Gretsch G9221 Bobtail Roundneck Resonator - Steel Body, Padauk Fingerboard Reviews

I researched resonators for a year, way more thoroughly than you will, I was obsessive. I Considered Nationals, cheap no brand Chinese imports direct from China, Recording King, all the small company Dobros based in Texas, California and Tennessee, both expensive and affordable. Granted this was my first resonator but now that it's almost 2 years later, this is the happiest I've ever been with a guitar purchase. Gretsch R&D really did their homework, this thing is phenomenal. It's playability is so high, it's my preferred acoustic now, that's how good it sounds and plays. The versatility is off the charts, and that's before ever plugging it in. I see the price has increased since I bought mine but that's because Gretsch probably doesn't want to mess with a perfect product. You will not be disappointed.
Before I picked this one, I demoed 2 other resonators that were all the exact same model. 1 was $2,999 and the other was $1,799....then I played the Gretsch... thinking it was going to sound cheap and have rough frets...
I was blown away that it sounded better than the National. I'm loving this so much, Gretsch guitars now have all this credibility with me and I'm considering buying my next electric just because of this experience with the brand. I'm Floored.

First day with my New Bobtail resonator and I can't be happier with this purchase.
When I opened that box I was blown away how beautiful this guitar is.
Tuned up to open D and the rich tones
Are pouring out of it. I'm very happy with
Pick up also sounds great.
Great resonator killer tones. The neck is a V neck but actually works well for me. The binding on the neck and head stock look amazing. It's a player that's for sure

I love the sound and feel of this steel machine! Sounds great though an amp as well! Its really cool playing with other acoustic players, it stands out quite well! Great for slide guitar as well. I was a little wary seeing as how its made in Chyna, but I am not at all regretful as it was made with quality and care. Thanks SW!

I needed to replace an old tricone I have and settled on this from Gretsch. Holy cow, what a wonderful tone from this beauty. Excellent craftsmanship and the Nashville Pickup is perfect - it still releases that wonderful swampy reso-tone when plugged into a PA or an amp.
Very happy I made this purchase! Ian McGee, my sales rep, did a great job as usual in getting it out and the staff at Sweetwater, also as usual, made sure a quality product got into the hands of their customers.

I asked my engineer Bryan to have a voodoo priest bless this guitar before it shipped. He did not disappoint. As soon as I picked up this guitar the sunny sky outside turned dark, it started raining, and a cold wind started blowing. Once I started playing everyone within a 3 mile radius turned sad and started drinking whiskey. After my first song Mashed Potato Johnson knocked at my door and wanted to show me how to really play the blues. Long story short this guitar's tone is exactly the blues twang I'm looking for to play on my porch. If you are on the fence about this guitar just pony up and buy it. This is a great buy for the cost.

Just got this G9221 today (27 Feb.) I can't get over how beautiful it is. I turned it up, and played it. Man, what a sound.
You won't go wrong getting it set-up, and tuned, and how you want strings set-up. I also got the Gretsch case for it as well. Very sturdy case. Thanks Borb for helping me. You and your staff are the best. This is my first Reszo, I have been playing over 55+yrs.

I was expecting a decent instrument to learn slide on. Well, way exceeded my expectations. This thing is so swampy there's barbecue sauce dripping off the neck as l play it. I am so happy I got this sweet southern tone machine. Thanks Austin for the hook up. I am beyond satisfied. No time to review I gots to play. Get it you won't regret it, promise.

Like the man said, "Round here, we all about sound." Nice mellow tone, sufficiently loud unplugged without being obnoxious or "tinny."

Andy Miller has been my S.E. since 2017 and he "done me right" again. Absolutely wonderful service but that's what Sweetwater delivers, every time in my experience.

The Gretsch/TKL case (purchased separately) is just what you'd expect and the guitar itself is just so appealing, from the way it sounds to the way it looks to the way it handles.

Couldn't be more pleased.

If you're a boomer in your mid life crisis like me, than this is the guitar for you. I've never purchased a guitar online before, so I was a little nervous buying before playing one. I was impressed with how well the guitar was shipped, both the time it took and the job of protection the guitar.

The guitar sounds amazing, the intonation is perfect. A very happy customer!

Beautiful in appearance and tone. Well worth the cost. Has a sweet, but pronounced resonator sound when played acoustically. Can scream like a banshee when amped. Highly recommended.

I was 97% committed to buying a boutique resonator for around $3400, but just couldn"t pull the trigger on that much money for something I couldn"t return if I didn"t like. I took a chance on this Gretsch because of the Nashville gentleman"s review earlier in this list. I"m glad I did. I"m absolutely psyched that I did. I just spent 30 minutes out in my family"s new patio playing mixed slide and finger style and the guitar aounddd phenomenal. The resonance is nice - it"s a fulfilling, solid, sustained tone that powers one note and phrase into the next. The clarity between notes is precise - it"s easy to mute unplayed strings and play quick runs without the intrusion of unintended tones and scrapes (that is, if you"ve got some experience at this - if not, don"t worry, get this guitar and keep practicing, it will sharpen your skills). I don"t like to use hyped up language because it sounds fake and inexperienced, but I"m an accomplished slide player of 25 years and this guitar is an absolute joy to play and record. It"s also set up perfectly out of the box. I rarely see that in store bought guitars. The action and string gauge is exactly what you"re hoping they"ll be. Don"t hesitate to grab this - it would be a waste of money to pay more for an American made brand name unless you"re at the top tier of dobro playing. Get o e and have a ball.

