The New kids on the Trestle Block...
We take a look at the just landed mid-price-range offerings
from Gretsch guitars in this review
I came across these guitars earlier today on the Coda music site and the White Falcon they had listed sold quickly. I thought they'd made a mistake and listed a Player White Falcon new at £1249 GBP! So I hopped on the Gretsch guitars site to see the new guitars.
The Gretsch Nashville Hollow body a 5420-6120 inbetweener -
Priced reasonably and reminds me of the 5120 Special edition -
referred to on the Gretsch site as '6120 family'
Let us start with the Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville guitar, available in the Orange Stain or Cadillac Green (which seems to have a metallic finish as seen on the Fairlane Blue 5420T guitars. Gretsch refer to the Nashville as 'from the 6120 family' but do not give it a distinct model name like the 6120, 5420T for example.
Here we have a maple construction upgraded 5420T, made in China and has the same 1959 inspired Trestle Bracing as the Chinese 5420T guitars. This version of the bracing has the 2 feet that secure top to back of the guitar but the wood only runs along the neck block and not down onto the back board as on the 6120 Hot Rod and similar price tag guitars.
Gretsch state that this gives the guitar slightly more vibrancy as the board can resonate more than the fixed at both ends 59 true bracing. I purchased a 5420T in the 2 tone 'Anniversary Green' made in China in November 2024 and I was very pleased with it.
The Nashville in Cadillac Green candy metallic finish -
I think these will sell well, there was a limited run 5420T in this colour
The construction is pretty much the same as the 5420T in many respects, nicely done and the neck extension is the same as on the 5420T and not sculpted underneath as on the Japan guitars - the extra wood likely helps the sustain. The orange Nashville has nice wavy grain on the factory picture with a slightly creamy aged binding that really looks good, the harshness of pure white binding is lost giving it a 'vintage' look.
The Nashville Orange Headstock and Ebony fingerboard
The T-Roof logo is sharper, like on the 2420 Streamliner
The neck has a scarfed on headstock and this is used on the guitars up to this price point, the Japan Player, Hot rod and anything beyond this price point uses full Maple neck wood with wing pieces at the machine head area.
The Gretsch logo on these guitars is an improvement over the 5420 Electromatic type which never looked as nice as the one on the Streamliner guitars. The Synchromatic guitars here now use a style of logo seen on the Japan level guitars and looks better for it.
it would be better if the machine heads were sealed type rather than these open backs
The Headstock needs no introduction, but follows the smaller 1958 shape used on most of the guitars except the Falcon guitars of that era. An Ebony fingerboard is a nice feature here and having Gretsch guitars with Ebony, Rosewood and Laurel boards fitted, the Ebony is the nicest looking and playing. The fingerboard features the Thumbnail inlays and the neck is bound around the top edge of the headstock as on the Electromatic 5420T.
The Nashville rear view shows no new surprises -
for those familiar with Gretsch guitars
The neck radius is 12" and C shaped, with medium jumbo frets. The necks on these Chinese made guitars have a great feel and my Chinese made 5420T guitar is no exception, it is often a guitar I pick up at the end of the day just to play a few chords on, it plays easily, sounds nice acoustically and has a slick action.
The Falcon has sealed Grover Machine heads installed and it is a shame that on the Nashville model that they didn't instal sealed Machine Heads rather than the open back ones as used on the Electromatics in budget form and Waverley Grover ones on the professional level guitars.
The Streamliner guitars have sealed heads and they are nice and smooth and I wonder why Gretsch persists with the open back machine heads on these lower end guitars, I changed the open back heads on my Korean made 5420T to sealed types and the difference in operation is obvious and I will change my Chinese 5420T heads over to locking ones in time.
Gold hardware is used on this range, with the addition of the metal jack base plate, Filtertrons and typical 3 way 'Electromatic' switching with Tone and Volume pots
You'll have noticed that the Synchromatic guitars feature Filtertron pickups, I recall a special limited edition run of 5120 guitars in orange finish that were factory fitted with chrome Filtertrons. This was a modification that many 5120 owners were already doing, me included!
