NGD Gretsch G5622T Electromatic

nonesuch

Just received this today - my first ever Gretsch no less.

Had a quick look over and everything looks great. Beautiful metallic ‘Georgia Green’ finish.

Plugged in, the ‘Broad’Tron’ pickups are quite a bit hotter than my Strat or Telecaster. And it is a twangy sound, but that’s possibly the acoustic sound making it seem that way. I’ve never had particularly good experiences with Bigsbys before, but for a first impression this seems surprisingly stable. The set-up out of the box is spot on, the action, relief and intonation all excellent.

The fretboard looks like it could do with a little bit of a polish, apparently it’s laurel. Can laurel be treated like rosewood? Is lemon oil okay?

Did I mention how beautiful it is?!!

grayn

Looks really nice.
Love that colour.
These types of guitars always feel twangier because there is less tension on the strings, having a gentle angle from the Bigsby.
Enjoy.

chrisj1602

Looks great!

UnclePsychosis

Nice. Love that colour. 

captainbeeffart

Lovely enjoy.

nonesuch

Just tried to adjust the intonation, but I'm having trouble on the saddle for the A string. The screw is so tight, I can't move it forwards at all (it does turn and move the saddle back).

In fact it's so tight, my screwdriver slipped and it nearly took a gouge out of the finish. Anyone have any idea why it's not moving and what I could do to fix it?

Bellycaster

Yep, love that.

Fuengi

nonesuch said:

Just tried to adjust the intonation, but I'm having trouble on the saddle for the A string. The screw is so tight, I can't move it forwards at all (it does turn and move the saddle back).

In fact it's so tight, my screwdriver slipped and it nearly took a gouge out of the finish. Anyone have any idea why it's not moving and what I could do to fix it?

Paging Gretsch expert @ ;

Congratulations, lovely looking thing! 

nonesuch

@Fuengi who were you going to say was the Gretsch expert?!

Fuengi

Oh! Should have tagged @TheMarlin ;

JezWynd

nonesuch said:

Just tried to adjust the intonation, but I'm having trouble on the saddle for the A string. The screw is so tight, I can't move it forwards at all (it does turn and move the saddle back).

In fact it's so tight, my screwdriver slipped and it nearly took a gouge out of the finish. Anyone have any idea why it's not moving and what I could do to fix it?

I would remove the bridge from the guitar so you can have a good look at it. Possibly a knackered screw thread or similar? While the bridge is off, take time to oil the fretboard, it does look in need of oil as you mentioned in OP.

TheMarlin

The culprit here could well be the Bigsby. 

The B50 and B70 add a lot of string tension, and put a lot of pressure over the bridge. It can make adjusting the saddles difficult. 

The had heard that Gretsch have improved this on newer models, I’d love to see how the strings pass over the bridge. Could you take a photo of the Bigsby and and the bridge from the side?
see my photo below for an example. 

I highly recommend getting one of these.  

A Bigsby Tuning Stabiliser.  https://bricksbiggsfix.com/

They have versions for the B50 and B70. The guy who runs this business also sells soft squishy springs for the Bigsby. 

Get the stabiliser and the spring, it’ll transform the Bigsby, and the feel of the guitar. String tensions will also be reduced, so bending will be easier, tuning will be much more stable, and you’ll be able to adjust that bridge easily. . 

Here you can see how a modified Tension bar Bigsby looks, and how the string tension over the bridge is greatly reduced (this time, a B50)

The bridge on this guitar is a Tru Arc Serpentune Lowrider. My other Gretsches have Compton bridges.  But, that’s a whole other conversation. 

Let’s get your bridge working before we discuss alternatives. 

All the best, looking forward to seeing the photo. 

Marlin 

TheMarlin

Short term fix, loosen the strings, then adjust the bridge, then tune up again. 

nonesuch

@TheMarlin Here's a photo of the bridge.

I did loosen all the strings before trying to adjust the screws. And actually most of the saddles are the same - either very hard to move at all, or very stiff.