Gretsch is on a hot-streak at all price points – remember those solid-top Jim Dandy acoustic guitars from a couple of weeks back? But it has just dropped two high-end electric guitars from its Professional Collection for the serious player or pro with a bit of cash to play with, and they offer a subtle refresh on the classic semi-hollow template.
Made Japan, these Bigsby-equipped Broadkasters – one a single-cut Jr, the other a full-sized double-cut – were unveiled at NAMM 2025, released last night, and take their ‘Center Block’ designation from the redesigned Channel Core block of maple and spruce that looks like it has shed some timber, and ergo some weight, from previous designs, but should still put the squeeze on feedback for when you’re playing with the guitar amp dimed and overdrive pedal engaged.
And these electric guitars are very much designed for those occasions, with a pair of Pro Twin Six humbuckers at the neck and bridge.
The Pro Twin Six humbucker is one of the newer electric guitar pickups that you will find on Gretsch guitars, having debuted a couple of years ago.
The neck pickup is designed around an Alnico V magnet and has a DCR rating of 5.5k an gives you a tone that Gretsch describes as “warm, clear, and throaty without being muddy or overly compressed”.
The bridge pickup is an Alnico IV design, rated at 12k and is “bright and clear, with enhanced midrange punch, tight focused lows, and sparkling highs” but spares you the ice pick treble.
Those pickups are hooked up to a master volume control with treble bleed circuit, a master no-load tone control with “Squeezebox” capacitor, plus individual volume controls and and three-way pickup selector. Yes, those knobs have the Gretsch G-Arrow stamped into the top.
The bodies have been redesigned too. Those cutaways have got a bit more space to accommodate your fretting hand, opening up more of that 12” radius ebony fingerboard. This being the Player Collection, that fingerboard has rolled edges. It seats 22 medium jumbo frets. There are Gotoh locking tuners too.
Fundamentally, both guitars share the same raw materials. The bodies are laminated maple, complemented by the aforementioned centre block. The neck is maple, glued to the body, and has a Standard U profile. Aged White binding ties it all together. You’ll find Aged White and Black purfling on the bodies. They’re both 24.6” scale instruments.
While the design skews retro, Gretsch isn’t beholden to golden era restrictions. Just like a state-of-the-art Jackson, there are Luminlay glow-in-the-dark side markers to aid fretboard navigation in low-light situations.
The finish options are classic Gretsch and work gangbusters with that gold hardware. The Broadkaster Jr LX Center Block (with Bigsby, to give it its full name) is offered in Blackberry and Midnight Sapphire. Its double-cutaway sibling is offered in Black and Cadillac Green.
Both are priced $2,839 and are available now. That price includes a deluxe hard-shell guitar case. See Gretsch for more details.
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