Guitar Reviews 4U - Gretsch 6118T Anniversary and Gretsch 5420T 2 Tone Anniversary Green guitars

 

Guitar Reviews 4U - Gretsch 5420T & 6118T guitars -

The Gretsch 'Anniversary' Green models compared

How does the new Chinese made 5420T 'Anniversary' 2 Tone Green guitar stand up against the current 6118T Anniversary? lets take a look in this Guitarreviews4U review.

Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones with his 1962 era 6118 G tailpiece guitar 

fitted with Hi-Lo Tron pickups, tone switches and rare bound fingerboard

Having owned a 6118 Anniversary guitar a few years ago, I was recently looking at buying another. It was one guitar I should in retrospect not have sold but we all know how this happens! 

My old 6118 was a 2003 Japan made guitar and had a rare feature of the neck heel merged to the lower side panel of the guitar body, unlike the standard 'V' neck heel profile which matches the top side to make a symmetrical V shape. Mine was a 6118 that I added a B6C Bigsby to make it into a 6118T.

Post 2014 Gretsch 6118T modern version with new Trestle Bracing

some early Japan reissues from the 90's have the white bound fretboard

My 6118 was a non-Bigsby guitar and had a G cutout tailpiece like the Brian Jones guitar, the 6118T version also offered by Gretsch has the Bigsby B60 type unit fitted. Both versions were shown in the 2007 Gretsch catalogue but featured the then standard Filterton pickups and Tone Circuit switching using the 2 switches.

Gretsch have 'reissued' the 6118 in various forms over the years, most recently in the late 1990's where these Japan made guitars featured a larger than normal headstock and a Bigsby B6 type unit on the Bigsby equipped models, not the B6C. This was often the fashion then where the Japan guitars would feature configurations that were never on the original guitars. The range was rationalised around 2000 and the guitars were more aligned to how they were originally specified.

Gretsch refers to the 5420T in Green as ' Two-Tone Anniversary Green'

The 2 Tone Cadillac Green inspired paint colour scheme has remained on the anniversary model since the guitar was introduced, even though there have been alternative 2 tone colours like copper and bamboo yellow and a rare Jaguar Tan special colours for example, the 2 tone Green/Green scheme has remained the most popular.

The 6118 was always placed as a lower cost alternative to the 6120 and was often favoured by working musicians and session players as it was unfussy and reliable. Gretsch were quick to use automotive paint colours on their guitars and this immediately elevated them from the staid and unexciting dark wood or sunburst stain used on most of the other rival products from Gibson, Kay and Guild. Most 6120's were 'Western Orange' stain, unless special orders using car colours,

Chinese made Gretsch 5240T - special edition in the 2 tone "Anniversary" Green

with pickup only switching and Tone knob is the obvious difference

visually to the 6118 - shown here pre-upgrade to the Bigsby B6C

I was really pleased to see the 5420T series guitars for 2023 featured a 2 Tone 'Anniversary green' model and this prompted me to look for another 6118, the Gretsch website refers to the 5420T colour scheme as "Anniversary Green" - so I thought this might make a good base to upgrade to look more like a 6118T as an alternative, as I was finding 6118's thin on the used guitar market.

Gretsch 6118 G Tailpiece non-Bigsby version

I did look at a 6118 on Ebay but this deal didn't work out, however, seeing the new 5420T reviews and hearing the guitar on youtube I decided to buy one, finding one at Peach Guitars in Essex, who were great people to deal with and the guitar was a good price too. 

The 5420T guitar now featured Trestle Bracing and I was eager to see and hear how this would compare to my Korean made 5420T in Fairlane Blue.

Gretsch 6118 Open back machine heads

Both the 5420T and 6118 guitars feature 'open back' machine heads, Grover sta-tite on the 6118 and a budget lookalike version on the 5420T, the 5420T machines are not the best quality and one broke on an older 5420T I had that fell over, I will likely replace these machines with Wilkinson WJ45 units as I did on my 5420T Fairlane Blue guitar which really improved the sound and tuning or fit Gotoh locking machine heads.

Gretsch 6118 rear view - the 5420T is the same colour too

using a Versailles Green like shade from Dietzler's chart below

Dietzler 1958 Cadillac Paint colours -

found their way onto the 6118 guitar

Acadian (Light) and Versailles (Darker) Green colours

as used on the 6118 shown on this vintage paint chip chart

Although the 6118 is a more of a 'budget' version of the 6120 guitar, the 6118 does feature an Ebony fretboard on the pre 2015 models, a nice quality touch. The 5420T Korean guitars used Rosewood boards, now for the 2023 Chinese production they use Laurel wood for the boards. The frets are nicely finished and vintage type and are easy to play.

I used my 6118 for playing with a 5 piece jazz combo and it sounded really nice. A late friend of mine had a 6118 he used in jazz bands and they were popular with session and combo players since and most like the great colours, I certainly do. The 5420T Anniversary is a great looking guitar much like the Fairlane Blue guitar when that was released to great acclaim.

I could not resist fitting a 6118 nameplate to my Green 5420T!

