Gretsch have been around since the dawn of rock and roll so it’s no surprise that they know what makes a great rock and roll guitar. Slick, straightforward, stylish and durable, the Electromatic Jet™ Club is a stripped back solid body that has everything it needs and nothing it doesn’t.
At first glance, the Electromatic Jet™ Club has the standard Jet shape we all know and love, but upon closer inspection, one will notice it has a thinner body. This is due to the absence of the standard Jet’s carved maple top, one of the main things that sets the Club apart. The thinner body on the Club creates some weight relief as well as giving the guitar a unique streamlined look that matches its no-nonsense attitude perfectly.
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The mahogany body is chambered for a bit more weight relief and some lovely resonance, and features super comfortable body contours and a rounded heel. Gretsch’s Max Core chambering makes for exceptional acoustic balance and strong attack, whilst the smooth, rounded heel allows for unimpeded access to the highest frets and the subtle comfort contours create a balanced fit for excellent playability.
This particular model is wrapped in a beautiful high-gloss Riviera Blue colour, which really sparkles and looks great with the guitar’s tortoiseshell pickguard and Nickel hardware. It may be a very straightforward, simple guitar but it looks every bit as classy as you’d expect from a Gretsch.
The mahogany neck has a rounded C profile with tapered shoulders that is thick enough to feel comfortable for chording and flat enough for some serious shredding. The neck has the fairly wide feel that fans of the brand will be familiar with, and one that newcomers won’t find difficult to adjust to. Overall, it’s a very ergonomic and smooth-feeling neck with no nasty edges and is excellent fun to play.
The Club has a beautiful Rosewood fretboard with an aged white binding that has a smooth, silky feel and that beautiful chocolate brown Rosewood colour. The fretboard has a large 12″ radius so you can play the biggest bends your heart desires without worrying about fretting out, and is loaded with 22 Medium-Jumbo frets. Adorning the fretboard are Gretsch’s signature pearloid ‘thumbnail’ fret markers, which look as cool and classy as ever on this guitar.
A GraphTech NuBone nut delivers super stable tuning for this guitar, and an optimised break angle string-pull to the tuning keys solves the problem of strings sticking or slipping. Overall it’s a very stable and well set up instrument right out of the box. The very cool looking ‘Split V’ headstock matches the rock and roll aesthetic perfectly and is loaded with six die cast sealed tuners.
In the bridge department, the Electromatic Jet™ Club features a ‘Lockdown’ locking adjustable bridge that looks great and is extremely functional. A bridge and tailpiece all in one unit, the wraparound tailpiece provides enhanced sustain and attack, with adjustable saddles for exact intonation. For maximum coupling, rock-solid tuning stability and easy string changes, the bridge posts lock the bridge down securely. This ensures excellent transfer of string energy for a bigger, fuller tone and unbeatable sustain.
The most notable feature of the Electromatic Jet™ Club is perhaps its fantastic Purevolt Twin Six Humbuckers, a set of extremely dynamic and very powerful humbuckers that provide a beefed-up, rockier version of the classic Gretsch sound. Both pickups have twelve adjustable pole pieces for complete tonal flexibility, and both are uniquely optimised to excel in their position.
The neck pickup features Alnico IV magnets paired with plain enamel wire for a warm, smooth sound, whilst the bridge pickup has Alnico V magnets paired with plain enamel-coated wire for a brighter, hotter tone. Specifically calibrated coil winds create perfect tonal balance and raw humbucker power whilst maintaining excellent clarity, while vacuum wax-potting keeps nasty noises to a minimum.
Adding even more versatility is a simple but highly functional control circuit that complements the pickups perfectly. A master volume with treble bleed circuit provides precise adjustment while maintaining top end even when rolled way down. Individual pickup tone controls provide intuitive control, designed for great tone at every setting and a very linear feel. Push/Pull tone controls provide true single-coil sounds for each pickup, adding some serious versatility to this guitar, with every single coil combining for a hum-cancelling pair in the middle position. For a guitar with only three knobs, the number of options available here is quite ingenious.
In the neck position, the Electromatic Jet™ Club sounds warm, full and velvety with enough top end to cut through if need be. When set clean this position works really well for smooth jazzy tones, and when overdriven, it’s great for chunky rhythm parts or smooth sustaining leads. Tapped, the sound thins out a little, and you can achieve those spanky Tele neck pickup sounds fairly convincingly.
In the bridge position, the Club has a searing top end and crystalline clarity, perfect for snappy country picking when set clean and full blown hard rock tones when distorted. Tapped, this position loses a little low end but gains a nice edgy single coil gristle that sounds great with a bit of overdrive.
The middle position provides a lovely middle ground with plenty of high end shimmer and a solid low end punch underneath, ensuring there is an almost endless myriad of sounds available. When both pickups are tapped the middle position also cancels the hum which is a really nice feature. Overall, this guitar sounds how it looks – slick, dynamic, powerful and rock and roll down to the bone.
The Electromatic series has long provided us with reliable, stage-ready guitars at a very reasonable price, and the Electromatic Jet™ Club is no exception. A streamlined rock and roll machine with a thin, lightweight body and a massive, powerful sound is a great addition to any player’s collection and is an absolute winner in my book. Definitely check this one out.
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