Gretsche G9120 Tenor

Keep in mind I am a newbie to uke, and while I can strum and fingerpick the guitar and banjo, I am by no means "a string player", so my chops are not all that.
Anyway, after obsessively fingerpicking my Luna concert for a few days, I decided to get a tenor. I listened to a YouTube video ... something like "9 best ukes under $200 or something like that. The one I liked the most was out of my price range right now but I kept going back to the Gretsche to listen to it. The guy doing the demo was great and I had doubts about making it sing like he did. It came today and right out of the box it played like a dream, or at least compared to playing the concert. I only had to tweak the tuning and even after 10 minutes of playing it hardly budged. Not bad for new strings. Playing up the neck is a vast improvement and I can play cleanly up to the 12th or 13th fret. 15 wasn't even too bad but it'll take some work. pull-offs and hammer-ons were easy and I could even get 2 or 3 notes to slide and still resonate. (with the concert I am lucky to slide one note and even then it dies right away) The tone is lovely.
Not an amazing beauty like my OS Baritone, but her and I are going to be spending lots of quality time together

UPDATE: The C string has a buzz on the first 3 frets. Return it or have it looked at??

Hi Eileen,

I'm so sorry to hear that you're having a problem with a buzzing C string too! I usually play a Kanile'a tenor but wanted something I could gig with in situations where I didn't feel safe bringing my "pride and joy". After trying out many brands, I chose the Gretsch tenor for it's feel and build quality compared to other models in its price range. Though I typically purchase my ukes from businesses that will do a custom set-up on the instrument before shipping it out, I took a chance on an open-box special from a chain music store online because of the significant price break, and figured I'd get it set up on my own. When I received it in the mail, I had the same problem. - My C string was buzzing on the first 6 frets. I am currently getting it set up for free through Gretsch's manufacturer's warranty. I have been assured by the luthier I brought it to that the problem is fixable with a proper set up. If you'd like, I can certainly keep you posted - it should be ready in the next few days. For me, the feel and sound of the Gretsch tenor is amazing and surpasses others in its price range. If a proper set up fixes the problem, it will be more than worth it in my opinion. Hope this helps! If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks so much for that info. Yes, please definitely let me know how it turns out, and thanks for the tip about the warranty. How did you go about arranging a free set-up?

Definitely get a good setup, usually corrects most buzzing problems. Good idea to check with Gretsch. When I first started playing uke 3 years ago, my second purchase was a Gretsch G9121 A.C.E. tenor and the first thing I did was take it to a shop to do a setup, no problems after that. Sometimes I think about having sold it a year and half later when I was culling my run of 16 ukes, bit of a regret.

EileenC said:

Thanks so much for that info. Yes, please definitely let me know how it turns out, and thanks for the tip about the warranty. How did you go about arranging a free set-up?

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I purchased it from Musicians Friend and since my luthier happens to also work at Guitar Center (a sister company of Musicians Friend) he was able to take my receipt and contact Gretsch so they would pay for all the work that needed to be done. So depending on who you purchased it from, they may be able to take care of it for you, or I'm sure you could contact Gretsch on your own. If I could be of any further help, let me know.

Update on my Gretsch Tenor:
When my luthier tried to fix the buzzing, he discovered that the "angle of the neck was not optimal". When he communicated all of the problems to Gretsch, they decided they wanted to send me a brand new uke. It should be coming in next week, when my luthier will look it over and make sure everything is in working order.

Thanks. I am really considering returning mine. I talked to my son who is pretty knowledgeable and that was his opinion.
I've been playing a lot on it and finding more and more that I do not like, like lots of dead spots, and frets that no matter how hard I press when playing a song, I can't get a clean sound. It is really frustrating. On a whim I played my concert. I found out that my playing has improved drastically and it isn't evident on the Gretsch.
A shame. Looks like I'll be getting another Luna, unless someone can suggest something better in that price range

EileenC said:

...Looks like I'll be getting another Luna, unless someone can suggest something better in that price range

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Here on the UU forum, I've observed that it is generally accepted that Kala, Ohana, and Cordoba ukes are better 'out of the box' on average than LUNA ukes which it is thought that their priority is on appearance that appeals to 12 yr old girls and not so much on build quality, sound or quality control.

Keep in mind that these are opinions of the hive mind as I've seen them. I never played a Luna myself, but if the above criteria is true en masse, then yes in the $75-$150 price range there are LOTS of choices, and it seems to me that ownership of Luna ukes is in a very small minority of UU folks.

However, if YOU like it, then none of this matters. To each his own.

When you go online and are on a web site that sells ukes, change the SORT function from FEATURED or whatever it is to 'PRICE:low to high' and you will see similar prices ukes together, and that will help to find another uke in your budget and see what else compares at that price point...

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip, Booli.

I did return the Gretsch, especially once I really scrutinized what was happening. The G string was also buzzing a bit (in addition to the C), and there were numerous random dead spots where the note was more of a thud than a note. I think about deleting this thread because I initially praised the instrument, but once I got many hours of practice in, I started to see the differences between my lack of skill and the actual faults of the instrument. However, I'm thinking it might be better to leave it here in case anyone else is thinking of getting the Gretsch.
As it turns out, I went up in price and got an Oscar Schmidt OU6. I will refrain from reviewing it until I've played it a while. I will just say I am a very happy camper. The OS LOVES the Renaissance pieces!
As for Luna, my first uke - a Concert - is a great little instrument, and since I've really gotten down to playing every day instead of randomly, she performs quite nicely. The tenor is my first choice for fingerpicking (AND my bari) but I think if I ever get past my aversion to singing, I'd pick up the Luna for strumming instead of the tenor.