Southpaw Melody: Gretsch G2622LH Streamliner Centerblock Guitar

 If you have been involved in the world of instruments, you would instantly recognize the name Gretsch. Founded in 1883, making Banjos, Tambourines, and Drums, Gretsch is not only one of the oldest in the business, but are distinct in design, especially in the world of electric guitars. If you see one, you know what it is. Keeping a line of traditional guitars has been a major thing for them since electric guitars came into the market. So, in light of them celebrating 140 years as a company, I figured it is a good chance to talk about a lefty that is both great in price and quality. Only because, the anniversary models are only right handed.

Introduced in 2016, as an affordable line outside the Electromatic series, the Streamliner line of Gretsch is already a massive series for the company. Staying between $300-$600, it is a real deal for the quality you are getting at that price range. While they do offer a lot in the range, only one model is available for my fellow Left Handed guitar players, the G62622LH, and personally one of my favorite guitars in my collection.

Before anyone says anything, let me make this clear. No, this is not a guitar for Heavy Metal genres. However, do not dismiss it right away. Gretsch has a history working in most other genres, such as Blues, Jazz, Country, Classic Rock, even Grunge, Punk, and Post-Hardcore (Keely Davis from At The Drive In plays a right handed version of this model specifically). Unless you play only metal, do not dismiss this brand or these guitar, like I did a long time ago.

This is a Centerblock (aka Semi-Hollow) guitar, meaning the middle is solid wood, while the sides are hollow, making this a surprisingly versatile guitar. It is a Maple body, which if it was solid, would be very heavy, but the Centerblock design allows for it to be light weight and helps the wood give a nice bright sound throughout. The neck is made of Nato wood, which is a more affordable alternative to Mahogany, and a Laurel (affordable alternative to Rosewood) fretboard with Medium Jumbo Frets that is very comfortable to play with the neck shape being a thin "U" shape. To make it simpler, the neck is not as thin as you would find on something like an Ibanez RG, but it does have a bit of flatness on the back, making resting the thumb on it feel really nice. 

The electronics on the guitar features two Broad'tron Humbucker pickups (which works great for crunchy gains and fuzz), a 3 way selector switch, individual volume knobs for each pickup, a master tone knob, and (Gretsch's specialty) a master volume for both pickups. It sounds confusing, but it is not as tough as you think once you get the hang of it. Personally, I enjoy having the Master Volume where it is closer to the neck and in the bottom corner of the body to quickly adjust the volume as needed and have the main volume knobs set and ready to go with how I like the individual pickups to sound.

Unlike other brands that offer one or 2 finishes for lefties, Gretsch has been nice to offer it in 3 finishes, Gunmetal, Single Barrel Stain, and Torino Green (All pictured on the bottom). Variety is something that is greatly appreciated and helped push me to check out this guitar and eventually get one.

The versatility is crazy on this guitar, especially at the price. I got clean Jazz and Country sounds using either the Boss Katana 50 or the Marshall DSL40C, and even at a light gain setting able to get Blues, Pop, and even Punk sounds that remind me of old school Punk bands, like the Clash or Rancid, and on a lead setting with the gain at a low setting, the old school Grunge sound is fully present with very little feedback, which is common with Semi-Hollow guitars at any price. I love how the humbuckers, with the body shape and size takes pedals, even running heavy effects, like Fuzz and Chorus was not an issue for this guitar. Oh, I forgot to mention the price. 

It is $549. That is insane bang for the buck. However, at that price, it does not come with a case or a gig bag, so make sure you have a stand or safe place to put it until you can get one. I was able to get a Semi-hollow universal padded gig bag after it was purchased, so it was not an issue.

Overall: If you are looking for something versatile and at a great price, this is hard to beat. Out of the box, I had no issues with the setup and the setup didn't need to get redone until a couple years later (I had mine since 2019). Gretsch is known for consistency in their instruments and I personally encourage everyone to try any from the Streamliner line, but this particular model is my biggest go to guitar at the time of writing this article.

Pros:

- Versatile

- Lightweight

- Easy To Play

- Well Set up out of the box

Cons:

- Not for someone wanting to play Metal

Please Step Here: Maestro FZ-M fuzz pedal

 For any Music Historian, Maestro would be a name you probably remember. In 1962, The Maestro FZ-1 was one of the first pedals made for distribution and was famously used by Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones on the song, Satisfaction. In 1979, Maestro discontinued the pedal production and fell into the vault of other companies Gibson owned. In 2022, Gibson revived the Maestro name with a line of new pedals for today's musicians and while they all caught peoples attention, the one that stood out the most, was the FZ-M Fuzz pedal; A new fuzz pedal for fans of both a classic sounding fuzz or a new modern sound.

It has the same knobs and controls you would see on the classic FZ-1, Level, Tone, and Attack, as well as a Modern/Classic switch for more versatility. For the test, I used both a Boss Katana 50 and a Marshall DSL40C to see how it would do with both solid state and tube amps. Luckily, both amps sounded great with this pedal in front of the amps. I also used a Gretsch Electromatic Jet and a Schecter Solo 6 Standard tuned to Drop C# to see what it was able to do. To my surprise, the Modern/Classic switch works perfectly for getting that "Satisfaction" fuzz or going into Modern for more Punk or Doom vibes with lower tunings. I had a blast when I first got this pedal. I even went a little further and tried it on a Schecter Stilleto Extreme 4 string bass through an Ampeg Rocket 108 amp. If you want a great fuzz in a bass tone, this nails that too. I even went a step further and pluged headphones into both the Boss Katana and the Ampeg Rocket to see how it would sound through headphones and not an amp speaker. It sounded exactly the same, so getting the exact fuzz sound I wanted out of it was super easy, compared to others I have tried.

Not to mention it is in an all metal casing with the LED lights being next to the footswitch on the pedal showing nice and bright, but not enough to be distracting. these new Maestro pedals are built to be stepped on for gigs. It currently sells for $149.99 at retailers, so it is a little on the pricey side (but not as much as other Fuzz pedals this versatile), so it is reasonable and worth the value.

Overall: I personally have this pedal on my board set up in a way that blows minds when they hear it. This is a great pedal for players that are wanting to experiment with Fuzz or are just happy trying to get that classic fuzz sound from the 60s.

Pros:

- Easy to Use

- Sturdy Design

- Versatile

Cons:

- Pedal Design is not for everyone.