Gaskell Retro

I was the first person in the US to have a Gaskell retro. I decided to wait a couple of months before I reviewed the guitar so I could give a review based on more experience with the guitar. This is a left handed guitar based on the Rickenbacker 330 guitar. It was made in China in 2009 for Gaskell guitars of Australia. (*Note: when I first decided to purchase one of these I thought I was buying an Australian made guitar. After I received it I discovered it was made in China). It is a semi-hollow body guitar with 24 jumbo frets, one 3-way selector switch, 2 volume and 2 tone controls, 2 passive low output mini humbuckers made in Korea, tune-o-matic bridge, and trapeze tailpiece. The 6 tuners that come on the guitar are not identified by any manufacturer's name. These are a major problem (** see below). The body is basswood and has a Rickenbacker-like "comma" sound hole on one side. The neck is maple. The finish is a shiny transparent cherry that is absolutely gorgeous. There is a white Rickenbacker-like 2 piece scratchplate that is great. The fingerboard is rosewood with dot inlays that are not perfect (**see below. The 010-046 strings supplied by manufacturer are a problem (** see below).

This comes with a gigbag which is nice. However, I don't believe a gig bag offers much protection. After some experimenting I discovered that the guitar would fit tightly into the SKB hard shell case I bought for my Fender Stratocaster. It also comes with a hex key and a very nice guitar cord.

Well, this is what this guitar is all about. After great difficulty in getting the guitar set up and in tune (**see below) I was finally able to test out the sound. It is advertised by Gaskell as a 60's "jingle-jangle" guitar. I use it with a Peavey Basic 40 amp and a Fender Frontman amp. To me the best test of the guitar's sound would be early Beatles. I plugged it in and started playing songs like "I want to hold your hand", "Can't buy me love", etc. and wow! That sound I have been looking for for over 40 years was there and pretty much dead right on. It has a bright sound but can also produce some mellower tones. Being a semi hollow body I think it could also be used for rock-a-billy, country, jazz, and pop. But like Gaskell says if you crank up the gain or use a lot of distortion you get a muddy, indistinct sound that runs together and is unpleasant at best. This is not a hard rock or heavy metal axe.

This is supposed to be a guitar that looks like and sounds like a Rickenbacker 330 and Gaskell has definitely succeeded in that regard.

Now for the problems. Being a Chinese made guitar my Retro suffers from many of the quality control problems that plague Chinese made guitars. My initial reaction to the guitar when I took it out of the box was that it was one of the prettiest guitars I had ever seen, but after playing it for a while I became quite frustrated.

I had not had a basswood guitar before. To me the grain is reminiscent of mahogany and is very attractive. The transparent cherry color is beautiful and the finish is shiny. However, there are 3 or 4 small dents or depressions on the front of the guitar that show. It looks like someone in the factory dropped a screw driver or some small tool on the guitar in several places and these defects weren't sanded out. On the back there is a place almost 1 cm in diameter where there is a thick glop of lacquer that wasn't buffed out. The headstock can't look like a Rickenbacker headstock but it is somewhat reminiscent of one and is nice except for a deep dent next to one of the tuner pegs. The nut is fine. The fingerboard is good but the 2 dot inlays between the 23rd and 24th frets are crooked. One is properly positioned half-way between the frets, the other is partially covered by the 24th fret. This is unfortunately noticeable. Defects like this shouldn't be on a $641 guitar.

The set up was horrible. This guitar was supposed to be inspected and set up in California before being shipped to me. Out of the box this guitar had the worst fret buzz I've ever encountered and the intonation was horrible. The action was so low that there was fret buzz on all 6 strings on almost every fret and it was so bad that the strings were actually dampened on many frets. After much fiddling with the neck adjustment and bridge adjustment I was finally able to get the action set right and get rid of the fret buzz but no matter what I could not get the intonation correct. Anywhere near the 10th fret or above the intonation was way, way off. I tried for weeks to correct this with no luck. Finally I decided that the strings might be the problem and they were. I replaced them with Curt Mangan's and in less than 30 minutes I had the intonation correct. If you buy a Retro the strings are crap - throw them out!

Still, tuning the guitar was a major, major problem. The tuners have no manufacturer's name on them (if I had manufactured them I wouldn't want my name on them either). The gears were so tight on 2 tuners that it was almost impossible to turn the knobs which made tuning those 2 strings difficult. On the other 4 tuners the gears were so loose that the strings would detune within a few seconds of being tuned. You could hook up a chromatic tuner, tune these 4 strings, then pluck the strings a few times and watch them go out of tune almost immediately. Eventually I gave up on the tuners and replaced them with Gotoh tuners which match up with the predrilled holes. The Gotoh tuners are great and now the guitar is easy to tune and stays in tune like it should. If you buy a Retro be prepared to replace the tuners - they are crap (put them in the trash where they belong).

Every thing else about the guitar is good. The neck is wonderful, very playable - I love the neck! The Korean made mini humbuckers are quiet and produce good sound. I don't see any reason to replace them at this point in time. After adjusting the neck and bridge, setting the intonation, and replacing the strings and tuners the guitar sounds and plays great.

If I were assigning a letter grade I'd give this guitar a C minus for below average. Is that a 7?

Now that all the problems are fixed I do believe the guitar is a durable and reliable guitar. It is light and a pleasure to play. However, because it is a guitar meant to reproduce the sounds of the 60's British invasion I would think you would have to have another guitar with you unless that was all you were performing. As I said above I think it could also be used for other styles of music.

They were very responsive during the purchasing process but I haven't contacted them since. I didn't call about the tuner problem or finish defects because I would have gotten mad and made an *** of myself.

