in tune. If you're looking for an awesome hollow body electric, I highly recommend the 542TG. It will not disappoint.
I also want to give a big "thank you" to Sweetwater and Zach Matthews for making the buying experience a good one. I decided to get a hard shell case for the guitar, and Zach was able to have the guitar put in the case for shipping. Thank you, Zach! And the good folks at Sweetwater who gave the 55-point inspection, did a great job. The guitar was in tune, right out of the case. Couldn't ask for more than that!

Reid D.

My other guitar is a Fender Strat I got back in 1974. That guitar has served me well, but I wanted to go into a new direction. A hollow body Grestch with humbuckers seemed about as far from a Strat as you could possible go. I waffled back and fourth over the style and finish. I decided on a single cut away and wanted a full hollow body, so the 5420 was catching my eye. So now it came down to finish. I'm sure the painted finishes are nice. I was close to selecting the Candy Apple Red finish. What sold be was the vintage orange stain available from Sweetwater. I really like that you can see the wood grain through the color. I ordered the guitar and a case (G6241FT) because a guitar needs a case ( can review the case separately, but I'll just say it fits the 5420 like a glove). I've never ordered a guitar online, so I really didn't know what to expect. But being a music company, and the 55 point inspection Sweetwater advertises, I thought I was in safe hands ordering online.

I was not disappointed. The guitar was double boxed with loads of padding and was in perfect condition on arrival. But it was really when I opened the box and saw the guitar for the first time I knew immediately I had made the right decision. This guitar is beautiful! It has an excellent 'feel' when held and plays just I had hoped it would. I'm sure the higher end Gretch guitars are very nice, but this guitar has all the bells a whistles, just in my price range. In fact, compare it to a G6120T-59. No doubt a fantastic guitar, but it is also 3 times the price of my G5420TS-59. The guitar sounds really nice. while not necessarily 'setup' it plays very well right out of the box.

I've started my path to learning the Western Swing style (Chet Atkins is a bit of a hero for me). The Bigsby provides a wonderful, subtle vibrato that is perfect for the swing style. The guitar looks and sounds perfect. I am extremely happy with the guitar and the people at Sweetwater. Thank You!

All the reviews are spot on. This is a fantastic and fun guitar. Fit, finish and setup were spot on. I only tweaked the truss rod a smidge after it acclimated to the environment. Love the color/finish. It is very comfortable to play and sounds great too! Thanks Mason!

This is a beautiful Guitar what you would expect from Gretsch.My Guitar arrived from Sweetwater in one piece with no issues.After looking it over and playing it little I know this was a great choice to ad to my collection.I can't believe the quality of this guitar in this price point it looks like a top tier guitar.This is my first guitar with some gold hardware on it and I was a little reluctant at first but when I took it out of the case it just sparkled.No regrets and Everyone at Sweetwater was knowledgeable and professional.
Thanks again

The guitar is fun to play, the neck and string spacing feels very comfortable. Also it sounds nice unplugged (volume is in between a telecaster and small acoustic guitar). No flaws that I see.

I removed the pick guard since the strings are high enough there is little risk of actually scratching the body. The pick guard at most serves as a hand rest. This shows off more of the wood.

FYI: It's interesting that the real color is slightly different from the photos, maybe because it's so glossy. It tends to photograph as being a sharper orange color with slight yellow burst, but it is actually more of solid brown-orange wood stain.

I bought this from Sweetwater end of November 2020 and it came exactly when promised. It was perfect out of the box, intonation dead-on, string height perfect, and looking beautiful. I have since added a gold TV Jones Supertron neck pick-up and a Gretsch by Bigsby chrome vibrato. The workmanship and build quality are immaculate. I love this guitar.

Listen here now folks...you can get an orange stain Gretsch from anyone else but you cannot i repeat cannot get this vintage orange Finnish anywhere else but here at Sweetwater!!! Thank you and its the most beautiful thing i have ever seen! Go buy one today or don't so i can be the only one that has one!!! Thanks and see ya!
Tony

This is a great guitar. Matt Stockburger, my sales rep, did a fabulous job for me. The first guitar I ordered had a few flaws. So, I waited a few more weeks for mine. The set up was perfect for me right out of the box. I've been playing since the 1970's and I can tell you, this is a great guitar. The downside is that I need a better amp to hear what she can do.

I removed the pick guard for aesthetics.

