Gretsch Players Edition 6609 Broadkaster review

Who doesn’t love the look of a Gretsch? They’re big, bold and flashy and they scream rock ’n’ roll - and that’s rock ’n’ roll of all flavours, from Eddie Cochran to George Harrison, Neil Young to Joe Perry, Billy Duffy to Johnny Marr and beyond. 

Trouble is, play a classic 6120 or Duo Jet and it can seem a bit, well, old-fashioned. And while the likes of Brian Setzer, Darryl Higham and Richard Hawley couldn’t live without their own Gretsches’ quirky controls and 50s playability, a growing number of players desire the brand’s looks, sound and unmatched vibe, but also want something a tad more versatile and user-friendly.  

Enter this latest Players Edition model with its neck set lower into the body for improved access, higher-output Filter’Tron-style humbucking pickup (Full’Trons) and a modernised Bigsby vibrato where through-stringing replaces the notorious ‘hooking the ball-end over a peg’ system that scuppered any chance of a quick change. 

Mate these modern tweaks with another recent innovation (for Gretsch, at any rate), the Centre Block range, and you have a guitar ready to compete with anything out there - in virtually any style. 

This model features a solid centre block (the block is spruce and, according to Gretsch, lighter and more toneful than maple), Full’Tron pickup, locking Gotoh tuner, Adjusto-Matic bridge and binding all round, including the f-hole. It has an exceptionally classy raised tortoid pickguard and the slightly simplified control layout of individual pickup volumes, single tone control, three-way selector and - the one remaining anachronism in our view - a master volume control mounted on the lower horn.  

Gretsch model naming can be a little confusing so we asked our friends at Fender EMEA to clarify. “As with most Pro series Gretsches, each model variation is available in one colour,” they told us, “although you could think of the Broadkasters as three model types with different finish appointments: Jr, Hardtail and Bigsby models, with two or four finish options each. So, one price for flames, Bigsbys, goldplating or combinations thereof, and a lower price to forego those things.” 

The full-size double-cut Broadkaster sits squarely in the ES-335 camp, with its slim body (44mm) and accessible (17th-fret) neck join. Available with or without Bigsby, ours comes with Gretsch’s ‘V’ stopbar tailpiece and Adjusto-Matic bridge, rosewood fretboard and tastefully aged ‘neo-classical’ thumbnail position markers. 

Feel and sounds

With its 305mm (12-inch) fingerboard radius and 22 medium-jumbo frets on slim C-section neck, this guitar feels fresh and comfortable in the hand. And the fact that the neck sits deeper in the body making the pickup protrude a good deal less, too, adds to this more modern feel (our orange 6120 seems almost archaic by comparison). 

The thin body holds the guitar close to you, for an intimate and rewarding playing experience. Avoid looking in the mirror, though - we bet you can’t! As mentioned, a prime selling point is the all-new drive trains, the first new US-made Gretsch pickups since the 70s (Filter’Trons have been Gretsch’s humbucking mainstay since the 50s). They’re great-sounding units combining real punch with clarity and articulation - AC/DC’s Malcolm Young to Brian Setzer in The Stray Cats is a pretty broad spectrum. 

For the Players Edition Centre Blocks, the Filter’Tron has become the Full’Tron, with greater output, punchier mids and a generally more up-to-date ethos.  A clean setting on our ubiquitous Fender Blues Junior elicits a hard-edged twang from the bridge ’Tron, a warm but articulate jazz note from the neck, and a Duane Eddy-ish clunk in the middle (very DeArmond-like). 

“Who doesn’t love the look of a Gretsch?” this review began. Well, we think even more will be seduced by these updated and uprated models, enticing a whole new flush of members to the Gretsch gang with their vastly improved player comfort and a range of tones that can cover anything other than the highest-gain metal. 

Gretsch is determined to shake the ‘for rockabilly only’ vibe of its instruments, and we think the Players Edition Centre Block series is set to do just that. Only one question remains: Cadillac Green or Bourbon Stain?