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EPIPHONE ES Pro or GRETSCH 2655 (Streamliner Jr.)? Some thoughts......

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jmkoeln
jmkoeln|53

Hi there!

I fell in love with the idea of rewarding myself with a small-size-semi-hollowbody guitar.... For what? I dunno! Just because i'm nice guy that needs a proper guitar:-)

The szenario: about 600,00€ (+/- 675 US$ or 525 GBP) for a ready-to-play guitar & Case. Yet it's to be played with a Bugera V5 infinity but i will get me a decent 5-15 Watt tube-amp on occasion.

The competitors: EPIPHONE ES Pro GRETSCH 2655

What i know yet: I played both (amongst dozens of others) in a large store and if i remeber right, there was little to complain about the EPI ES 339 PRO, excepting the fretboard - wich lacked the fine look and touch of the rest of the body. Alas the guitar was in a poor condition due to exessive showroom-use. The GRETSCH felt great in my hand, especially neck and fretboard were just awesome. But the potis for pu-volume reacted kind of peculiar...... very silent till 9-o-clock position and then the boost up on the last quarter of the turn, wich makes it kinda hard to experiment with the pu-ballance.

What i don't know: I really can't remeber wich of them sounded better unplugged. Since i only amplified them on the same little Bugera i own, i can hardly tell too much about the sound in detail, but with either of them i found some sweet spots.....

NOW:

If i'd buy the GRETSCH i would definitely change the volume-potis and most probably the poti-knobs, since they are just ugly!

If i'd buy the EPIPHONE i would change nothing - but that doesn't make the fretboard better...... don't get me wrong - this is still a decent and well made instrument but it felt surprisingly "rock n' roll" under my fingers.......

So with some changes made and safely placed in a Guitar case the GRETSCH would cost me some estimated 650,00 Euro-Bucks.

The EPI would be ready to go below 500,00€

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? DOES ANYONE OWN ONE OF THES GUITARS AND CAN TELL SOMETHING OF IT? IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE GUITAR YOU CAN RECOMMEND?

Thanx for participating!

jimmarchi1
jimmarchi1|41029 MODERATOR
GEAR:
  • Roland Juno-6
  • Gibson SG Standard
  • Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp

even the chinese gretsches tend to have better QC than the euivalent epiphones… and the cheaper gretsches also tend to have gibsony humbuckers, hotter and fatter than a legit 'pro' series Gretsch or vintage example, which for me is a deal rbeaker, but for many it'll be more desirable if you wanna play more modern rock on your Gretsch. All in all I've seldom played a bad gretsch at ANY price point made since 2000. I had a Japanese pro series duo jet RI for a while and it was incredibly well made and quite a player. I only got rid of it because the dynasonics picked up too much hum and smart phone chatter for stage work and all I was doing was playing live at the time. I cannot recommend a Gretsch highly enough. The new epi ES335s and 9s are pretty hit or miss as far as the playability (even when set up well, as you observed the fingerboards aren't done right) and sound and many of thema re in need of a fret dress right off the shelf. But just go play both models, a few exampls of the epi since they're not as consistent as the streamliner will be. Let your ears and hands decide.

You're going to need to change the pots on the gibby too if you want it to sound the way seth lover and ted mcarty intended, they're likely 350k pots and should be 500k.... even Gibson USA models suffer from this. I don't know why they do it but they do.

my actual recommendation is to put the guitar on hold, sell the bugera and ivest in a quality amplifier. Even another 5 watt single ended one will do as long as its well made with quality components like an old champ or an ac4HW

GEAR:
  • Roland Juno-6
  • Gibson SG Standard
  • Vox AC30 Guitar Combo Amp
jmkoeln
jmkoeln|53

Now i got a quote from the Guitar shop........ and i estimated very optimistically.......

The price will be 700,00 to 750,00 Euros - dependig on how challenging the change of the potis turns out to be.....

That obviously exceeds the budget - but in my case...... i will take that bit of a pain and make this little dream come true:-)

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