The wow factor is evident the moment you open the box. Then the sound quality makes you look at your receipt like did I pay enough? Great intonation without any adjustments, string action, and pickup height were perfect for me. The weight of the guitar is perfectly balanced with the center of gravity right at the base of the neck. This Gretsch will be one of my favorites for sure. Thanks Sweetwater

This thing was perfect out of the box.Not a flaw.Perfect action,intonation thank you Sweetwater.I tried to wack it out of tune with the Bigsby and could not.One thing,,,watch out for that output jack!!!! After only 4 days of getting this beauty,I snaged my guitar cable and busted the jack hole on the guitar.Needless to say,Im crushed.

Great guitar! The quality and craftsmanship are amazing! I couldn't find a single flaw! The set-up was perfect! I only had to re-tune. The guitar plays beautifully and sounds great! Many thanks to Jon Chordas for answering several of my questions about the guitar. Also, I appreciate the extra set of strings!

This one is a sweetheart.
Nice setup right out of the box, flawless workmanship, versatile tones, great vintage look.
Might be the best value in guitars costing less than a grand.
A gig bag would have been nice.

My guitar came with fresh strings and a perfect set up. Plays and sounds great. For the price point, it is an awesome guitar that sounds fantastic. The hard shell case is worth the extra money.

This is my first guitar purchase from Sweetwater. I was concerned about ordering online, but I am still uncomfortable trying out an instrument in person at a shop during the pandemic. The inspection Sweetwater advertises swung me over. It is not just fluff. The guitar I received was in impeccable shape, in tune, and I was surprised by how low the action was on arrival without a set up.

As to the instrument, the quality control was superb. While I am far from an expert, the guitar itself seems more responsive than I had anticipated for a hollow body while its tonal depth is truly fabulous.

Highly recommended.

I've been playing guitar for over 25 years, but have had very little experience with Gretsch guitars. My main instrument has always been a brighter Les Paul or a Telecaster with hotter pickups. My favorite tone has always been a Les Paul that has a lot of Telecaster twang or a Telecaster with Les Paul like power. So, a LP with P90s or a Telecaster with bright humbuckers has been my quintessential guitar. When straying from that formula I would play a strat or 335 style guitar.

Though this Gretsch definitely has its own tone characteristics, it combines aspects of a twangy Les Paul, a powerful tele, the chime of a strat and the treble bite of a 335 bridge pickup. Wow! I had no idea what I was missing in ignoring Gretsch guitars. Unlike a LP, the master volume allows adjusting the volume while maintaining the blend of bridge and neck pickups you have dialed in.

The main adjustment for me is the positioning of my right hand when picking more complex passages. However, anchoring my pinky on the pickguard and side of the bridge pickup helps tremendously. Sometimes I find my ring finger tip on the pickguard as well.

The guitar itself has beautiful fit and finish. The fretwork is outstanding. The tuners are good. The bigsby is not very useful with the stock tunematic bridge and nut. However, putting on a bridge with less friction and minimizing the friction and binding in the nut would make it quite useful.

Overall, the Gretsch guitar is a high quality instrument and sounds great. TV Jones pickups might improve the tone, but the guitar sounds great the way it is. I think the blacktop filtertrons are fantastic.

I just got the guitar a few days and I can't put it down. The thing sounds great and plays like a dream. Sweetwater's customer service is above and beyond! I would not even bother with anyone else especially on these large purchases. I ordered a case that was recommended with this guitar and after I received it I realized there were more options. I found one I would have preferred but didn't bother to look at the time (doh!!) I contacted my sales guy Aaron and he took care of it no problem. I sent the case back in the box it came in and they sent the other one all free of charge!!! This guitar is beautiful and plays great if you want that classic Gretsch sound. You won't be disappointed!

I admit I was initially drawn to this guitar as a poor man's Brian Setzer model, but that's really a dis-service. Cosmetic similarities aside, this is a great guitar in its own right.
The fit and finish on this guitar is impeccable, and the Black Top Filter-Trons provide that great, distinct Gretsch tone. With the master volume and individual pickup volume controls, You can dial in anything from Chet Atkins crystalline cleans to Malcolm Young over-driven bridge pickup growl.
The Sweetwater guys did a great job on the set-up- Intonation seems spot on, and it plays like a dream. Thanks, guys! One of the nice things about buying a guitar from Sweetwater is that you're not just getting a boxed guitar that's been sitting on a warehouse shelf. They're inspected and set up, and basically arrive showroom ready. I took this guitar out of the box, tuned it up, and haven't looked back. And of course, many thanks to my Sweetwater sales rep, Stephen Oppenheim, for making this happen!

