I’m a Gretsch fan and I think this has an interesting shape and unique tones and knob setups!! You have a nice natural delivery so I enjoyed your presentation? Have fun playing your guitar
Great review, have been waiting a lot to see people on TH-cam get this guitar! In regards to the bridge rocking easily and strings popping out of the bridge, your hypothesis about string tension is correct. The offset vibrato is designed to work with the rocking bridge and proper neck pitchback; I would definitely recommend upping the string gauge to at least 10s and preferrably 11s if you keep having issues! I usually use 9s on all my 25.5 inch scale length guitars but get around very comfortably using 11s on both my Jaguar (24 inch scale length) and custom parts guitar (25.5 inch scale). If you manage to get it set up comfortably with your preferred string gauge or dont find yourself having issues, then no need to change anything!
I have a friend that has a j mascis jazzmaster, that this was definitely fashioned after. He uses the rhythm/neck circuit on his as his clean sound and then when he rocks out, or starts to play lead or solos, he goes back to the regular circuit and and it acts like a boost pedal. He's got pedals as well, but with the extra circuit like this guitar has he has extra options for tone. I've watched him play with his band using the jazzmaster and watched him play the circuit like that and it's absolutely genius. It sounds great!! Just an fyi for anyone who has this beautiful guitar... it's something to try
I found your channel on the back of your review for the Fender Mustang Micro Plus. So glad I subscribed, your reviews are fair and the editing and production values are high.
GREAT VIDEO! Seriously well done. I got one of these a about a month ago. Mine came flawlessly set up as well. It has lots of great tones. It really is a great counter point to my Revstar. It is a very inspiring song writing tool. I will say upper fret access is not great. However i dont really view this as a problem. Shredding is what this was made for. It seams to becoming my go to for dirty ragged blues, ambient and clean stuff. My trem doesn’t hit my switch. Frets could be a little more rounded. They arent sharp or pokey though and they are finished well. I look forward to more of your video's
On a side note, while I do like set necks . The alder body with the bolt neck just seems right. In combination with the scale length it feels very fender like almost tele like.
Hey Tim! Thanks for checking out the video! Glad your trem bar doesn’t hit your switch. I’m gonna need to give mine a bend to keep it from doing that. Agreed, great guitar with a lot of tones!
I think it’s a nice blend too of the two guitars. I just wish they would have done the bolt on with more access, like the 2015 CVT III, but maybe that’s a scale issue with neck tension vs wood strength?
Great review. I bought one and I have to say your assessment is spot on. Thankfully, I don't have a heavy pick attack so the bridge does not rock while playing. It really is a merge between the J Mascis Jazzmaster and a Princess (which is what drew me to it). The only thing I would add is distorted, it has a little more control (less feedback) than the usual Jazzmaster, and the kill switch is actually a novel idea which gives it a modern edge. Great video! .
Really thorough and excellent review. I'm a Jazzmaster player and I really like what I see here. I have an original 1966 JM as well as a 1965 Reissue JM. I don't know if my collection warrants another Jazzmaster, but this is very tempting. The body style reminds me of my first decent electric when I was a kid, a Hagstrom III. Other than the 3-Way switch position this guitar, and I agree strings, Gretsch nailed it! 😁
I got one of these, too. I like it. Glad they went with all the aesthetics they went with. The headstock you wish they'd gone with reminds me of the Musicman Sting Ray headstock.
Love the unique feature set of this guitar and it looks cool. It is a signature guitar in the truest sense. And the price is right. It’s a lot of guitar for the money, which I have found to be the case for Gretsch‘s Electromatic range in general. Reminds me of Harmony‘s range of guitars with its similar tone profile and great functional design of the bolt-on neck.
From the close-ups (07:29 - 07:30) , I'm quite sure you didn't realise there's a VERY THIN plastic layer over the pickguard - I didn't noticed it at first on mine, but there were some tiny "scratches" so I looked closer, removed the plastic and the pickguard was pristine and twice as good-looking 😉
Thanks for checking out the video - I appreciate it! Yes - I just try to leave them on as long as possible in case I don’t hold on to the guitar so it stays in good shape for a prospective buyer. As much as I would LOVE to keep every guitar I review, I need to recoup the money it costs to purchase them, not to mention free up storage space. It’s the only way I can keep this channel going. 😆 🤷♂️ Cheers!
