The Gretsch 5120 Orange Maple Mk1 guitar
Gretsch 5120 upgraded to look more like a 6120
2014 Silver Sparkle limited run Mk3 Electromatic
2016 Fairlane Blue Electromatic
The price differential between the 5120 and 6120 was about £1500 and the Korean factory production helped to make the 5120 an affordable guitar with the Gretsch name on at an attractive price that would sit in a good place in the market.
The fairly obvious differences between 5120 and 6120 were the 5120 made in Korea, the 6120 made in Japan, the price tag and the hardware. The 5120 went for some generic humbuckers in a sort of Filtertron style with the Gretsch name stamped on the cover, a clear pickguard and a licensed Bigsby B6C early type pre 1959 style vibrato unit.
The headstock had the Electromatic name running down the length of the overlay and a not overly attractive Gretsch logo. However, it was orange and it was a Gretsch and not like one of the lookalikes by Vintage, Richwood or Peerless, good as those were. This was a Gretsch. At a bargain price.
The fairly obvious differences between 5120 and 6120 were the 5120 made in Korea, the 6120 made in Japan, the price tag and the hardware. The 5120 went for some generic humbuckers in a sort of Filtertron style with the Gretsch name stamped on the cover, a clear pickguard and a licensed Bigsby B6C early type pre 1959 style vibrato unit.
The headstock had the Electromatic name running down the length of the overlay and a not overly attractive Gretsch logo. However, it was orange and it was a Gretsch and not like one of the lookalikes by Vintage, Richwood or Peerless, good as those were. This was a Gretsch. At a bargain price.
The MK1 as in our top picture got good reviews but it was not long before people started to upgrade the guitars, the first thing was usually to fit Filterton or TV Jones pickups to the guitar, put a Nashville guard on it and then upgrade the bridge and machine heads. The pickup system was essentially the 55-58 style 1 selector switch with an overall tone control pot and two pickup volume pots and a master volume pot.
The guitar was essentially a lower cost 6120 with less expensive hardware. It was a genius move for Gretsch because like the recent Streamliner reissues, they hit a market sector with a Gretsch guitar with a Gretsch logo on.
The guitar was essentially a lower cost 6120 with less expensive hardware. It was a genius move for Gretsch because like the recent Streamliner reissues, they hit a market sector with a Gretsch guitar with a Gretsch logo on.
Playing wise, the guitar is superb and gives a great spectrum of sound from jazz and country through to hard driving playing. Of course the open f-holes and hollow body does preclude it from high gain distortion playing! The upgraded equipment makes it a better experience and Gretsch soon became aware of this practice.
A Mk2 guitar came along which essentially re-engineered the pickups and they added a gold coloured pick guard.
A Mk 3 appeared in the 2014 time, although now redesignated the 5420T model and this featured a change of pickups to a Baldwin era black faced open face Filtertron type and hump block inlays of the late 50's replacing the Neo classic thumbnail half moon types.
It added Aspen Green metallic to the range and a limited run series of 250 in Silver Sparkle. A Sunburst, Black and White were variously offered along with some further limited run Light Blue Sparkle and Sea Foam Green examples, all of around 250 examples only each.
It added Aspen Green metallic to the range and a limited run series of 250 in Silver Sparkle. A Sunburst, Black and White were variously offered along with some further limited run Light Blue Sparkle and Sea Foam Green examples, all of around 250 examples only each.
A special run of Orange guitars for Thoman Music had TV Jones Filtertrons added and were about £800.00
A Mk4 5420T version appeared in 2016 in some new colours, Fairlane Blue and Transparent Orange and a White. The upgrade here also reducedthe headstock size to a more 6120 looking guitar and added a binding not on the 5420t Mk3, lost the Electromatic name from the headstock and relocated this onto a silver plastic scratchplate. A treble bleed circuit on the master volume completes the new sound and visual upgrade.
Essentially the 5120 and 5420T are the same basic base unit guitar, just with different specification hardware and colours.
So what about price? The original Mk1 were about £800 new, used examples now are £4-500. A Mk 2 about the same money, Mk3 came down to about £700 RRP and are being discounted at this time to make way for the Mk4 upgraded type, with a used value of around £500. Mk4 are about £680 new and around £550 used.
The final verdict is that this is a Gretsch guitar at a budget price to fit into a sector of the market place between the Streamliner and the Professional Series.
Generally these Electromatics do the job but upgrading them is certainly possible with the money you would save on the price of a 6120. Whilst I like the Electromatic and would recommend buying one, if you can go the extra, then get a 6120.
But.... the price tag is somewhat bigger. I have used both 5120 and 6120's on stage and both are perfectly adequate for the job. As they say, you pays your money and takes your choice. I have been pleased with my Electromatics and have just purchased a slightly used 2016 one in Blue..
Generally these Electromatics do the job but upgrading them is certainly possible with the money you would save on the price of a 6120. Whilst I like the Electromatic and would recommend buying one, if you can go the extra, then get a 6120.
But.... the price tag is somewhat bigger. I have used both 5120 and 6120's on stage and both are perfectly adequate for the job. As they say, you pays your money and takes your choice. I have been pleased with my Electromatics and have just purchased a slightly used 2016 one in Blue..
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