This is an altogether beautiful guitar, and mine played great right out of the box. I always take new guitars to my tech at SF Guitarworks for some special set-up work and I'll do it with this one too, but this might be the best $... (I got mine on sale) I've ever spent on a guitar... EVER.

I played this beauty at GearFest this summer but didn't pull the trigger. From the drive home through the rest of the summer I regretted my decision. I finally decided to purchase her three months later and boy am I happy. This guitar is by far the best purchase for the money I have in my arsenal - and I have quite a few. All she needed was a change of strings to flat wound 11/50 and some nut sauce and she stays in tune when using the Bigsby.
This was my first guitar purchase from Sweetwater. I've known of Sweetwater's great rep throughout the years but just never got around to ordering anything from them. I can't give my experience with Sweetwater and Ed Needler high enough praise - it just wouldn't do them justice. From here on out Sweetwater will be my first choice.

I have been looking at Gretsch guitars for quite a while & not knowing which model I wanted but, when I saw this G5420GT-59 I am ordering this & after receiving it, I was impressed with every part of this guitar & I want to mention also how surprised I was at the bright acoustic sound unplugged...If you are wanting this type of guitar..buy it! The purchase with Sweetwater & it's staff was Great! Thank You!

I am a Beatles nut, by way of Chet Atkins, and have always loved all things Gretsch. Years ago all I wanted in the world was the Chet Atkins Country Gent (painted F-holes, walnut stain), and I owned a couple of nice vintage ones—they had the eccentricities of old guitars which were rushed out to capture the George Harrison magic, and were great to look at, but otherwise not user-friendly, at least to me.

Some years ago the brand was revived, and high-quality models were produced in Japan. I have a Cadillac Green Duo-Jet that is stunning, and a favorite guitar ... but it was comparable in price to the better American-made Strats and Les Pauls. Now Gretsch is making beautiful instruments in Korea, and the price point is extremely attractive. My new G5420TG-59 is perfect in every way, and the Sweetwater TLC and set-up delivered it in performance-ready condition right out of the box. I think this is the best new guitar, for the money, I have ever purchased, and that covers a great many guitars over a period of many years. My compliments to Gretsch and Sweetwater, and thanks to my sales engineer, Jed Elliot, for great service.

The fact Chet Atkins is my biggest fan I had to get this guitar masterpiece. I had my eye on the 6120 for too long, always wanting it but couldn't afford it. Now that this limited edition 5420 came out I didn't hesitate to buy it and definitely not looking back. My buddy Aaron Chandler helped me throughout the buying process and continues to make sure I am happy with the purchase, to me that's 5 star customer service! Kudos to Aaron and Sweetwater!

Have wanted one these guitars for a while and Sweetwater made it happen. First off I have to say that they have the best customer support team of any company I have ever dealt with, kudos to Andrew Davis. As for the guitar the fit and finish are excellent. The pickups give me the sound that I have been searching for, for years. Played through a 1959 Fender Deluxe it is next to perfect. Would highly recommend if you are looking at one, go ahead and get one, you will not be disappointed.

what an instrument, what a guitar!, so beautiful and plays beautiful, both Gretsch and sweetwater, did a great job with this guitar, thanks Jordan

I wanted to add a hollow body to my collection and this Sweetwater exclusive just hit all the right buttons for me. Look of a 59 6120 Chet with the mix of gold and chrome hardware, vintage sounding filtetrons, and a bigsby for a really affordable price. Sounds great right out of the box, just tuned it up and started playing. No issues at all.

Thanks to my sales associate, Trevor Parks for hooking me up with this great guitar.

First off, this is a beautiful guitar to look at. Better yet, it is very fun to play. The acoustic tone is excellent, and (in some limited use) have been excellent as well. The guitar holds tune, and the Bigsby is fun to experiment with. The action and overall setup was very good right out of the box. I have never had a guitar as nice as this one.

The guitar looks beautiful and sounds great. I"m so glad they decided to take Electromatic off the headstock.The vintage orange is fabulous, even my wife loved it. I did have to adjust the action,but no big deal. If you"re looking for a an inexpensive Gretsch 6120 this is it... and as usual the service provided by Sweetwater was impeccable.

I was looking for a Hollowbody guitar . I came across one of these 5420t exclusives at Sweetwater. Loved the color and decided to pull the trigger. When the guitar showed up I couldn"t believe how gorgeous it was. I checked it out and it was flawless. Plugged it in and the chimey goodness that came out of my amp blew me away. I am very happy with my purchased and my engineer Brent was great to work with.

