Head to head
Which Bigsby loaded retro rocker is a modern wonder?
In spite of the very different shadows that they cast, these four guitars actually feel quite similar. Each has a slim C profile, chunky frets and remarkably low action. Now, you might have heard that Bigsby vibratos don’t stay in tune for love nor money. That’s not our experience. The locking heads on our Yamaha and Italia guitars are without doubt a nice touch but we found the tuning stability just as agreeable on the non-locking Gretsch and Höfner.
For the unenlightened, it’s worth nothing that a Bigsby doesn’t offer anywhere near the range of a string-dumping Floyd Rose. The effect is much more subtle. Plus, the sheer chunkiness of the thing adds to the tonal depth and sustain. You can hear that in the clean tones of all four guitars. The Höfner and Gretsch guitars deliver oodles of jangle in the bridge position and bluesy warmth at the neck. The Italia has more of a fat Strat voice across its three pickups.
What about the Revstar? It’s in a league of its own here. The low-output pickups reveal a sweet woody tone that’s just as addictive on clean and overdriven settings. It’s worth remembering that Jimi Hendrix produced most of his work via some of the lowest output pickups Fender ever produced. On the RS720B that restraint in the pickup windings means that no matter how high you crank the filth you can still hear the body and the strings. Splitting the coils makes that transparency even more, well, apparent.
While the Höfner offers familiar Gibson-like humbucker grunt, the Gretsch Filter’tron sound is something that every guitarist should experience in their lifetime. It’s like a classic humbucker only in high definition. As Malcolm Young discovered, you get a big rock sound without the wooliness inherent in some humbuckers. Bottom line... the G5420T’S Black Tops are never shrill but they will punch their way out of any mix.
the Höfner and gretsch deliver oodles of jangle in the bridge position