It added the finishing touch to the headstock as you

will see from the comparison pictures below

The 6118 Nameplate made in Japan and came from Blackrider guitars

in the US who I have bought Gretsch spare parts from before 

Gretsch 5420T and 6118T Headstocks -

the 5420T here has an anniversary name plate added -

the 5420T guitars give you a great base to upgrade

Template for the 5420T nameplate addition-

I made this aid from a piece of 2mm artboard card - 15mm by 46mm marked off -

the 15mm measurement from the logo to the top of the nameplate 

was taken off the Brian Setzer Hot rod 6120 I had to hand -

looking at the Gretsch brochure this seems to be the accepted position spacing

used for Gretsch guitars with name plates on the headstock face

Gretsch 5420T 'full anniversary' conversion

The 6118 features the Tone Circuit switching -

The front switch is for the pickup positions and the rear switch 

for the 'mud' tones when switched to up or down positions.

Gretsch 6118T 2003 note the unusual 'merged' neck and side 

detail - the colour finish 'wraps' on both back and sides and is a 'smoke green'

Gretsch 5420T wiith FT5E pickups - upgraded with Bigsby B6C

these sound nice and bright and will be left on the guitar

I replaced the supplied Bigsby B60 off the 5420T with a B6C unit that I in-filled the Bigsby name with a dark green colour paint to make it look really spiffy against the minty green top. The B6C is a much nicer looking unit and works better as well. I think the tone is improved with it.The Blade saddle Tunamatic was replaced with a Vanson Roller Saddle version that works nicely to aid tuning stability.

Schaller Straplocks were fitted to this 5420T -

note that the strap button posts on the Chinese 5420T are left hand threaded 

on the thread post that screws into the body wood. The Japan and Korean guitars 

have right handed threads that screw into the wood.

The screw on knobs on the Chinese and Korean guitars have different threads too.

The body and necks are Canadian Maple on both 6118 and 5420T guitars, both guitars now feature Trestle Bracing, the 6118 has a rosewood neck and bridge base and the 5420T uses Laurel. Build quality is really excellent as you would expect, comparing the 5420T against Japanese Terada guitars you can see it has a high quality finish.

This price point allows you to buy a guitar you can easily upgrade if you desire and the 5420 and recent Streamliner guitars have shown they are platforms for easy upgrade work. I've used 5120 and 5420 guitars on stage with jazz bands, they sound great and are easy to play and also great if you are a pop music player and want another guitar that looks and sounds good and different! 

It is nice to have the cache of a 6118 if you can afford one, saying that, they are not unreasonably priced when compared to other brands and Gretsch Japan guitars really do it for me, I often use them live with jazz bands. However, I had a 2420T Streamliner and that was a really nice guitar too, so price isn't always a good guide for quality.

Gretsch 6118T 2003 with Filtertrons and Space Control Bridge -

were part of the professional series fitment until around 2016 when the 

'Player' models were introduced and Hi-Lo Trons were used to

replicate the 1960 era 6118 guitars

Modern Gretsch 6118T with Hi-Lo Tron style pickups

In conclusion, the 5420T is a great guitar for the money and you can upgrade it as you desire or not at all if you want to keep it stock, the 6118 is good if you can buy one, having owned both guitars I like both too, I do like the fact that the 5420T has bound F holes and neck/ headstock, I think this really finishes it off against the 6118 that looks plainer without these features.

My only real issue with the 5420T is the machine heads, the Streamliner features some nice sealed units, I wish Gretsch would use these on the 5420T and this would  improve the tuning stability and make it just a nicer guitar, I have Gotoh locking machines in stock as fitted to the Brian Setzer Hot Rod, so that might be a further upgrade when the time comes to change the strings on my 5420T!

Guitar Reviews 4U - Gretsch 5420T 2 Tone Green 'Anniversary Green' model China made upgrade with Bigsby B6C and Vanson Roller Bridge

 

A few quick and easy upgrades for your Chinese made

Gretsch 5420T guitar in 2 Tone Anniversary Green

Out of the box - the Chinese Gretsch 5420T Electromatic guitar

**Before you drill any holes on this project, I suggest that you drill holes in some scrap Pine or similar softwood and try the screws for fit so that your 'final' holes will not be oversize. I use BBQ Skewer and Cocktail Sticks to fill any left over or unused holes on my guitar repairs. For info.** 

The new 5420T guitars are easy to upgrade and in this review I'll be adding a USA Bigsby B6C vibrato and a Vanson Roller Saddle Tunamatic Bridge to the guitar in place of the B60 Bigsby and the Blade Saddle Tunamatic Bridge.

My similar upgrades on the Korean version of this guitar went without a hitch, but I did run into a couple of small problems on this job. Firstly, the strap button on the Bigsby was very tight and the screwdriver slotted head on the post stripped out easily so I had to use grips to remove the post which was not ideal and damaged the thread. I had to order new strap buttons and screws and I got a set of Japanese made Gretsch buttons and screw posts to fit. 

Secondly, the spacing on the bridge posts was not quite the same as the Korean and I had to relieve the Bridge block holes with a 4.5mm drill - not a great problem, but a delay all the same. 