The Filtertrons on these Synchromatic guitars are the 'fixed' Gretsch Filtertrons - unlike the 5420T guitars which have pickup height adjustment, the Synchromatic Filtertrons are the original fixed to the body type, the only adjusment is by using spacer gaskets under the Bezels or by adjusting the pole piece screws to nearer the strings.
The hardware on the Synchromatic features a new V Bigsby B6C type unit which is a step up from the old B60 used on the Electromatics, although the Bigsby on the Synchromatics is a new tooling. I would if I owned one likely buy a B6C as an aftermarket part and instal that.
I have seen these guitars played on the Gretsch official launch video and they do sound good. These guitars also feature a baseplate on the jack socket which offers a more rigid area for the jack and is something that the 140th Anniversary 6118 features. It also helps save the finish around the jack input socket from damage when inserting the jack plug.
The Body diameter of the Synchromatic guitars is not quoted but I suspect they are around 16" wide tops on both Nashville and Falcon in keeping with the Electromatic for tooling purposes to save the cost of new patterns, based on visual comparison. (They have a 2.5" depth.) One guitar site quoted the Falcon Synchromatic as 17" but even Gretsch don't state the body width on their website.
The Falcon has the possibly the same body width as the Nashville I would suspect for this reason, however the 24.6" scale length of the Nashville is true to the 6120 guitars, as is the Falcon guitar's 25.5" scale length to the original Falcon.
Where do these models fit into the grand scheme of things?
The Synchromatic range are a higher end take on the Chinese made Electromatic 5420T and similar guitars (these earlier 5420T Chinese made guitars are very well finished), my Chinese made 2 tone Anniversary is faultless and I used to have a Japan made Anniversary so I was aware of how nicely that was made in comparison.
The Synchromatic and the 5420T Chinese guitars also feature a variation of the 59 Trestle Bracing system which has the feet at the back under bridge end. I would not be put off buying a Synchromatic with the made in China knowledge, as the guitars have USA quality control and are as I said very nicely made and finished.
The Synchromatic Falcon guitars
The Synchromatic White Falcon -
reminiscent of the professional series White Falcon 1 from around 2004
The other model in the Synchromatic range is the Falcon, available as a White Falcon and a Black Falcon as shown here. These build on the same Trestle bracing feature as on the Nashville and also have the Ebony fingerboard with thumbnail inlays.
The Black Falcon with Gold Trim
The high end Falcon model as most of you will know featured a 17" wide body on the hollow bodied guitars. As I stated earlier, the width isn't mentioned on the Gretsch website for these Synchromatic guitars but visually the Nashville and Falcon bodies seem dimensionally similar going by the F Hole placings, so I suspect that they are both 16" width bodies.
The Falcon available in black or white finish features the classic Gold 'Sparkle' binding to the neck and body as on the higher end Falcon guitars. It doesn't end there though, the pot knobs all feature jewelled tops like the more expensive Falcon along with Gold Sparkle Truss rod cover. The machine heads are Grover Imperial style sealed units, like the original Falcon units.
These Falcons also have the distinctive V cutout to the headstock shape, with the basic T -Roof Gretsch name logo like on the White Falcon 1 from 2004. The distinctive winged Gretsch logo hasn't been fitted on this price level of guitar which may disappoint some as it was fitted to White Falcon version of the Rancher acoustics made in Indonesia.
Perhaps distinctions have been made according to price point for the guitars as to the specifications made, certain features have been chosen that visually at any rate differentiate at sight between a Japan made or USA made level guitar and those made elsewhere like this model range.
The Synchromatic guitars sit at a defined price point, above the Chinese made Electromatic and below the Japan made Player series. The upgrade of the fingerboard to Ebony and the fitting of Filtertrons (the pickup upgrade that some do on the 5420T guitars) means you have a guitar uniquely placed.
Typical UK price points for the Gretsch range would be: (For US roughly £ to $ straight comparison)
Streamliner £450.00 Electromatic £749 Synchromatic 2025 £1250 Japan £2400 USA £5000+
I think these guitars will sell well as they take you in above the (already very good) Electromatic (which I have used in live performing) and the step up from there to a Player guitar means you get a lot of guitar in the middle price bracket, the name, the look, the style and the sound.