This guitar is incredible! It cane out of the box ready to rumble.
The blacktops can supply that great Gretsch growl and snarl at the right volume, and has great string definition in all three positions.
Only gripe I have is with the cheap adjustomatic bridge, but anyone who"s ever bought a new Gretsch knows these can rattle something awful. Only noticable when playing unplugged or at really low volumes.
Oh, and look how pretty she is?!
Thank you Sweetwater for the great aervice and for a quality instrument"

I have had hollow bodies before but this is the one! With out spending 3000.00 you won't find a better one. I love the way it plays and sounds.

My wife and I are hobbyist guitarists and have only recently have taken up the instrument..again. But this time we are serious-minded about the art of guitar. We bought used gear at the Ft. Wayne Sweetwater Used Gear, a great Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube Combo Amp and a really nice older Fender Strat. We did our homework and ordered a wonderful Gretsch G2622T Streamiliner for my wife, in Brooklyn Burst. WOW!!! What a fine, fine instrument! It has better sound, soul and playability of guitars in the thousands of dollar price range. So, we again did our homework: We had a medium budget and couldn't afford a Japanese made Gretsch, although they are quite awesome and we did not want to settle for another brand, even a Gibson. As we are a huge Brian Setzer/Stray Cats fan and we absolutely love his guitar work, along with other Gretsch players such as Neil Young and George Harrison, the affordable way to get the best Gretsch for the bucks was a no-brainer: The Vintage Orange Gretsch '59...the G5420TG-59!!! Brought it home yesterday and have barely put it down......my finger tips are kinda sore, but I ain't complainin'!!! My 65-year old gnarly hands are loving this awesome fine Gretsch!!! Wouldn't even trade it for an expensive Gibson hollowbody. Nope. The set-up is perfect and my son-in-law, a certified luthier trained at the Phoenix School of Guitar Luthier,j ust loves the playability and the guitar overall. I would recommend basically ANY of the hollowbody Gretsch guitars to anyone needing Great old school depth of tone, great bloom of beautiful melodic harmonic sound coming from the well-built bracing inside these under-rated masterpieces. The color and finish is much better in real life then in the pictures. (Yeah, I know..I am just a hobbyist but I know great music with Soul when I hear it! SWEETWATER......Craig at the front desk, Taylor Perry..and Mitch and I think his name is Casey and ALL the sales personnel have been fabulously helpful!!! YOU HAVE ALL KNOCKED IT OUTTA THE PARK!!!! And you all have the guitar music books and other misc. stuff we need in one store! We will be lifetime loyal customers and lovers of Gretsch Guitars (and Fender, of course!) God bless you all! Love and peace.

Cant say enough about the guys at sweetwater, they will hook you up !!
This guitar is really a piece of art, by far the most beautiful guitar I own. although my custom built Kiesel is equally as beautiful. It just doesn't pop like this Gretsch !! Even though it cost more then twice the price. I have 13 Guitars and cant put this one down. If your thinking about a hollow-body, buy this one !! For the money you wont be disappointed. It is truly a 2K guitar for less... worth the money for sure !!

Overall I was very impressed with the quality of the fit and finish on this guitar. I would have expected to see this quality of craftsmanship on a way more expensive guitar. Gretsch and Sweetwater hit it out of the park with this color finish. The color is gorgeous and the gold hardware accentuates it even more.The tone is pure Gretsch and it sounds amazing through my Fender Deluxe Rivera. I invested in the sweet smelling hard shell case specifically made for the 5420 and my guy, Alex Campos made sure it was packed and shipped in the case and even included a humidipak to protect it on its journey to the hot desert. Thank you, Alex!

2nd time at GearFest (where I bought this) and first time purchasing a Gretsch. I've been playing for 40 years and have never owned or played a Gretsch before. Where have these been all my life. I can't say enough about this guitar. The feel, the sound, just overall an awesome playing guitar. Don't let looks fool you. This isn't just a "jazzy" looking guitar. You can definitely rock out on it. I play classic rock and blues and this thing has got that sound perfect for it. And come on, that color just pops. Overall an amazing sounding guitar. Get one today.