I have fitted around 8 of these Vanson bridges to Japanese and Korean Gretsch guitars without any issue in the past, so it was unusual to find on this one that the holes were just too tight on the hole spacings. Fortunately I have a pillar drill to hand and was able to open out the holes to 4.5mm without any drama to get the Vanson to fit . It just goes to show that things can change on guitars!

I have fitted a number of the Vanson Bridges without a problem - 

possibly the Bridge Post spacing and Bridge dimensions may have 

been changed slightly on this model, but I was soon back on track 

The Bigsby B60 is quite straightforward to change over and I used masking tape to mark out the positions off the old unit and for the alignment of the new one. The B6C to go on this guitar has 3 screw holes and the strap button is also used on the end plate as an extra 'screw' - on the B60 it has 2 screw holes and the strap button screw post has a central hole so you get 3 screws holding the tail on which is not really sufficient as the holes are not in the best place to stop the tail plate lifting with the string tension. 

The B60 also relies on the strap button as a screw hole to locate the unit.

The B6C has 3 screw holes plus one for the button

On my 5120, I drilled 2 extra holes as the plate was lifting away from the body. The screws are in the 'wrong' place, they need to be lower down the plate to get the best advantage. It is a cost cutting measure to only use the 2 main screws.

The B6C detail recesses here have been in-filled with green paint.

Against the light green body this will look nicer than the stock black

The B60 is not as smooth in action as a B6C and the B6C is the design I find looks better too. The B60 does the job but the B6C is miles better, it is the one used on the Brian Setzer Hot Rod guitars and the Player Series, a unit design that was launched in 1960 on the 6120 and similar guitars. 

The B6C overlaid on the B60 - you can see the tail plate holes here .

The paint fill effect works really well

The job to replace the B60 with the B6C is quite straightforward to do. Firstly I measured up the gap on the my other Gretsch guitars at home and 6mm between the bottom of the plate and the top of the binding strip on the guitar top seemed to be the distance on most of them.

A 6mm card spacer used to gauge the right height of the B6C

I made up a spacer strip out of 2mm art board card strips and used this to get the height for the new B6C, this takes the guess work out of the job!

Masking tape was used to locate the new B6C in place - 

always measure twice and check before you start drilling holes! 

I drew centre lines off the existing guitar Bigsby and checked the alignment twice before going anywhere near a Drill. For this job I used a Cordless Drill, you get a lot of control and can drill slowly which is the ideal situation.

The B6C now installed 

I used a 1.5mm drill to make the pilot holes for the B6C main 3 plate screws but do check the screws supplied with your new B6C for size before drilling anything! I found I had to open out my drilled holes out to 2.5mm for most of the screw depth and then used a light smear of Beeswax on the screw threads to help them go in to the wood easier.

You can always drill a scrap block of soft wood like Pine and try the screws in that before drilling into your guitar. Fortunately I have a Vernier Gauge to hand so I could measure the screws and drill bits before doing anything further.

The new B6C's plate just covers over the holes from the previous B60 -

Be aware that the threads on the strap button posts on the Button end differ in thread pitch between the Japanese and Korean / Chinese type posts. The Japan Buttons won't fit the other Korean / Chinese Button posts.

Lastly here, the strap button hole was drilled, having first checked the size of the strap button post thread. The Japan made threaded screw also has a cross point end and I found a PZ1 screwdriver fitted into this really nicely. The thread was lightly coated with Beeswax and it screwed in nicely into the guitar body.

New D'Addario 10-46 strings fitted -

The Green in-fill paint really looks smart against the lighter green top.

I had already adjusted the Vanson Roller Saddle Bridge Saddles to approximate the old Blade type  Tunamatic Bridge's saddle positions, before fitting it. One all the strings were on, I did intonate the Vanson Bridge Saddles correctly.

I used the spring from the original B60 unit as it was shorter in height and the arm now sits at around the right height position, there are different length springs available as aftermarket parts.

Adjusted ready to play - taken in daylight to show the real green colours

Lastly, a spot of adjustment to the set up and action and the G5420T was ready to play. The B6C I found was much more responsive and had an easier action than the old B60.

This upgrade really makes a good improvement to this guitar. 

I plan to upgrade the machineheads on the guitar in the near future with Wilkinson

Kluson type closed back units in place of the standard open back 'Waverley' type units 

Wilkinson WJ45 Kluson type machine heads

a replacement for the Gretsch 'Waverley' / Grover type units 

On the subject of the machine heads, the G5420T standard heads fitted to the guitar are 'at a cost' units and not very expensive, although functional. A good upgrade is to use the Wilkinson WJ45 type heads - these have 2 screw holes which are an almost dead fit to the original types. 

Another advantage is that the metal cases enclose the gears which are a good gear ratio. Plus the hole on the back shown here is used to add a light grade auto grease - I add this before installation and this helps give the gear wheels longer life and to retain tuning accuracy.

Gretsch 5420T and 6118T guitars Headstocks

Gretsch 5420T with Anniversary Plate and Bigsby B6C