I ordered this instrument in December of last year. I had to return it twice because the first one did not produce a sound and the second instrument was clearly a B-Stock quality and the strap buttons were completely ripped out. The one that I received after that worked like a charm for about two months, since then it has been a nightmare. The action is unplayable,the bridge is useless for intonation, and have discovered the body is actually plywood.

It's a bit disappointing to open the box and find what is essentially a six-string bass; that is, a guitar tuned one octave lower. So CAVEAT: you'll need to order bari strings and replace the nut (I had to) in order to tune it up a 5th or 4th below standard guitar tuning. That said, it looks fantastic and sounds lush & dreamy, with great low end (obviously) and an almost chorusy vibe to the tone.

Got the 5265 Baritone a month or so ago. Came shipped with wound bass strings on it tuned E-E. It sounded pretty cool that and I thought about leaving it as a "guitar players bass" but I really wanted a baritone. I swapped out the strings for some 13-56 guitar strings that barely fit the scale length, tuned it to B-B and WOW!. This thing is a blast to play. Capo to the 5th fret and play it like a guitar and it's got a rich woody sound, play it open and its deep and growly. I play it through my Behringer BXL450 bass amp mostly. The aluminum cone speaker keeps the highs clean and crisp and the lows just roll right out. Because of the string change I am in the process of putting a new nut on it for the smaller strings and I swapped the stock Grover tuners for Grover locking tuners to help with the short-ish strings. It's so much fun that my guitar teacher is thinking of getting one after we played some harmony duets the other day. I may get another one (even after the price increase) to leave as a bass for when I want to play a bass part.

It's a simple guitar, so it doesn't need many features, although having a Bigsby on a bass or baritone is definitely a plus and I may put on a Wilkinson roller bridge to help that at some point. The build quality is o.k., the ground wire to the bridge was just poked in the hole and didn't really contact it (fixed that) and the finish is roughly sprayed into the control cavities (fixed that) but it pretty solid and the fit and finish on the exterior are great. Neck is slick and fast with well finished frets and even though it is just shy of 30" short scale bass length, the reach up the neck isn't bad at all due to the layout of the guitar.

It's not a perfect guitar or baritone or bass, but its pretty good and not expensive for what you get. basically; it is what it is, but you can make it what you want to a certain extent. I sing baritone, so having the ability to play lower is a plus for me.

You don't have to make all the changes, other than strings, that I have made for it to be a good guitar, but you can if you want.

I am a Gretsch fan anyway, this was my second Gretsch, and since then I've traded for a Gretsch Corvette so thats where I'm coming from.

I am not knocking the looks, sound, or quality of this instrument. But, if you are looking for an instrument that tunes to either A-A, or B-B standard baritone tuning, this ain't it. This guitar comes with the equivalento of Fender VI strings. It tune to E-E an octave below a standard guitar and cannot be tuned up to A without breakiing strings or damaging the neck. I have located a set of D'Addario bari strings: XL157, that are long-scale strings that range from 14 to 68, I haven't received them yet so I don't know if they will solve the problem of getting into "A" baritone tuning. Once that problem is solved I will then be better able to evaluate this instrument. So, if you want an instrument that tunes to "A" or "B" right out of ther box this is not it. It may become that if you want to do the leg work. However, it would be better for all if this instrument was described as a six string bass rather than a baritone guitar.

it is so amazing if you like classic rock like ac-dc youll love this