For anyone interested in this “limited” edition signature Antonoff Gretsch Princess CVT-Gretsch wasn’t kidding about it being limited. They disappeared at US retailers faster than a fart in a hurricane. By time I really heard about them they were gone in US and only to be found at a few UK/European dealers ( some of whom won’t ship to USA) a couple of Canadian stores (thankfully I just found one in Quebec that would ship to USA for $720 US plus about $65US for shipping) and some are already showing up on Ebay from Japanese stores at $1100-1200 USD. I called Gretsch about 10d ago and they confirmed to me that no more were being produced-which explains why these disappeared off many US retailers websites once they’d sold their allotment (or are just listing them as “no longer available” or “sold out” and not on backorder.) So if you want one-keep a lookout on Reverb but be prepared to probably have to pay a markup over MSRP or to wait a while for used ones to start showing up and hope that the asking price drops to a level more reasonable than the Ebay Japanese store listings. Who knows, maybe Gretsch will reconsider and reoffer this guitar, maybe in a different color scheme.
It is really strange, the whole Marketing of the guitar. I knew it was limited, but didn’t realize how much until shortly after I ordered it and started watching it disappear from retailers online as I was trying to gather information for my review. 🤷♂️
Nicely done review, had to get one of these the minute I saw news of it coming out, yeah the jazzmaster circuit was a new thing for me but now I get it, totally makes sense to have this added tonal option. I’ve been very much used to a variax 69’s layout and this guitar just seems to work well with the way I play these days, great for swells and cinematic sounds. My second electromatic Gretsch. First ever guitar out of the Fender Range at all.
The thing that strikes me as unique about this guitar is that you can finally do pinky volume swells for slide or ambient playing while you're on the rhythm circuit.
I have a lot of experience with Jazzmasters and Jaguars. Definitely my favorite Fenders. The aftermarket has stuff to fix what you mention. There are metal "sleeves" you insert into the bridge thimbles to lock the bridge into place. There is also a thing called a "Buzz Stop" that puts more tension on the strings at the bridge so they wont pop out of the saddles anymore. Why Fender/Gretsch doesn't include these from the factory is a mystery to me as they make all the difference to these guitars, so much more playable. You could also upgrade to a mastery bridge, expensive, but a fantastic upgrade as well.
Interesting! I did not know about the metal sleeves, but seems like something I should check out. Actually, that’s for all the upgrades mentioned. I’ll look into them! Cheers!
Yeah Fender didn't remove the Lead Circuit on the Player Series Jazzmaster because no one liked it, it was to reduce cost! For me it's sort of the point of a Jazzmaster!
Wow you broke out some AIC! Which tumnus are you using? Nice review as well I had a Gretsch 5220 that I loved very much. Once I put in som3 true filtertrons. Its one of those that I wish I had back.
Haha. AIC indeed. I kinda just go with what’s on my mind and that’s kinda it. Then a mix of songs I’ve written for this channel so Google/TH-cam doesn’t copyright strike me. Haha! I love old Gretsch guitars so much, but I have dyslexia so I can’t ever remember what the numbers go to which models, which is why I left it out of this review. Hahah - but I know how much the numbers are the “true” fans way of referring to G models. Cheers my friend, thanks for checking it out!
My guess is that, since this Princess has a 25.5" scale, the neck heel was necessary to keep the same number of frets without having to move the bridge 1 inch back in the body.
I think it would've been better if they kept the Hilotron as the bridge pickup. that way it would really be the best of both worlds, as the body and bridge would be classic Gretsch, and the neck and do-dads be the Jazzmaster. If I ever get my hands on one of these, I'll definitely swap out the bridge's p90 for a Gretsch Hilotron.
That is a beautiful guitar… Would love to own one, but… Seems everybody’s bought them out and run the prices through the roof! The whole guitar industry has been ruined by speculators… It’s unfortunate!
It is crazy how fast they sold out and Gretsch as far as I know, never even hinted at just how limited these would be. Kinda crazy because it’s a relatively original design for them, and with the trouble they went through to RnD them, market it, manufacture them, almost seems like more hassle than it’s worth. I’m sure the price will come down on the used market eventually though. Cheers!
Tbh with a jazzmaster trem system a bolt on neck is preferable so that you can shim the neck to increase the break angle at the bridge and fix some of the issues mentioned with the jazzmaster style bridge in this video. The bridge should rock easily in the thimbles and set up properly, will return to pitch easily even with a heavy hand on the wiggle stick. Definitely looks like these guitars need a decent shim installed to be able to raise the bridge up higher and maintain a playable action
Decent guitar, like mine a lot, with some upgrades it could be a great guitar,as they have skimped on a lot of the hardware,some real cheap and nasty stuff on it,bridge, tremolo, tuners and switches but that's how they keep the price down I suppose
@morganghetti OK,with the electronics it's probably more about longevity but without a tremolo and tuners upgrade you will spend more time tuning it than playing and a 9.5 radius bridge on a 7.25 fretboard is unforgivable on a guitar of this price
I’m a Gretsch fan and I think this has an interesting shape and unique tones and knob setups!! You have a nice natural delivery so I enjoyed your presentation? Have fun playing your guitar
Thank you very much for the kind words and for checking out the video! Yes - it is a pretty cool guitar! Cheers!
