Gretsch G2655T Streamliner Center Block Jr
The Overview
Hey, y’all! Today I’m reviewing a Gretsch 2655T Streamliner Center Block Jr guitar. When I found this guitar it was one of the rare times when you walk into Guitar Center and it was quiet enough that you could plug in, not have 3 folks playing Back in Black in the background, and hear what you’re doing.
Playing this Gretsch did not blow me away…at first. You plug it in, and it sounds Gretschy. A chunky low end with chimey highs. Put a little distortion on there, and you start to channel inspiration from Malcolm Young. This guitar is FUN! The more you play the better it gets. The model I test drove, and eventually bought, had a Bigsby which I thought was cool. They also have an option without the Bigsby if you’re more of a hardtail guy, and it’s around $100 cheaper
Features
If you didn’t notice how beautiful the Gretsch 2655T Streamliner guitar was when it was hanging on the wall, you will after playing it for a while. This is a great looking instrument, and the workmanship is fantastic!
The model being demoed today is in the Golddust finish. It comes with an arched top and back with white binding. Behind the pickups is a solid center block to help minimize feedback when playing this guitar with a band. It comes standard with .010″ strings and they are strung through a Bigsby B50 with an adjusto matic bridge.
The guitar comes with Gretsch’s Broad’Tron BT-2S custom wound humbucking pickups. They are controlled by a 3-position switch which allows you to switch from the neck pickup, both pickups, and the bridge pickup. The semi hollow body adds some warmth to the pickups. The body has 4-control knobs. Each pickup has its own volume control, and there is a master volume control and a master tone control for the guitar.
The neck has a u-shaped profile that is both thin and comfortable for you to play. The guitar has a double-cutaway which allows you easy access to the upper register of the guitar. Combine all of this with medium jumbo frets, and you get an all-around good feeling guitar. The closed-back die-cast nickel tuners do a great job of keeping this guitar in tune. And the laurel wood fingerboard with large block inlays makes this look like a high-end model.
How Does It Sound?
This guitar delivers classic Gretsch tone which can inspire rockabilly, country, jazz, and classic rock. Let’s dive in and hear how it sounds!
For the demo, I used a Fender Champ. I recorded audio clips using a clean setting with the amp turned up to 3.5 to start, and progressively turned the volume up. On the guitar itself, we’ll start with the switch in the neck position and progress through all 3 positions. The volume knob and tone knobs on the guitar are turned to 10. I recorded these sound bites using Presonus Studio One Artist 4, Presonus’s AudioBox iTwo, and a Shure SM7B microphone.
Clean
Amp Breaking Up
I really like the sound of the Broad’Tron pickups with a little dirt on them, and I think you’re going to like it too!
Crunch Time!
This might be my personal favorite tone, and if you’re an AC/DC fan, you’re going to love this tone too. You’ll especially like the bridge pickup’s sound with the amp on 10. Take a listen!
The Wrap Up
Action & Intonation
A lot of times I’ll tinker around with setup and action, but I haven’t touched it on the Streamliner. No need to. This guitar plays well as is. I do wish they had gone with a larger fret wire profile as it takes a minute to get used to the feel of the Gretsch. You will adjust to the feel of the guitar after 15 or 20 minutes of playing, but it’s not as smooth as some other guitars I’ve played.
Modifications
There were no modifcations made to the Gretsch used for this demo.
Final Thoughts
This is not a high-end Gretsch, but for $600 I think this guitar sounds really good! I give it a 7 out of 10 because I don’t think the Gretsch G2655T Streamliner holds up to the top of the line models, but it gets the job done and the layman will not know the difference. Long and short of it is, I did not expect to play this guitar as much as I do, and I think you’ll find the same. If this guitar was stolen, I would definitely buy it again. Is it the holy grail of tone that you’ve been searching for? No.
While the Streamliner can be a very versatile guitar, it’s a Gretsch, and I am looking for a very specific tone when I plug this in. It doesn’t do everything well, but it does the Gretsch thing to a “T”!
Over Guitars to Consider in This Price Range
If you’re looking for another arch-top style guitar, check out the Epiphone Dot Deluxe VS!
Higher End or Better Sounding Guitars
Check out the Gibson CS 336. This guitar straddles the line between high end and boutique instruments.
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