I'll give this 5 stars.. Why? Well, it's pretty simple. The guitar sounds really good, plays easy and looks sharp!Is it a $4000 National? No. Does that $3500 National sound $3200 better than this? No. Whether plugged in or not it plays and sounds really nice and projects like a bullhorn.. For those songs needing a resonator, this one will do just fine!

The spun aluminum cone makes all the difference. Tone is nice like a good quality resonator. Some sound like a cheap kazoo but the Bobtail delivers what I expect in a resonator at this price. My opinion is it"s worth a few extra $ for the Bobtail over the Honeydripper. The pickup delivers as well and does not lose much tone plugged in. Mine came set up with the action just high enough for slide and just low enough for finger picking. There was a slight buzz on the A string but after removing the cone and replacing strings, tighten this tighten that, all good. The mother of toilet seat headstock may be nicer but cosmetics don"t produce sound...worth the dough.

I got this guitar a few weeks ago and began my journey into playing a resonator. Although I've played guitar for many decades and have done some slide work, I really wanted to play this sort of thing in a traditional way with a traditional style guitar and this did not disappoint me in any way.

I already play a Gretsch Silver Falcon as part of my arsenal so this seemed like a good choice from a brand I'm comfortable with. The setup was dead on when I received it from Sweetwater and played beautifully. Doing slide guitar on this is a completely different (and much easier) experience than on an electric guitar, or even on an acoustic. The design of the neck is part of that as is the setup.

The non amplified sound is pretty decent if you want to just play it acoustically, but this guitar really shines when played through the Fishman electronics. I've always been a huge fan of Fishman and have one on my Takamine, and this rates right up there with that one. The metal body can have some feedback issues depending on the situation, but mostly it's just a matter of moving the position of the guitar to null it out.

It is a pretty heavy guitar but not unreasonably so. A little heavier than my Gretsch Silver Falcon, but smaller in size. In fact the size was a bit of a surprise due to the shorter neck length and the smaller body. But very comfortable for playing on stage. My personal preference is to play this while sitting on a mid-height stool as it gives me a bit more control over the slide position. I keep it tuned to the tradition open G tuning for resonators.

My only two beefs on the guitar was the lack of a volume control for the pickup and the fact it requires an acoustic guitar strap since there is a strap button on the bottom of the guitar, but none on the top of the body. Neither of these is really all that important, but it would have been nice if they was there. My rig has a volume pedal so there's no real need for the volume control, but if you don't have one it might be worth your time to get one for playing this live. Beautiful finish on this guitar!!!

This is an awesome guitar. There will be many who say it is good because of the Price and that is true. However the bottom line is that this is really a fantastic instrument. I love the hard V neck. It Projects very well and I could not be happier. My friends at Sweetwater are the best.

