Gretsch G2215-P90 Streamliner Junior Jet Club

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GUITARIST JULY 2021
GRETSCH G2215-P90 STREAMLINER JUNIOR JET CLUB
The stripped-down spec also removes
a couple of the things that make Gretsch
instruments sound and look like they do.
The simple wrapover bridge means there’s
a large expanse of top going begging for a
Bigsby, and what on earth is going on with
the controls? Well, the shoulder-placed
pickup selector toggle does its usual thing.
The control on the treble horn (typically
a master volume) is simply the volume,
which means that the single control located
by the bridge (typically a volume) is actually
a tone control. That’s three separate
circular cavities to cut with three recessed
plastic covers, each held in place with three
screws. Surely a single cavity with the three
controls in would’ve been an easier and
more cost effective proposition?
The neatly top-bound 45mm-thick slab
body seems to be a four-piece spread,
but the pieces are seamlessly joined and
there’s actually a slightly coarse mahogany-
like grain showing through the brown/
tan-coloured translucent high-gloss poly
finish. The neck has a headstock splice
under the 1st and 2nd frets, while the
fingerboard material is laurel, almost
generic rosewood-looking in colour with a
flecked grain. The well-tended frets sit over
the binding, and those thumbnail inlays
(a grained pearloid) sit inside the binding.
Simple it may be, but it’s a tidy build.
1. These clear, amber-
coloured plastic barrel
knobs are a throwback
to the 50s, before the
metal ‘G-with-arrow’ logo
knobs became more
commonly used
2. It may be unfaced, or
black-painted, but this
narrow headstock with
its classic Gretsch logo
– and no mention of its
Streamliner status – is
a real throwback to the
original Jet of 1953
3. Gibson style is evident
in this wrapover
bridge and its raised
pre-set intonation
ridge. Meanwhile, the
BT-2S humbucker is
the second-generation
Broad’Tron, designed for
the Streamliner range,
revamped in 2019 to
have a little more clarity.
Its measured DCR is
9.3kohms
4. More Gibson style here
with the soapbar P-90,
an increasing fixture
on Gretsch’s start-up
models. It’s a pretty big
voice with a measured
DCR of 8.93kohms
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2
UNDER THE HOOD
What’s going on inside this rockabilly rebel?
W
ith those three control cavities,
it’s unusual, but then so is the
circuit. First, there’s a treble-
bleed circuit on the 500k volume control
that places a 150kohms resistor and a
.01 microfarads cap in parallel. While the
resistor value is pretty standard, the cap
isn’t: typically a .001 or .002 microfarads
cap would be used. The bigger cap here is
‘bleeding’ a lot more than just high treble,
meaning that as you reduce the volume
you’re almost hearing a bass cut. If that isn’t
odd enough, the volume and tone are wired
vintage style, which means there’s plenty of
interaction between the two controls. If it
sounds a little bonkers in theory, it’s actually
rather good in practice.
Originally, the neck P-90 seemed to
overpower the bridge pickup and we couldn’t
lower it, which suggested it was direct-
mounted to the body. However, removing
the pickup a large piece of rubbery foam
(which should act as the cushion) is clearly
too hard and thick. Simply removing that
and replacing it with thinner, more elastic
type of foam means you can pull the pickup
down as you would normally with this type
of mounting.
The simple treble
bleed circuit on
the master volume
The foam cushion on
the P-90 is too thick.
We simply replaced it
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GIT473.rev_gretsch.indd 24GIT473.rev_gretsch.indd 24 13/05/2021 09:2713/05/2021 09:27