Gretsch G5265 Baritone/Bass

Mine was made in 2006, in China... although it take it that others were made in Korea.

How many strings? 6 strings, although I've changed mine from a Bass VI set-up (E to E) to a "true" baritone tuning, B to B. To do that I changed to La Bella 157 long scale baritone strings, which just barely make it to the 3rd and 4th string tuners. In this tuning it sounds awesome!

The two Gretsch mini-humbuckers sounds excellent, clear and crisp. Surprisingly so, actually.

The body seems to be made of solid wood, covered by the cool looking black sparkle laminate, so it's hard to be sure. But the laminate and binding looks well doen, and I've had no problems over the past two years.

The tuners are (surprisingly) Grovers and work exceedingly well. I also love the Bigsby tailpeice which definitely adds to the "vibe" of the deep throaty sound.

I play it a lot in the studio, but only sparingly live. We play alternative style rock and on the right song, this guitar is indespensible. A great unqiue sound. I play it through my main guitar amp, a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55, 4 x 10. This amp works great with the guitar, althought he neck pickup is a bit muddy when played by itself. But coupled with the bridge pick-up or just the bridge pick up alone both sound clear deep and rich. My biggest complaint about this guitar is that the tone control seems to do nothing. It sounds the same on "1" and "10." I thought it was unattached, but upon closer inspection it is. It just doesn't function well. other than that I love this axe.

The set-up on this was fine for the Bass VI strings. But, as I already mentioend, I've converted mine to the La Bella Bartitone set. I much prefer it this way, but it's a matter of taste. No major flaws at all which surprised me for an instrument made in China.

I've played it for two years live and in studio and it's remarkably durable (and I play pretty hard). The harware is solid, and I've never adjuseted the truss rod to this point.

Warranty seems pretty useless.

I've been playing for 30 years, and this is my first baritone. I had wanted one for a long time and when I got this I was disappointed to learn it was actually a Bass VI. But changing it over to a real barione was easy and now I love it. The whammy bar workd well, and it's loud and clear. For the price you can;t beat it. A cool looking and sounding axe for sure.

Made in China in 2004
22 frets, solid body, tone and volume, pickup switch for two mini-humbuckers, passive electronics, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, laminated "hardwood" body quite heavy gloss over a black sparkle finish, Jet-style body (a little like a Les Paul), very solid Bigsby vibrato, Grover tuners, scale is a hair under 30 in. It has everything I was after except for a weakness as a surrogate bass.

My band does a lot of broody movie soundtrack type stuff. It's huge deep tone (like the guitar in the Twin Peaks theme) adds a dark drama to everything. Some very nice effects can be had by chording on the high strings and droning on the lower ones. And then there's the whammy bar! Delicious sounds. It gets an 8 rather than a 9 for the relative weakness of the neck pickup, I can fake a bass line or two but it can never even jokingly replace my P-bass. I didn't buy it as a new bass but it would be nice if the bassier side of things had been stronger.

Setup was done at the shop where I bought it and it played well from the start. The Bigsby bar was a little loose at first, levering a little before the spring was compressed, but some vigorous use of it set it right and it is now taut and responsive. The bridge pickup casing is very slightly rattly but I haven't yet bothered to tighten it as it doesn't worry me. The bridge is adjustable and the truss rod is easy to get to but I haven't investigated either as the guitar is so eminently playable.

This is a solid instrument, far more solid than I'd expected to find in an offshore-made, less expensive model. I can't see the finish getting scratched by anything short of a strong metal blade. The Gretsch standard strap locks seem to loosen easily though not yet enough to come off. Time will tell on that.

Never needed it but the warrantee seems completely non-applicable, perhaps only put on for that Great Gretsch Look.

Been playing in bands for over twenty years now, mostly guitar and keyboard (bass is fairly recent for me). I also play a Cort Curbow fretless, a Fender 51 Reissue Precision, a Hofner double bass and a Roland RS-5 synth. This guitar completes the picture, providing an aspect of the sound that nothing else I own can provide. t's not just nice to have, it needs to be there.

I wasn't ready for the break-in time on my fingers.
These strings are thin for a bass player and thick for a guitarist, wrong for either but essential to the sound: you'll go through some pain before it gets easy (but it does). The strings are also hard to come by. Companies as high profile as D'addario make sets for them but shops (around here, anyway) don't stock them so you have to wait if you want a new set.

One tip: if your Bigsby whammy bar activity makes you break the higher strings you can use an A and a D from a set of electric .010s to replace them temporarily. The original set is all wound (from E to E)
and these strings feel right when you put them on.

Also, the thickness of the strings on such a narrow neck put them closer together than any guitar I've ever played. Picks only need apply as finger style is all but impossible.

I think it's worth it for the depth and richness of the tone which makes it a beautiful sounding instrument that I'll be looking forward to exploring further. It's already become part of our sound and so is now essential.

Made in Korea, Jan 2004. 6 string baritone/bass with 29.75" scale, 2 mini-humbucker pickups, Bigsby vibrato, single volume and single tone control, 3 position pickup selector switch. Plenty of controls for the type of guitar.
Laminated (plywood!) hardwood body, Duo jet shape, maple neck.
Only one colour available, black sparkle, but very nicely done.
Gets an 8 for the inclusion of bigsby vibrato.

Surprisingly good tones for a cheap Korean guitar. Used as a bass, tuned to E an octave below a normal guitar it has a very clear projection. The Gretsch branded humbuckers are better than you might think for the price, with some good variety available from the 3-position swith. Short scale means that the strings feel loose compared to a normal bass but single-note picking is fine. Chords can be strummed very easily and you can get a definite 'rumble' to underpin a band if that's what you need. My band-mates were very impressed with the bass sound that I could get, and knocked-out when the bigsby was used to end a song with a chord.
Seems to fit in fine with the rock/blues/rock'n'roll covers that we play, though I do miss the 'thump' of a normal long-scale bass when you need to really drive a song along.
It's an unusual bass/guitar and won't suit every occasion but I like the variety of sounds, and the bigsby!

Setup out of the box was fine, playable with only a few fret buzzes due to the short-scale strings (24 - 85 gauge), Black sparkle finish on the body is very well done as is the cream binding. The maple neck is OK but there were a couple of rough patches that felt like they missed the sander! also the rosewood 'coloring' on the neck is a bit patchy.
Pickups are impressing me the more I play it, well adjusted and good output.
Overall a very good looking guitar, marked down slightly for a few minor finish flaws.

It's been used on two gigs now and appears to be fine, even holding it's tune after repeated use of the bigsby. The control knobs and switch feel very solid, the tuners have a nice solid feel as well, not expecting any trouble from them. Has the Gretsch type strap-locks, look good and work fine.
So far so good, but as it won't be used as my main gigging bass it will work fine as a backup or 'special' bass for certain songs.

Standard 1 year Gretsch (FMIC) warranty, but if you read all the exclusions listed you'll never be able to claim on the warranty anyway. Basically wothless. I'll rely on the dealer sorting out any problems rather than Gretsch/FMIC.

Been playing guitar for 25 years, last 6 mainly as a bass player. This has been added to my bass collection of Fender Japan 50's P-Bass and DeArmond Starfire. Played through a 500 watt Ashdown combo.
I love the look of this guitar, beautiful black sparkle, Gretsch duo-jet shape and of course the Gretsch name on the headstock, plus the Bigsby (my favourite feature).
If it were lost or stolen I'd definitely buy another, it's a keeper!