The guitar I received is of exceptional quality. I couldn't be more pleased.

just arrived today so I can"t speak to how well everything holds up but out of box this thing is exceptional. someone else mentioned that the pics don"t do it justice. agreed. the vintage orange is stunning. the sound is big, warm, and lively. plugged it straight into my blues jr and it just wailed. tried it with a little Timmy overdrive, some Strymon Deco, & Flint and look out it"s a beast. the Bigsby is a first for me so I"ve hardly messed with it but it feels responsive and sturdy.

splitting hairs for criticism, the neck pickup puts out a bit more than the bridge. but that"s hardly an issue for me.

all in all, I should"ve gone Gretsch years ago but this sweet thing was worth the wait. 5stars baby

Such a beautiful guitar - the vintage orange finish with gold hardware, gold pickguard and gold pickup surrounds just looks fantastic. Guitar was perfect out of the box; neck is great, action is low and easy, intonation is terrific, and the sound is clear and rich. Could not be happier with this purchase from Sweetwater (which was awesome as always)!

Looks great and plays great. The pictures on this guitar do not do it justice. The color and finish on the guitar is way better than in the pictures. The guitar is semi - acoustic and plays well unplugged.

I got this beautiful guitar from my wife for Christmas. She bought it from Sweetwater a couple of months ago. I"ve been playing guitar for 25 years and I can honestly say I am blown away by this Korean made Gretsch! The neck is perfect, the action is nice and low, there are no issues whatsoever. And it"s light! I credit Sweetwater and their 55 point inspection for that. I don"t think they would sell a defective one. It"s like another quality control layer to make sure none of the defective ones get through. But this guitar is so perfect, it"s hard to imagine that they made any defective ones. Perhaps the old quality control issues with Korean made guitars are now resolved. In any case, I am in love with this one! It plays and sounds like nothing I've ever played (this being my first hollow body guitar). It"s really good for finger style playing too, which is what I"m into. Five stars for the guitar and for Sweetwater. All my guitar purchases will be from Sweetwater from this point forward. And there will be more...

I've debated buying this guitar for quite a while. It had great reviews so I asked my go to sales person, Mike Arango, to grab one for me. It arrived in great shape. It looks great! I played it first unplugged and liked the feel. I plugged it in and turned all the knobs up. That's when I discovered the master tone knob wasn't cinched down. In other words, the pot and dial weren't tight and the pot turns. It's a simple fix but not one I'm going to do for fear of scratching the finish. I could return it to Sweetwater for a fix or another guitar but it's nothing that serious. It's just kind of annoying on a brand new guitar. The multi-point inspection missed this. Sound? The guitar sounds great, plays great and I'll be keeping this. Sweetwater has been my go to shop for 11+ years and Mike has been my awesome sales person from the beginning.

The Gretsch G5420TG-59 - Vintage Orange - Sweetwater Exclusive is one hell of a guitar. Played perfectly right out of the box. Tuned it once, stayed in tune through a bunch of testing. Beautiful details, the fit, and finish are awesome! Really nice guitar! A good price as well!

Very beautiful finish. It surprisingly has less volume and not as deep bass as my Streamline Jr with same amp settings but easily brought into a very nice tone with amp changes which I am still learning. Just the difference in pick-ups. I'm just learning the guitar, but I believe this model is great to learn the full body and has more than enough quality to grow into advanced playing. However, the small tension spring inside the arm is slightly damaged and causes the swivel tension to be very inconsistent. That's why I dinged it a half a star. Talked to service about repair options. It will be cheapest for me to just buy new spring kit and replace myself. Very easy to do.

I am dinging it because it came with no case or gig bag. That is a crime for such a nice guitar. Came well set up, action was a bit high for my tastes but easy to lower. My first Gretsch and got to say the quality is very impressive. The fret work is very good for a non USA/MIJ guitar. The 59 model seems nicer then the Gretsch in the store and the color is subdued and the gold looks better then the silver on the standard. The sounds are all there Atkins,Young,Stills, Harrison, Setzer Eddy and Cochrane. Even a bit of Billy Duffy of the cult. The pickups sound right and are not too hot, bright and clear but nf Ran in amps from a Princeton to a Hiwatt and it sounds great. Been told these B60 bigsby are junk but it works pretty well without and lubrication and fresh strings not really streached. Honestly unless your a Gretsch super fan these guitar as so nice I can't imagine the MIJ are worth the 3xs higher price, unless your dedicated Gretsch user. For me they are chance to branch out sonically, so this is close as I need but I feel like it's 905 . of the way there next a a friends vintage 6120. If your looking to stratch this is a great

