Gretsch Streamliner P90s

PelliX

PelliX

Well-Known Member
England
So, not an NGD.. yet... but maybe soon. I've been looking for a hollowbody electric for a while and I was initially basically angling at an Epiphone Casino or a Gibson (or Epi maybe) ES-335 or similar-ish. Today I stumbled across this Gretsch at a very modest price. I don't actually have a Gretsch and the handful I've played have been alright but didn't blow me away. The tone was generally nice, and one would often associate Gretsch with Filtertrons or similar. This one has a couple of P90s loaded which I've also been casually looking for.

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To be honest, I might well remove the P90's, put in Filtertrons and find another guitar for the P90's. Not a fan of the Bigsby, but I'm not opposed to them either, I'm just not an avid user of the whammy bar generally.

I don't have a production year for it yet, but I'd presume it's fairly recent - within the last few years. Curious, any thoughts or personal experience with them?
 
I have been eyeing a streamliner for awhile now. I like the smaller body. I don't own one, but I would like to add a 335 style guitar to my humble collection and these certainly fit the bill. I have picked up and strummed a few at guitar shows the past year or so and I like the size and the feel of them. There are a few different models with varying pickup selections and single vs double cut, with or without whammy bars.
Keep us posted and good luck.
 
Ozzie said:
Ahhh, I wasn't quite finished typing before you pulled the trigger. HNGD, can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. Enjoy!
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Thanks, I get that. I don't generally move that fast, but the seller made a good offer and I wasn't going to turn it down or sleep on this one. Sometimes you have to take chances, right.

Ozzie said:
I like the smaller body. I don't own one, but I would like to add a 335 style guitar to my humble collection and these certainly fit the bill.
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That is my thinking, also. I'm not the world's biggest guy and Gretsch's tend to be a little larger than comfortable for me. This should fit nicely. Not that I complain, I mean, I play bass and dreadnaught acoustics and don't complain. If the sound is right, I'll play it or do my best to try but I prefer a comfy package, hehe.

With a little luck, the case might also fit my Red Special for which I only have the original 'gig bag'. The "we dare you to use this" type of the cheap variety...
 
Mmmm, hope it brings years of joy.
I've been a big P90 fan for the past couple of years so i imagine it would sound good to me.
I played a Gretsch acoustic a couple of weeks ago and liked it so much I've been eyeing them on-line.
However; I have 3 acoustics and don't need another, but I liked the Gretsch better than my high dollar Breedlove so maybe a switch is in order.
Best of luck :cheers:
 
HNGD, it looks classy!
While a Bigsby looks good, it is not the most functional Tremolo system.
But yes, it kinda belongs on a guitar like this. The length of string behind the Bridge definitely changes the way a guitar feels, even if the Tremolo is not used. That difference in feel alone makes it worthwile to have at least one Bigsby- equipped guitar.
That one also has P90s, another plus. I love the sound of a P90 in the Neck Position, so why not get a Filtertron for the Bridge and go with mixed PUs?
 
Eric'45 said:
But yes, it kinda belongs on a guitar like this. The length of string behind the Bridge definitely changes the way a guitar feels, even if the Tremolo is not used. That difference in feel alone makes it worthwile to have at least one Bigsby- equipped guitar.
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Agree, though only relatively few models of the Streamliner series appear to have had Bigsby's for whatever reason, and even fewer P90s. I'm not planning on changing or removing the trem, but you do raise an interesting point about the bridge pickup... yes, a Filtertron there and the P90 in the neck.... hmmmm!! :hmmm:
 
PelliX said:
Agree, though only relatively few models of the Streamliner series appear to have had Bigsby's for whatever reason, and even fewer P90s. I'm not planning on changing or removing the trem, but you do raise an interesting point about the bridge pickup... yes, a Filtertron there and the P90 in the neck.... hmmmm!! :hmmm:
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The Idea was not quite coming out of nowhere, because that is what my Duesenberg has.

Their Version of a Noiseless P90 in the Neck position, their Filtertron-ish HB at the Bridge and their slightly improved (but still kinda weird) Bigsby.
And that would be my only experience with a guitar vaguely similar to this.
 
