Watch It First
Orange Stain. Bigsby tremolo. FilterTron pickups. Gold hardware on a hollowbody. If you know anything about Gretsch guitars, you already know exactly what this is going to sound like. The G5420T Electromatic is the Gretsch experience made accessible, and the Orange Stain finish on this particular model is just spectacular in person.
This is the kind of guitar that makes you want to play rockabilly licks even if you’ve never played rockabilly in your life. That’s not a small thing. If you want to understand more about how hollowbody guitars work, the G5420T is a textbook example of the format done right.
First Impressions
The Orange Stain finish is warm, deep and totally unique in a sea of sunbursts and cherries. The silver pickguard with black logos, the neo-classic thumbnail inlays, the open vintage-style tuners. Everything about this guitar says „I know what era I belong to” and commits to it fully. You pick it up and immediately feel like you should be playing something cool.
Build quality is solid. The Electromatic series sits above the Streamliner range and you can feel it. Frets are properly dressed, the binding is clean, neck joint is tight. Gretsch put real attention into this line.
Specs
- Type: Hollowbody with trestle block, single cut
- Body: Maple laminated, 70mm depth
- Neck: Maple, classic C profile
- Fretboard: Laurel, pearloid neo-classic thumbnail inlays
- Frets: 22 medium jumbo
- Scale: 625mm
- Nut width: 42.86mm, Graph Tech NuBone
- Pickups: 2x FT-5E FilterTron humbuckers
- Controls: Neck vol, bridge vol, master vol with treble bleed, master tone
- Bridge: Adjusto-Matic with Laurel base
- Tremolo: Bigsby B60
- Hardware: Nickel
- Strings: .011-.049
- Color: Orange Stain
- Price: £695
The FilterTron Pickups
This is what makes a Gretsch a Gretsch. The FT-5E FilterTrons have a bright, crisp, chimey character that’s completely their own. They’re humbuckers but they don’t sound like PAFs or T-types. They’re tighter, brighter, with a clarity that cuts through a mix beautifully. Clean they sparkle. With a bit of grit they twang and snarl in the most satisfying way.
The treble bleed circuit on the master volume means rolling back the volume doesn’t kill your high end, a classic Gretsch feature that keeps the tone alive at any volume. Super useful live.
The Bigsby B60
Having a proper Bigsby tremolo on a guitar at this price is genuinely impressive. The B60 works beautifully for gentle vibrato and subtle pitch drops. It returns to pitch reliably when used sensibly. Dive bomb metal stuff, no. Country chicken picking and rockabilly wobble, absolutely yes.
The Adjusto-Matic bridge with Laurel base helps tuning stability significantly. Gretsch clearly thought about the whole system, not just the trem unit in isolation. It shows.
Who Is This For
Rockabilly, country, vintage rock and roll, surf, indie. Any genre with a vintage-flavored DNA. This guitar is also perfect for jazz and blues players who want something with a bit more bite and sparkle than a typical warm hollowbody. The Harley Benton BigTone is a cheaper alternative but the Gretsch has significantly better pickups and overall refinement. For jazz playing specifically, both guitars work well but in different ways.
Final Verdict
The Gretsch G5420T Electromatic in Orange Stain is a brilliant guitar. The FilterTron pickups are genuinely special, the Bigsby actually works properly, and the Orange Stain finish is one of the best looking production guitar finishes at any price. If vintage-voiced hollowbody tone is what you’re after, this delivers in every department.