Needed a little work on the setup or I would give it 5 stars but after the setup Great Guitar

I was a metal-head growing up and played the stereotypical humbucking thrash axes for over two decades. The strange thing is, I never connected with ANY of the guitars I've owned, until now. I bought this guitar, sight unseen. Even worse – I had never played a hollowbody before. I was a bit anxious about such a contrast, but something called to me about it. The moment I opened the box, I was blown away. This guitar is so much more beautiful in person than photos show. Everything seems masterfully considered, all except the tuning pegs, which are a bit unstable when keeping tune. I docked half a star for the fault, but am not disheartened by the fact. Those are easily upgrade-able. The sound is booming and twangy – on par with the high-end Japanese Gretsches (subjectively speaking, of course). I am overjoyed with mine and see it as my forever guitar, even over my American Pro Strat. I've even taken up rockabilly and jazz to really solidify my bond with it. I have been converted. All-in-all, I couldn't be happier.

I really like this guitar. The action and playability is top notch. The pickups sound fantastic giving the tones that Gretsch is known for. The only downer is the gloss finish feels thick and plastic like. All in all the guitar is worth the price but I do miss a nitro finish. A gig bag or a case would be nice but again the guitar is a good value for the money.

I jumped at this guitar like many others because it looks amazing, plays great, and was made in Korea. As others have mentioned, it looks better "in person" than in pictures, and it even sounds good unplugged. So why 4/5 stars?

I own a 6120T Ltd. '59 Nashville and hoped this would be similar in versatility. I thought maybe the fit and finish of the 5420 would be a step down, or maybe the pickups wouldn't be as perfect as the TV Jones Ray Butts pups in the 6120. Wrong and wrong. Instead, the only problem lies in the tone controls. With the 6120, I can switch pickups and roll off tone and volume to get a full spectrum of tones; anywhere from 1 to 10, I get a different, yet perfectly usable sound. With the 5420, the tone controls are basically on/off--no gradual shift as the pot rolls down.

Also, with all the gold hardware, a gold bridge and Bigsby would make sense, but I think those have a history of the gold wearing off...so no big deal.

Still, the guitar sounds great in all pickup positions, and although the roller bridge on my 6120 is more comfortable, the 5420 allows for intonation of individual strings. So yes, I recommend this guitar to those who want a '59 style Gretsch at a great price. Thanks to my sales engineer, Josh Lively, for coming through yet again.

This guitar is fantastic. These are some of the best quality guitars I've ever seen made in China.

However, there are a few things I did not notice immediately from the photos…

1) Even though the description says gold hardware, they apparently only meant the pickups. For some reason Gretsch put the silver bigsby and bridge on here, instead of the gold ones. So it looks a little odd with both gold and silver hardware.

2) The color in the photos is much brighter yellow than in real life. In person it looks more of a orangish brown stain color.

3) This model does not have the Gretsch Broad-tron pickups, it has the filtertrons. The Filtertrons are much brighter. Some people will like that, but others really like the dirtier sounding Broad-trons, so just be aware.

4) This is the full sized body. I had purchased a previous Gretsch Electromatic, and it was a much smaller body. (I think the smaller bodies are called juniors) So I was surprised how much bigger this guitar was than my previous Gretsch.

As long as you are good with all of those, this is a fantastic guitar. Well worth the price.

The guitar looks great. Nice finish. It plays great after a few small adjustments. The pickups are not quite as hot as a 6120 but that is to be expected. Great guitar for the price.

Overall I like the looks, sound, and feel of the guitar but the Bigsby arm fell off after owning it for 8 days. It should be a simple fix, but the strings need to come off of the guitar to fix it. This is unacceptable at this price point. I would have rated it lower, but my Sales Engineer is taking care of me so I can get the necessary repairs. Because of his responsiveness I gave it three stars rather than one which I likely would have with any other retailer.

The guitar looks really great. The vintage orange looks so much better in person. The guitar sounds awesome, perfect blend of fat tone and crystal clear highs, and not harsh either. That"s the good. The bad is be ready to spend more money to have a great guitar. The bridge rattles like crazy, so I replaced it with a tru-arc bar bridge... Sound and sustain are noticeably better and no rattles....and then the biggest issue of all for me and I think will lead me to sell it. It will not stay in tune! The Bigsby will knock it out every time. String bending is the same. Always the G or B string. I"ve had it professionally setup and the nut worked over, which helped but still will not stay in tune. So ultimately I"m disappointed. Hope this helps someone else.