Gretsch G6659TG Players Edition Broadkaster Jr

first play
GRETSCH PLAYERS EDITION BROADKASTERS
12
GUiTAriST AUGUST 2017
tweaks with another recent innovation (for
Gretsch, at any rate), the Centre Block range,
and you have a set of guitars ready to compete
with anything out there – in virtually any style.
Common to both models is those solid centre
blocks (the blocks are spruce and, according
to Gretsch, lighter and more toneful than
maple), Full’Tron pickups, locking Gotoh
tuners, Adjusto-Matic bridge and binding all
round, including the f-holes. They both have
exceptionally classy raised tortoid pickguards
and the slightly simplified control layout of
individual pickup volumes, single tone control,
three-way selector and – the one remaining
anachronism in our view – a master volume
control mounted on the lower horn.
Gretsch model naming can be a little
confusing so we asked our friends at Fender
EMEA to clarify. “As with most Pro series
Gretsches, each model variation is available
in one colour,” they told us, “although you
could think of the Broadkasters as three model
types with different finish appointments: Jr,
Hardtail and Bigsby models, with two or four
finish options each. So, one price for flames,
Bigsbys, goldplating or combinations thereof,
and a lower price to forego those things.”
The full-size double-cut Broadkaster sits
squarely in the ES-335 camp, with its slim
body (44mm) and accessible (17th-fret) neck
join. Available with or without Bigsby, ours
comes with Gretsch’s ‘V’ stopbar tailpiece and
Adjusto-Matic bridge, rosewood fretboard
and, like the Jr, tastefully aged ‘neo-classical’
thumbnail position markers. Although the
smaller and therefore perhaps more ‘rock’-
orientated of the two, the Jr appears the more
Gretsch-y with its gold hardware, Bigsby,
ebony ’board and cool gold Broadkaster
headstock nameplate. (The Broadkaster name,
of course, was originally used on a Gretsch
drum kit and was the reason why Fender had
to change the name of its early solidbody from
Broadcaster to Telecaster, thus causing the
nameless ‘Nocaster’ in the process). Build
quality on both guitars is stunning, the Cadillac
Green of the Jr, in particular, a real head turner.
Feel & Sounds
With their 305mm (12-inch) fingerboard
radius and 22 medium-jumbo frets on slim
C-section necks, both guitars feel fresh and
comfortable in the hand. And the fact that
the necks sit deeper in the bodies making
1. The master volume on
the lower horn is pure
Gretsch, but we wonder
if it’s one anachronism
too far on these, in all
other respects, very
modern looking, feeling
and sounding guitars
2. Evoking 50s Cadillac
style ornamentation, the
‘V’ stopbar tailpiece is
another classic Gretsch
motif. Paired with the
company’s Adjusto-
Matic bridge it’s a simple
and workable design
3. Uprated in power and
middle response, these
Full’Tron pickups are
Gretsch’s fi rst new US
humbuckers since the
70s. They look great in
their gold surrounds
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GIT422.rev_gretsch.indd 12 15/06/2017 15:33