Gretsch G5426 Review

This post may contain affiliate links. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read More

Gretsch Guitars is one of the oldest companies in the USA to produce guitars. Throughout the years they have designed and manufactured excellent guitars, basses guitars, and drum kits.

Their excellent guitars have been used by many famous guitarists, such as John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Brian O’Hara, and George Harrison to name a few, meaning that they have been a popular brand at the time. Nowadays, they mostly design and produce high-end premium guitars that are crafted to perfection and are a joy to play.

However, they also have a line of more of budget-friendly designs, under the Electromatic subsidiary. The Gretsch G5426 Electromatic Jet Club electric guitar is a model from that line, and it is considered an entry-level guitar with decent sound, excellent playability, and beautiful design. I can comfortably recommend this guitar to every beginner because it is versatile and has Gretsch quality build and finish.

The Gretsch G5426 Electromatic features an interesting blend of retro and American design, with a touch of contemporary that I fell in love with. It has a single-cutaway shape, similar to the Les Paul, but looking a little more retro in the process. This guitar uses lightweight basswood as a tonewood, and it is extremely light thanks to its chambered nature. This makes it even better for beginners as it is comfortable to hold for a long time, in practice or on stage. It has an arched maple top, that is available in two paint jobs, the Glossy Black that is a classic choice, and the Silver finish, that in my opinion looks perfect.

On the back and the sides of the guitar, you will spot walnut-staining, and has a white body and neck binders to finish of this package in proper fashion. The bolt-on neck is made from maple and is a pleasure to play, on top of it you will find the rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets, that are extremely playable and provide great access to the high-notes. It has a Pearloid small pickguard on the body, and overall this design is really to close to perfect.

The Gretsch G5426 Electromatic is equipped with two high-output standard dual-coil humbuckers that look like FilterTrons, and that provides great performance. The controls of this guitar consist of a three-way pickup selector switch, a master volume knob, and a master tone knob.

I was disappointed with the lack of Bigsby tremolo, however, there was a fixed Adjusto-Matic bridge that kept the guitar perfectly in tune and provided excellent sustain, on the headstock you will spot a set of die-cast sealed tuners with chrome buttons, so far so good.

I am used to hearing the no-nonsense sound of the premium Gretsch guitars, but I didn’t expect much from the Gretsch G5426 Electromatic. However, it delivered big time, with plenty of punch, and warm jazzy tones. It delivered plenty of versatility and amazing power, I really didn’t expect this but I was pleased.

Thanks to its excellent design, versatility, power, and lightweight build, the Gretsch G5426 Electromatic is one of the best beginner electric guitars on the market.

Gretsch G5426

9.3

Quality

9.0/10

Value

10.0/10

Sound

9.0/10

Pros

  • Great For Beginners
  • Hard To Beat Price
  • Comfortable Size & Weight

Cons

  • None

Whether you want to learn about guitars, guitar equipment or other instruments, Guitarsquid has all the answers.