Gretsch G2210 Streamliner Junior Jet Club
Q&A Is this a reissue, then?
Not as such. What Gretsch has done with the G2210 Streamliner is combine some of the aesthetics of the original 50s Duo Jet with features we usually associate with a Gibson Les Paul Junior. The result is a stripped-down rock guitar with loads of retro curb appeal sans the usual rockabilly pigeonholing Gretsch is often subjected to.
Break the features down a bit…
The body and headstock silhouettes are classic Gretsch Jet. Same goes for the scratchplate and Neo-Classic ‘thumbnail’ fingerboard inlays. The body depth is the 44.45mm (1.75-inch) measurement you’ll encounter on most Jet reissues. Original 1950s Jets, and the current Vintage Select and George Harrison models, are a bit deeper at 51mm (two inches).
And the Les Paul stuff?
We’re talking about the wraparound bridge/tailpiece, not to mention the decidedly un-Gretsch ‘speed’ knobs. Then there’s the 629mm (24.75-inch) scale length – Gretsch guitars usually run at 625mm (24.6 inches). You also have to figure in the body construction. Your classic Jet guitars featured a chambered mahogany body with a laminated maple top. The G2210 Streamliner Junior Jet Club, meanwhile, has a solid nato body, which gives it that Les Paul Special vibe.
How come it’s so affordable?
For a start, this Streamliner is “crafted in Indonesia”, not Japan like the Gretsch Professional stuff. That keeps the costs down a bit. The G2210 also comes spec’d with yet another non-Gretsch feature… a bolt-on neck. That style of construction is cheaper and faster to produce than a glued-in item.
What’s the skinny on the neck?
You answered your own question, right there. The neck has a thin ‘U’ profile. We should extrapolate here, though. People might normally associate ‘U’ shapes with super-chubby early 50s Fender Broadcaster and Nocaster necks, and the slimmer shape found on late-60s Stratocasters. Both types have plenty of shoulder but different depths. The same is true of the chunky ‘Standard U’ shape found on ’53 Gretsch Duo Jets and reissues. We therefore expect some shoulder on the Junior Jet Club’s slim ‘U’ profile neck. The message is, get your hand wrapped round one to see if it’s for ‘U’, er, we mean ‘you’…
Any other details?
Indeed. Also cut from nato, the neck features a laurel fingerboard with a 305mm (12-inch) radius and 22 medium-jumbo frets, plus you get a set of die-cast tuners finished in nickel to match the wraparound bridge/tailpiece. Finish options are Gold Dust, Gunmetal and Vintage White, all with a single-ply tortoiseshell scratchplate, and transparent Imperial Stain with black ’guard.
That just leaves the pickups…
The fact Gretsch loaded the G2210 Streamliner Junior Jet Club with Broad’Tron humbuckers reveals these pups are at home barking out punk, rock and metal. This is a guitar for beating out fat string riffs and powerchords. If that’s your thing… join the Club.