Yeah this guitar is so sick. I got one and have been using it for any crunchy alternative, indie, and rock stuff lately and it's killer.
Great review, have been waiting a lot to see people on TH-cam get this guitar! In regards to the bridge rocking easily and strings popping out of the bridge, your hypothesis about string tension is correct. The offset vibrato is designed to work with the rocking bridge and proper neck pitchback; I would definitely recommend upping the string gauge to at least 10s and preferrably 11s if you keep having issues! I usually use 9s on all my 25.5 inch scale length guitars but get around very comfortably using 11s on both my Jaguar (24 inch scale length) and custom parts guitar (25.5 inch scale). If you manage to get it set up comfortably with your preferred string gauge or dont find yourself having issues, then no need to change anything!
Thank you for checking it out. I have a few sets of 10s around here, maybe I’ll give that a shot here in bit. Cheers!
thank you for the proper demo/specs
Thank you for checking out my video. Cheers!
It looks great! I really hope this is just the beginning of a release of French corvettes!
I have a friend that has a j mascis jazzmaster, that this was definitely fashioned after. He uses the rhythm/neck circuit on his as his clean sound and then when he rocks out, or starts to play lead or solos, he goes back to the regular circuit and and it acts like a boost pedal. He's got pedals as well, but with the extra circuit like this guitar has he has extra options for tone. I've watched him play with his band using the jazzmaster and watched him play the circuit like that and it's absolutely genius. It sounds great!! Just an fyi for anyone who has this beautiful guitar... it's something to try
It's not. It takes its design from the original Princess. The color and pick guard are the same exact colors as the original.
I found your channel on the back of your review for the Fender Mustang Micro Plus. So glad I subscribed, your reviews are fair and the editing and production values are high.
Awesome! Thank you for the compliments and for subscribing! Glad you enjoyed both videos too. Cheers!
Nice! I've always liked the Corvette and the Jazzmaster. This is a cool blending of the two guitars.
Agreed! Thanks for watching the video!
Appreciate the graphics for controls during the sound test!
Thanks for checking out the video! Glad you liked it! Cheers!
GREAT VIDEO! Seriously well done. I got one of these a about a month ago. Mine came flawlessly set up as well. It has lots of great tones. It really is a great counter point to my Revstar. It is a very inspiring song writing tool. I will say upper fret access is not great. However i dont really view this as a problem. Shredding is what this was made for. It seams to becoming my go to for dirty ragged blues, ambient and clean stuff. My trem doesn’t hit my switch. Frets could be a little more rounded. They arent sharp or pokey though and they are finished well. I look forward to more of your video's
On a side note, while I do like set necks . The alder body with the bolt neck just seems right. In combination with the scale length it feels very fender like almost tele like.
Hey Tim! Thanks for checking out the video! Glad your trem bar doesn’t hit your switch. I’m gonna need to give mine a bend to keep it from doing that. Agreed, great guitar with a lot of tones!
I think it’s a nice blend too of the two guitars. I just wish they would have done the bolt on with more access, like the 2015 CVT III, but maybe that’s a scale issue with neck tension vs wood strength?
Great review. I bought one and I have to say your assessment is spot on. Thankfully, I don't have a heavy pick attack so the bridge does not rock while playing. It really is a merge between the J Mascis Jazzmaster and a Princess (which is what drew me to it). The only thing I would add is distorted, it has a little more control (less feedback) than the usual Jazzmaster, and the kill switch is actually a novel idea which gives it a modern edge.
Great video! .
Thanks for checking it out. Fun guitar for sure! Cheers!
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for checking it out!
Really thorough and excellent review. I'm a Jazzmaster player and I really like what I see here. I have an original 1966 JM as well as a 1965 Reissue JM. I don't know if my collection warrants another Jazzmaster, but this is very tempting. The body style reminds me of my first decent electric when I was a kid, a Hagstrom III. Other than the 3-Way switch position this guitar, and I agree strings, Gretsch nailed it! 😁
Thanks for checking out the video and your input! I appreciate that. Cheers!
