Guitar Reviews 4U - Gretsch 5420T Fairlane Blue upgrades
Gretsch 5420T Fairlane Blue easy but worthwhile upgrades -
Hardware upgrades for your 5420T guitar
The purchase price leaves you a good guitar base
to upgrade with higher quality hardware
The Gretsch 5420 guitars are nicely made guitars for the price ticket and I've owned a few of them over the years! Starting with a 5120 in Orange that I upgraded and then a couple of 5122's, they offer you a great basic platform to personalise. I now own a couple of 5420T guitars, a Fairlane Blue Korean 2016 guitar and a Chinese made 2023 2 Tone Anniversary Green guitar.
There are great things about these guitars, with great quality construction they are not big ticket prices to buy, giving you plenty of scope to add upgrade hardware later or right away.
The hardware on these guitars is adequate, but can be easily improved, used examples of the 5420T guitars for example can often be picked up for reasonable deal prices and also one-owner guitars are often found for sale where they have not been set up.
Here the owner often new to playing quickly gives up on them sadly and the dream of playing, all these situations I found on these used guitars are mostly easy fixes. If only the new players knew, they could easily make their guitars more friendly to play.
A nice Stray Cats pin badge brightens up this
G5420T Truss Rod Cover Plate
We'll start with a few areas to improve that will give instant improvement - such as the Bigsby, Tunamatic Bridge & Tuners. Our main example is a 2016 Korean made 5420T in Fairlane Blue and I'll include some pictures of a 5420T Chinese made 'Anniversary' guitar I've also upgraded.
G5420T guitars upgraded and featured in this article
An instant improvement on the 5420T has to be the machine heads. The ones fitted work but are easily replaced with these Wilkinson WJ45 units. These Kluson style WJ45 units have better gearing and can be greased as I did before fitting them.
Wilkinson WJ45 Machinehead upgrade
I used masking tape placed alongside the old units so the new ones would follow the same placing. The old holes were filled using cocktail stick cut into short length pegs which were glued with PVA wood glue and then the peg glue when dry paint matched.
Vanson Roller Saddle Tunamatic Bridge
The Roller Saddle Bridge drops on as a unit, I've fitted this make of Bridge on six or more Gretsch guitars over the last 12 plus years. They are simple and inexpensive and do a great job.
Bigsby B6C unit installation
Thr Bigsby B60 supplied on the 5420T can be upgraded with the B6C, which I've done on 4 5420T's over the years.
Bigsby B6C in-filled with matched Fairlane Blue paint
On the Fairlane Blue guitar I in-filled the B6 details with colour matched acrylic auto touch-in paint mixed by hand from MG Trophy Blue and MG Platinum Silver to the correct shade.
B6C and Roller Bridge installed
The B6C looks such a good unit, it makes an obvious visual improvement, as it also does to the sustain and tone of the guitar.
Wilkinson WJ45 Machine Heads
Bush added to the WJ45 unit for support
Gotoh SG381 locking machine heads
Used on the Brian Setzer guitars
Gotoh SG381 Dimensions
Straplocks were added to the 5420T 'Anniversary"
The Schaller Straplocks fitted to the Green 5420T guitar when the wood was damaged removing the old strap button posts, on the Chinese 5420T, the posts are left hand threaded into the wood, not right hand threaded as on the Korean and Japan guitars.
The straplocks are more convenient as they are quicker to put on or remove the guitar strap.
Plate part number
The Green 5420T in the 'Anniversary' 2-tone green looks great with this Gretsch Anniversary plate on the head stock. It adds the finishing touch to the head. I have a choice of Gotoh or Wilkinson machine heads to fit to the Green 5420T.
Anniversary Plate on the 5420T
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