I also wasn't going to sleep on this one. I can be a bit tightfisted at times and that's a good thing. Sometimes you have to put things into perspective, though. I've often been lucky with cheap guitars. The seller responded very quickly, took the offer which wasn't exactly generous and told me straight away he could ship it the next day. I have close-ups and it seems pretty much mint. Seems eager to move it, why? Worst case it has a buggered neck or something like that. Ideally, there's a problem with the electronics or hardware. We'll see.
 
PelliX said:
To be honest, I might well remove the P90's, put in Filtertrons
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I'd give those staple P90's a try before yanking them.
They may have been paired with that guitar for a reason.

Eric'45 said:
The length of string behind the Bridge definitely changes the way a guitar feels, even if the Tremolo is not used. That difference in feel alone makes it worthwile to have at least one Bigsby- equipped guitar.
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I agree.
No experience with a Bigsby on a hollow body, but I like what it did to my Firebird tone and feel.
(and a little more a$$ weight also helped the suicidal neck dive...)

If you want to change anything, I'd highly recommend the Chet Atkins arm on the Bigsby.
And the Vibramate String Spoiler makes string changes way less of a chore.

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PelliX said:
Well, I'll be damned. A pic popped up in the featured gallery, leading to this post by Robert (RIP):

Inspector #20

Post in thread 'Best Dark Stain For Possible SG Build:'

Like this without rhe black edge fade:

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Seems he may have had the same thing basically.
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He was a good friend of mine. He worked at the Fender facility in San Bernardino, CA. He saw all kinds of Fender products as a QA and setup guy. Hence his, nickname Inspector #20. He was also a great musician and a studio musician for Capital Records.

That’s a picture from his workbench at Fender, so not his personally.
 
fitz said:
I'd give those staple P90's a try before yanking them.
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Sure, I always give things a fair chance first. I don't have any Filtertrons worth using laying around anyway right now.

fitz said:
(and a little more a$$ weight also helped the suicidal neck dive...)
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Indeed, I figured this can only help.

fitz said:
No experience with a Bigsby on a hollow body, but I like what it did to my Firebird tone and feel.
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Yeah... I uhm... don't really know how much I want to push and pull on a hollowbody instrument anyway. Sure, it's intended for light work, not crazy dive bombs. I'll let you know...

Don O said:
That’s a picture from his workbench at Fender, so not his personally.
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I see, thanks.
 
Don O said:
He was a good friend of mine. He worked at the Fender facility in San Bernardino, CA. He saw all kinds of Fender products as a QA and setup guy. Hence his, nickname Inspector #20. He was also a great musician and a studio musician for Capital Records.

That’s a picture from his workbench at Fender, so not his personally.
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I still miss him. I learned a lot from him in the short time I knew him.
 
Well, HNGD!

It's got a bit of a rattle to it that I need to track down, little adjusting to do, etc. Going to take it into the workshop in a bit and see what I can do. The neck and fretwork seems perfect - I'm impressed. Lovely tweed case with all the original case candy, etc. Overall, from playing it unplugged I'd say it sounds interesting, feels quite light and not overly large. No neckdive, probably thanks to the Bigsby which Fitz suggested. No strap, but I have a couple of basic Fender ones. Original clingfilm still attached in some places. The owner removed the stickers from the back of the headstock but according to the toe-tag it's Indonesian, which makes sense. Pickup selector is a bit so-so and wobbly and the pots feel like the miniature type which wear out after staring at them too hard.

I also can't quite figure out how to set the angle/height of these "P90"s with the funny pole pieces...
 
So, no real issues, just some minor work. Except for the rattle. It's the bridge saddles. The string angle seems to be the issue, but from the neck end, not the Bigsby. When I pluck hard, it rattles on every string, though the A and D strings are the most obvious. A new bridge isn't a big deal, but it MIGHT just be fixed with new strings which I'll pop on tomorrow or so. The electronics are indeed the nastiest cheap stuff you can imagine, they'll need replacing at some point and particularly the switch is going to be a pain.
 
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