Great review! and you have a new sub! Thank you. All the best.👍🏻
Thanks for checking out the video and the sub! 🤘🏽
I got one of these, too. I like it. Glad they went with all the aesthetics they went with. The headstock you wish they'd gone with reminds me of the Musicman Sting Ray headstock.
Oh yeah! It totally does look like a reversed Sting Ray headstock. Good eye! Cheers!
Love the unique feature set of this guitar and it looks cool. It is a signature guitar in the truest sense. And the price is right. It’s a lot of guitar for the money, which I have found to be the case for Gretsch‘s Electromatic range in general. Reminds me of Harmony‘s range of guitars with its similar tone profile and great functional design of the bolt-on neck.
It is a neat tone profile, and yeah, the Electromatic range is a great value!
From the close-ups (07:29 - 07:30) , I'm quite sure you didn't realise there's a VERY THIN plastic layer over the pickguard - I didn't noticed it at first on mine, but there were some tiny "scratches" so I looked closer, removed the plastic and the pickguard was pristine and twice as good-looking 😉
Thanks for checking out the video - I appreciate it! Yes - I just try to leave them on as long as possible in case I don’t hold on to the guitar so it stays in good shape for a prospective buyer. As much as I would LOVE to keep every guitar I review, I need to recoup the money it costs to purchase them, not to mention free up storage space. It’s the only way I can keep this channel going. 😆 🤷♂️ Cheers!
@CompanyGripGuitar totally understandable. But really, the pickguard is two times better looking without it, believe me. In case you keep it ... 😉
Right now I’m trending towards keeping it! I’d like to! We’ll see if anyone buys that’s Tealecaster SJ off me. 😆
For anyone interested in this “limited” edition signature Antonoff Gretsch Princess CVT-Gretsch wasn’t kidding about it being limited. They disappeared at US retailers faster than a fart in a hurricane. By time I really heard about them they were gone in US and only to be found at a few UK/European dealers ( some of whom won’t ship to USA) a couple of Canadian stores (thankfully I just found one in Quebec that would ship to USA for $720 US plus about $65US for shipping) and some are already showing up on Ebay from Japanese stores at $1100-1200 USD. I called Gretsch about 10d ago and they confirmed to me that no more were being produced-which explains why these disappeared off many US retailers websites once they’d sold their allotment (or are just listing them as “no longer available” or “sold out” and not on backorder.) So if you want one-keep a lookout on Reverb but be prepared to probably have to pay a markup over MSRP or to wait a while for used ones to start showing up and hope that the asking price drops to a level more reasonable than the Ebay Japanese store listings. Who knows, maybe Gretsch will reconsider and reoffer this guitar, maybe in a different color scheme.
It is really strange, the whole Marketing of the guitar. I knew it was limited, but didn’t realize how much until shortly after I ordered it and started watching it disappear from retailers online as I was trying to gather information for my review. 🤷♂️
Such a cool guitar!
Agreed! Cheers!
Nicely done review, had to get one of these the minute I saw news of it coming out, yeah the jazzmaster circuit was a new thing for me but now I get it, totally makes sense to have this added tonal option. I’ve been very much used to a variax 69’s layout and this guitar just seems to work well with the way I play these days, great for swells and cinematic sounds. My second electromatic Gretsch. First ever guitar out of the Fender Range at all.
Awesome. Glad you’re enjoying it. It’s a fun guitar. Does your trem bar hit your 3-way selector too?
The thing that strikes me as unique about this guitar is that you can finally do pinky volume swells for slide or ambient playing while you're on the rhythm circuit.
True! Thanks for checking it out! Cheers!
Pretty guitar!
Agreed! Cheers!
I have a lot of experience with Jazzmasters and Jaguars. Definitely my favorite Fenders. The aftermarket has stuff to fix what you mention. There are metal "sleeves" you insert into the bridge thimbles to lock the bridge into place. There is also a thing called a "Buzz Stop" that puts more tension on the strings at the bridge so they wont pop out of the saddles anymore. Why Fender/Gretsch doesn't include these from the factory is a mystery to me as they make all the difference to these guitars, so much more playable. You could also upgrade to a mastery bridge, expensive, but a fantastic upgrade as well.
Interesting! I did not know about the metal sleeves, but seems like something I should check out. Actually, that’s for all the upgrades mentioned. I’ll look into them!
Cheers!
I profoundly dislike Jack Antonoff for his crimes against music, but this is a cool guitar. Great breakdown and explanation!
