Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville evaluate – “not for the fainthearted”

$1,259/£1,149, gretschguitars.com

How shut ought to a funds copy come to the unique design? Not too way back you possibly can depend on some type of inform to provide the sport away – a barely off headstock, clearly cheaper {hardware} or perhaps a sub-brand label and emblem. Less so now.

Gretsch has historically been comfortable to make use of the corporate’s title at a wide range of value factors, and relied on line extension to distinguish the varied completely different strands of the household tree. Some fashions have, nevertheless, been reserved for the expensive stuff – till now.

Hot on the heels of the Synchromatic Falcon comes the Nashville – one other entry into the Synchromatic sequence, which bridges the hole between the model’s Indonesian and Korean-made Electromatics, and the Japanese Professional sequence.

Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville – what’s it?

To give it the sometimes over-verbose full title, the Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville Hollow Body with Bigsby relies squarely on the corporate’s unique 6120 mannequin. It was maybe essentially the most unapologetically orange guitar of the Nineteen Fifties electrical pantheon, and an iconic voice initially designed for Chet Atkins, subsequently seen within the arms of Duane Eddy and Brian Setzer, who additionally had signature variations of the design through the years.

This appears to be like at first look, if not like a classic unique, then very very similar to a Japanese-made one. We’ve obtained a deep orange stain end on the all-maple physique and the entire guitar is festooned with gold {hardware} from the Bigsby licensed B60 vibrato to the open again machine heads. There’s a pair of Hi-Fidelity Filter’Tron pickups and an Adjusto-Matic bridge with a pinned ebony base, too.

Controls-wise that is commonplace fare for a Gretsch with a treble bleed grasp quantity knob, particular person volumes for every pickup and a grasp tone. The shoulder-mounted three-way selector switcheroo feels constructive and interesting. Did I point out this appears to be like legit? The scratchplate even says Nashville on it.

There are some fascinating issues happening beneath the hood too. First we’ve the 24.6” scale size, which, whereas totally applicable for this mannequin is significantly shorter than a Tele or Strat and a smidge lower than you’d count on on a Les Paul or SG.

Also, whereas that is certainly a full-fat 2.5” depth hole physique guitar, there’s some joined-up considering happening with the inside structure within the type of the Semi-Arc bracing – a modified tackle trestle bracing with two ‘feet’ beneath the bridge however no want for the neck block toes seen within the conventional method. The maple neck is carved to a smooth C form and contains a real ebony fingerboard housing 22 frets. It feels instantly acquainted and cozy, now let’s plug in.

Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville – playability and sounds

Pulling the guitar out of its included heavyweight onerous case, and I’m immediately perturbed as to why the bridge is ready fairly as excessive because it has been – it’s a really fast and straightforward job to fettle it right down to a suitable peak for snug taking part in, however nonetheless, odd.

That minor hiccup handled, and it’s onto the enjoyable stuff. Few guitars reply to a straight into the amp method like a Gretsch and I begin by plugging immediately into an previous Cornford Hurricane with a curly lead. With all dials set at midday and the neck pickup engaged, a really convincing on-edge clear sound fills my studio.

On classic fashions – usually with heavy flat-wound strings – this evocative texture can simply get vague and woofy, however right here we’ve a lot of the girth with not one of the mud. Dial up the reverb and slide a tremolo in there someplace and you’re a lot of the method in the direction of a really good time certainly.

The center place on any guitar is there for far more than funk and Hendrix-style double stops. That mentioned, you possibly can completely get pleasure from each approaches right here. It’s an exceedingly pleasurable in-between sound with sufficient poke to get by way of a mixture whereas choosing up the items or line dancing in a burning room.

It’s additionally the place to be in relation to mixing the pickup volumes to seek out new and scrumptious textures. Options are restricted by the one tone management, however the guitar nonetheless responds nicely to adjustments in choose assault and hand place – you’re going to get by, consider me.

The bridge ‘Tron on a Gretsch hollowbody is an iconic voice and this golden beauty gets us from Duane Eddy twang to Spaghetti Western in a heartbeat. This is très bon and encourages the player to unleash their inner Vic Flick. You can also get some very convincing Velvet Underground textures out of it which may well appeal to players who favour indoor sunglasses.

Aficionados may miss the “mud switch” tone control common to some models of the 6120 and there may also be those who would prefer nickel hardware to the spangly gold. A classic case of de gustibus etc. Nevertheless, this is very strong stuff indeed when played clean – time to filth it right up with a Crowther Hot Cake.

A sly helping of classic rage is all it takes for the Nashville Hollowbody to start grunting very nicely. There’s a candy spot with large hollowbody guitars in relation to dust – much less is extra as everybody from Billy Duffy to Sylvain Sylvain and Richard Fortus will attest. The method a bigger instrument vibrates encourages all kinds of belligerent whoops and howls that you just simply don’t get with a strong physique – it’s an exhilarating experience however not for the fainthearted.

Back to the neck pickup and sure, issues do get a bit mushy after we swap out the Hot Cake for a Bigfoot Engineering King Fuzz seeking saw-toothed glories. Engaging the bridge pickup, nevertheless, offers me a right away shot of trouser-flapping violence that makes all of it worthwhile. You can wreak havoc behind the bridge, you possibly can Bigsby it to inside an inch of its life and it’ll come up smiling each time.

In all of the enjoyable I realise I haven’t even fed it any Chet Atkins – I can verify that it loves a thumbpick-driven Taste Of Honey.

Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville – ought to I purchase one?

Not way back the concept of a Chinese-made instrument commanding a four-figure price ticket would have raised eyebrows. While there stays a palpable distinction between this and the Professional sequence, there’s a robust argument that the Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville Hollowbody represents extraordinarily good worth for cash, whatever the nation of origin.

Gretsch Synchromatic Nashville – alternate options

Another Asian-made guitar with actual large model pedigree is the Epiphone Swingster ($799/£799), whereas Eastwood’s Bill Nelson Astroluxe Cadet DLX ($1,599) is a fantastic instance of comparatively reasonably priced rockabilly enjoyable. Another model that has its roots within the big-bodied jazz guitars of ol’ New York is the D’Angelico Excel 59 ($1,999).