Am I the only left-handed guitarist who has decided that I have to be my own service and repair man? Most service and repair persons/luthiers are right handed. They approach a left handed guitar as being "backwards" and therefore wrong. I doubt they ever try to check out the results of their work by trying to play the guitar. I don't know how many times I've been told I should learn how to play the guitar "correctly". I've paid good money for set ups just to get the guitar back exactly as it was when I gave it to them to work on. Do they think I'm so stupid I couldn't notice. I've had to teach myself how to adjust the neck, change a nut, replace tuners, adjust the bridge and set the intonation. Now I'm going to buy an el cheapo SX guitar to teach myself how to do the wiring and electrical work, replace pickups, etc.

I , therefore, do commend Gaskell for their stated goal of supporting the left handed guitarist.

I have been playing since 1967 and play mostly rock music. I love the Beatles and 60's British invasion music. I own a number of left handed guitars of varying styles (Epiphone Casino, Gibson SG, Fender strat and tele, Dillion and Agile Les Pauls). I wish I had known the guitar was made in China before I bought it but would have gotten it anyway. Hey, if you are looking for a left handed Rickenbacker style guitar this is about the only game in town. Agile makes a right handed Harm which is a pretty good Ric copy but their left handed Harm looks like a modified Les Paul. Dillion makes a Ric styled guitar that is $500 more than the Gaskell.

If this were lost or stolen I would definitely get another. Now that I have the major issues addressed I love my Gaskell Retro.

This is a left handed Rikenbacker 330 style guitar, brought out in response to Rickenbacker's move to stop making left handed guitars in 2008. It's not a Ric knockoff. It looks like one but it has differences.
Sunburst finish, very nice.
Ric style trapezium bridge.
Quite small in size. Smaller than I expected. 22 frets
Pickups are Wilkinsons I believe. Vintage output
Really good version of this 60s style of guitar.
Comes with a zip-up soft case

Firstly, if you want to play heavy, it sounds total crap. It has low output pickups. It is, as they advertise it, a "jingle jangle" guitar, like a Telecaster. Great for 50s and 60s but horrendous for hard rock. Don't even bother. It sounds really good if you want to play Beetles or Country or Blues without overdrive - then it sounds bloody awesome. Right use! But don't kid yourself on the other point.

The action on this one was quite low. Bit too low for me. Good feel once I got that right. Easy to play. Is professional level. It's not a try-hard. It's the real deal. Finish was real good. Not like cheapo Asian made guitars. This company has some solid QC in place. Wish som USA companies such as Gib$on would do the same. DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE. GIB$ON DON'T GIVE A RATS CRAP ABOUT LEFTY GUITAR PLAYERS AND THEY MAKE CRAP GUITARS NOW SINCE THEY GOT THE PATENT THROUGH ON THEIR HEADSTOCKS - 25 YEARS AFTER THE FACT AND ONLY BECAUSE THEY GOT SCARED BECAUSE TOKAI GUITARS MAKE LES PAULS BETTER THAN THEY DO! WOULD TAKE A TOKAI LES PAUL OVER A GIBSON LES PAUL WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!

Because it is hollow body and it has the trapezium bridge, I am not sure if this will take too much of a beating. You wouldn't be able to bash it around like a slab body guitar. Once again, it's for a retro sound - guess that is why they called it the "Retro " - duh! So you wouldn't be getting too carried away with it. Pick another guitar if you want to do antics on stage. Not this one.

Customer support is tops! These guys really do give a crap about left handed gutarists. It is true. The guitar has warranty, and it is set up professionally before they send it. I don't give a crap where it is made if it is made to the same standards as guitars we think are good because they are "made in USA" - wow wee ... big whoop. Means nothing. Maybe 10 years ago but not today. Take a look at a new USA made lefty Tele or Strat. They are CRAP. This guitar pisses all over those. I imagine the other Gaskells do too.

For the price, this is a good guitar, but make no mistake, it is not called a "Retro" for nothing. It is not your heavy metal guitar. It is for what it is for. You will freakout and be disappointed if you push down the OD pedal - IT HAS LOW OUTPUT, VINTAGE STYLE PICKUPS. But for clean, country, 60s or British Pop, or 80s music - like they say in the product description - it is an AWESOME LEFT HANDED GUITAR. I only wish it came with a hard case. But it did come with a zip up soft case. Bonus!

Made in 2009. Rickenbacker style left handed guitar. 22 frets. Mini humbuckers. Semi hollow body. Ric style bridge, Ric style pick guard, set-in neck. Single truss rod. Beautiful finish and feel.

Because it has a basswood body is good for 1960s British Pop sound. Basswood is very mid range sound. On overdrive this is not a good sound. The mini humbuckers don't like distortion. They are not "bad" pickups but this kind of lower output, mini humbucking pickup in a semi-hollow body guita body is not a good mix. Metal heads will hate this guitar. It's about a 8 or 9 for what it should be but if you were wanting to play hard rock you wouldn't give this any more than a 5.

The action is awesome on this guitar. Nice and low but not so low that it frets out. Really easy to play. It's a smallish guitar compared to others and for strumming away happily this is a dream guitar. The finish is impressive. Beautiful, actually. A "real" Rickenbacker goes for 2.5 x the price of this one.

Everything is pretty nice about this guitar. Well made. Hardware is good. I haven't tried it in a gig situation but I think it will be fine. I have played worse guitars that have cost more than this one!

You can buy these Gaskell guitars at more places now than you could a few years ago. The Australian office is still the head office. Really good people. Actually give a genuine crap about lefty players. That in itself means something!

Overall this is a good, well made, guitar suitable for gigging and professional playing. So long as you don't try and play heavy metal with it, it is a great investment. Comes with a 12 month warranty which is not as long as other guitars but then again the price isn't way up there like Rickenbacker. For a clean, jingly jangly style of playing you can't go wrong with this guitar.