Yeah Fender didn't remove the Lead Circuit on the Player Series Jazzmaster because no one liked it, it was to reduce cost! For me it's sort of the point of a Jazzmaster!
They removed it because nobody wants it.
It looks super cool! No lie it is amazing is style. I have Fenders, so, the bolt on neck makes since to me.
Agreed! Thanks for checking out the video!
Wow you broke out some AIC! Which tumnus are you using? Nice review as well I had a Gretsch 5220 that I loved very much. Once I put in som3 true filtertrons. Its one of those that I wish I had back.
Haha. AIC indeed. I kinda just go with what’s on my mind and that’s kinda it. Then a mix of songs I’ve written for this channel so Google/TH-cam doesn’t copyright strike me. Haha!
I love old Gretsch guitars so much, but I have dyslexia so I can’t ever remember what the numbers go to which models, which is why I left it out of this review. Hahah - but I know how much the numbers are the “true” fans way of referring to G models.
Cheers my friend, thanks for checking it out!
Oh, just the Wampler Tumnus Mini, with the three dials. I haven’t messed with the deluxe model.
@CompanyGripGuitar i don't have dyslexia and still had to look up the number despite owning one. Nice review as usual.
My guess is that, since this Princess has a 25.5" scale, the neck heel was necessary to keep the same number of frets without having to move the bridge 1 inch back in the body.
That actually makes a lot of sense! Thanks for checking out the video! Cheers.
I think it would've been better if they kept the Hilotron as the bridge pickup.
that way it would really be the best of both worlds, as the body and bridge would be classic Gretsch, and the neck and do-dads be the Jazzmaster.
If I ever get my hands on one of these, I'll definitely swap out the bridge's p90 for a Gretsch Hilotron.
That would be cool!
I wish that Gretsch would bring Corvette back as it was.
Same!
I really wish it had the 2-4 tuning peg headstock.
Thank you! Finally someone on my side about it! 😆 Cheers!
I don't care if it was "made" for a woman or not. That's one sexy guitar!
Agreed 100%!
Looks like a Squier J Mascis edition Jazzmaster. They only run about $500 though.
Should have dumped the kill switch and put the pickup selector there.
Yeah. I would have been ok with that. 🤘🏽
That is a beautiful guitar… Would love to own one, but… Seems everybody’s bought them out and run the prices through the roof! The whole guitar industry has been ruined by speculators… It’s unfortunate!
It is crazy how fast they sold out and Gretsch as far as I know, never even hinted at just how limited these would be. Kinda crazy because it’s a relatively original design for them, and with the trouble they went through to RnD them, market it, manufacture them, almost seems like more hassle than it’s worth. I’m sure the price will come down on the used market eventually though. Cheers!
SO DISAPPOINTED that is a bolt-on and not a set neck like the original. Been waiting decades for Princess reissue and I am so disappointed
Understandable! Thanks for checking it out. Cheers!
Fender strats and teles have bolt on necks. Arguably the best design for a guitar neck.
Tbh with a jazzmaster trem system a bolt on neck is preferable so that you can shim the neck to increase the break angle at the bridge and fix some of the issues mentioned with the jazzmaster style bridge in this video. The bridge should rock easily in the thimbles and set up properly, will return to pitch easily even with a heavy hand on the wiggle stick. Definitely looks like these guitars need a decent shim installed to be able to raise the bridge up higher and maintain a playable action
Bolt on is superior anyway.
@@danielktdoranie why does it matter?
Who's Anton? 😆
I see what you did there. 😆
Wow, a guitar that screeches No!
First
Soon as i heard the 25.5 scale...damn. 24.6! THATS PART OF WHAT GRETCH IS!! ruined it
That’s the Jazzmaster portion. 🤣 I hear ya though! Cheers!
Decent guitar, like mine a lot, with some upgrades it could be a great guitar,as they have skimped on a lot of the hardware,some real cheap and nasty stuff on it,bridge, tremolo, tuners and switches but that's how they keep the price down I suppose
The bridge, tuners, and electronics are absolutely fine. No reason to upgrade them. It will make zero discernible difference.
@morganghetti OK,with the electronics it's probably more about longevity but without a tremolo and tuners upgrade you will spend more time tuning it than playing and a 9.5 radius bridge on a 7.25 fretboard is unforgivable on a guitar of this price
That other headstock you mentioned will look so cheesy and awful.
😆 But it would have been unique!
Just buy/use a Jazzmaster.
Why? It looks, feels, and sounds completely different than a Jazzmaster.
Yeah the Pickups are their own thing