TLDR ver Sounds closer to regular acoustic, tonewise, and its good. If you are looking for that raw metal / delta / banjo tone, go for the honey dipper or try out some other brand preferably a single cone or tricone (this guitar is a spider cone). Playabiity is good, quality varies (first one was a dude, the replacement better). It is a spider cone resonator. TOne, fit and finish is par for course of good guitar for the price range. Review: The Bobtail gets two awards. And they are related. THe first is surprise of the year award (how a reso can sound like wooden standard. The second is sounds like a Taylor or Martin award. The Bobtail gets the sounds like Taylor or Martin. It sounds like a regular acoustic, when compared with other resonators. Now the fanboys/girls of Taylor or Martin will come out and say XYZ, yadda, yudda. I have played low and high end of both, and also 60's Martin, Gibson, and early Taylors (I know a guy who has a electric n acoustic collection that would make Joe Bonamassa blush) Also this is the second guitar. The first one was a semi dud, some strings buzzed when played open, and later I traced it to something with the guitar itself. I got a replacement, and that had a similar issue but with only 2 strings but much milder (more below). This review is on the replacement which was a keeper. Both also sounded like close to standard acoustics. Kudos to the vast SW customer service. To help, if you're not sure about resonators differences (single, tricone, or spider), it helps as they all sound different and pictures show how the cone(s) are arrange, which affects how they sound. My preference is tricone as it has long sustain and bell tone, and resonating / harmonic complexity. Single cones are louder, sustain less, raw more in your face delta / banjo. And spiders sit in between tricone and single (all this based off the three nationals I've heard), but whatever the design of the Bobtail lends itself to regular acoustic territory. The other resonators I have are a Recording King tricone and a Gretsch Honey Dipper. These will be referenced, sorta a gauge. Like the Honey Dipper, the build is good quality for the money. The Bobtail is steel, has fretboard binding, and the pickup. I also got the round neck one (guitar playing) as resonators com with guitar neck (round) or square neck (lap steel playing). Tonewise it is good, but sounds like a regular acoustic. The Honey Dipper has a more raw, banjo like tone, with that delta sound resonators are known for. The Recording king has a metal bell like resonator tone with a hint of Delta / banjo action (tone wise).. But the Bobtail sounds more closer to a regular acoustic, well mellow, tones that blossom out, not that raw in your face sound. I think this is partly due to it being steel. I have a steel tricone (republic), and it sounds brighter but mellower in tonal changes and ringing like. than the bell brass one I have (sounds closest to the recording king tricone referenced here). The bell brass has more of that metallic ring, raw delta, banjo twang tone (honey dipper is brass, recording king is also). The steel is brighter, but more balanced so it starts out bright and holds a constant resonating hum as it sustains and fades out, but brass seems to fluctuate more as it rings high and brings out more of the louder ring then drops down in pitch into a resonant hum, as it sustains out and fades. There was slight buzz on A and B strings, even when fretting on the highest fret when playing hard, it was very slight. I loosened them and re-seated them on the saddle and this helped alleviate it. The honey doesn't have any of it. But I found out it was the saddle and when I switch it to 13's (it comes 12's shipped), that went away. Playability is good, the bobtail has the usual import resonator issue of the first five frets are good, but the action gets higher as the frets increase, but it is very slight like double credit card thickness. its is not perfect but doesn't really affect playability for me. The Honey Dipper has it also, but its lesser than the Bobtail. The action came in factory set. Its higher than average or preferred but I actually like medium action so I can use slide. The Recording King has playability bad, requiring a neck reset, but I've decided to put money into saving for a mule or national instead of taking to a luthier knows metal resos (no one in my area, I'd have to fly out or mail the guitar out). Problem with metal (or wood this applies too) resonators is taking to "the wrong guy" is exponential compared to regular acoustics or electrics. Price of admission I guess . . . Plus the neck reset may change the tone, and I want to keep that tone until something better comes along (hopefully with the mule or national) The neck is surprising. Honey Dippers come with the V neck and its advertised as such. Bobtails, says its has a round neck and I've read this is the case. However mine is a Bobtail and it has the V neck that the Honey Dipper has. In fact they are pretty much nearly identical. The V is stronger than Fender's V used in some of its electrics. As I kept the Honey Dipper, I'm ok with the V-neck. I like Fender's soft V on some of its Strats and Teles. The V neck here is rounded, but a bit more pronounced than the Fender electric guitar one.

This may really drive people nuts as Gretsch site makes no mention of the neck shape for the Bobtail and Sweetwater says its a round C neck, but out of the two Bobtails I've had (the first was a dud and sent it back, they both had V's.) For the Honey Dipper all is fully disclosed, medium V . . . Workmanship, like the Honey Dipper there are some issues. I find the workmanship is similar to the honey dipper. THe main diff is the plug in / amplification and binding. The Q/C or Q\A (Q\C or Q/A?) issues are mainly cosmetic. The fretwork is par for the honey dipper's price, no sharp spots, no sprout, no uneven frets. The edges could use some love, but usually that is found on 1.5K + guitars There are some cosmetic issues, like the Honey Dipper had some microscopic dents (like a pin tip) that could only be seen at certain angles with strong light source. This has none of those but has finish issues. Honey Dipper doesn't have a finish. I'd heard about guitars with finish having a sand paper feel because dust wasn't fully blown off or somehow a cloud of dust got in after the spraying . . . so there is a patch that can be felt if running hands over.

Turns out the Bobtail has a spray lacquer (HOney Dipper doesn't and the Recording King tricone is polished nickel finish, so explains why the a slight sand paper finish as there is section where dusty wasn't blown or cleared out. Plugged in. On a fishman or acoustic amp, I don't have access to one, so I can't say how it sounds. Based off videos it captures the acoustic sound. But the kicker is this thing sounds great on a tube amp, specifically my old schoool vibro champ reissue. Really surprising it sounds good on a tube electric amplifier using sans pedals. This Fishman Nashville pick up is great, I had middle ground (wasn't expecting to blown away but also wouldn't have cared too much if it wandered into sucky territory), no excessive feedback. I thought I'd sound horrible on the tube amp but it sounds good. And carries great on church PA. ANd it works for amp tuned for electric or pick up violins. Over all this guitar, I feel should be maybe $ over the Honey Dipper, as the build quality of the two is the same, only diff is Bobtail has bindings, pick up, lacquer finish (and they could have used the ultra hard wax like nationals raw steel series does) instead the of the lacquer, metal, and spider cone (honey is single cone). Then again the pick up and binding probably push it to the price its at.

I purchased the Gretsch G9221 Bobtail based on reviews. I was very disappointed. The frets were unfinished. Crowned but not sanded or buffed. Bending a string sounded like sandpaper scraping on metal. The weight of the guitar is completely unbalanced. Yes, I know a metal body is heavy, but it shouldn't be so unbalanced it slides off your lap. The sound was fine, but having good sound means nothing if the guitar isn't playable. I sent the guitar back to Sweetwater and bought a cheap Rogue. The Rogue had the same fret issue, but for the price I paid, I expected QC issues. I don't expect unfinished frets on a $ guitar.