Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet BT

ToTal GuiTar february 2019
102
Head to Head
Four single cutaways
with a touch of the Gibson
t
he four guitars on oer here obviously
cast a similar LP-style shadow yet
there are some important dierences
in scale length and neck proles. The
Epiphone Les Paul has the thinnest
neck of the group. It’s based on the well-known
60s tapered feel that you’d expect to nd on
early 60s SGs. That will narrow its appeal.
Those of you looking for a bit more meat in your
palm, however, would be better served by the
Hamer and PRS models. The Gretsch has a
more inclusive C prole that most players will
warm to.
Tonally, all of these guitars put out a mix of
vintage warmth and modern rock-friendly
power. The Epiphone ups the ante somewhat
with its coil-tap function. You don’t necessarily
get Fender tones from this single-coil option.
Rather, think of it more as a way of dialling in
extra clarity when you’ve got the overdrive on.
It might feature some added grunt from its
Broad’Tron humbuckers but there’s really
no disguising the Gretsch heritage in the Jet
BT’s tone. You get that wonderful old-school
Gretsch twang, and we love the sustain
enhancement oered by that beautiful
V-stop tailpiece.
The PRS SE’s tone is a little darker than the
other contenders. You can put that increase in
bottom-end down to the shorter scale length.
Rock and metal guitarists will love that tonal
depth but bluesheads will appreciate it too. The
Hamer Monaco is the wild card. It has the
attest radius ’board here. Now, that might irk
the players who prefer the more traditional
radii oered by our other guitars but the eet of
ngers will lap it up. All of these guitars have
one aw. They should have heavier strings.
Each manufacturer has played it safe with light
strings but a Les Paul and its tribute acts thrive
with heavier strings. You’ll get better tone
and sustain and, thanks to the scale lengths
spec’d on these models, string bending will
still be a breeze.
Stop! Hamer time
The Gretsch Jet: powered by
Broad’Tron humbuckers
there’s no
disguising the
gretsch heritage in
the jet Bt’s tone
the tg test
TGR315.gear_test.indd 102 1/3/19 4:34 PM