Gretsch has added the super popular CVT its entry level Streamliner series, offering the dual-humbucker electric guitar in four classic finishes, and with a $249 price tag.
The CVT is the Gretsch guitar for players who might never have considered playing a Gretsch before. It’s a little bit, well, it’s different. Is it a metal guitar? It could be. Those HotWire humbuckers you’ll find at the neck and bridge positions have a powerful ceramic magnet and pack a bit of a wallop.
Yes, it seems a little weird to see “Gretsch” on the headstock and think immediately about tuning down to C and dooming out but it’s 2026 and anything goes (and we’d do that with a Chet Atkins, by the way, why not?).
And yet, there’s is still something classic and golden era about the CVT. The cutaways themselves are quite aggro, but the headstock shape and the rounded bouts keep it part of the family.
The CVT is Gretsch’s quote/unquote high-gain electric guitar but it still belongs in the catalogue alongside more idiomatic purveyors of “That Great Great Sound!” such as the Bigsby-equipped G2420TG Hollow Body the G2622T Center Block Double-Cut, and so on.
This would make a great first electric guitar for the serious beginner who’s been weaned on acoustic guitar and is ready to plug in. Firstly, of course, there is the price. You’re looking at $249 in the States, £299 in the UK.
Secondly, the dimensions are pretty user friendly.
The neck profile, a “Fast C” shape, offers the kind of mainstream playing experience we expect from beginner instruments. The neck, incidentally, is also mahogany, and unlike the more expensive – and typical – Gretsch builds it joins the body with a four-bolt joint.
The fingerboard is laurel, has a 12” radius, seats 22 medium jumbo frets with Neo Classic Thumbnail inlays counting ‘em out. And at this price it’s nice to see that Gretsch has bound the neck – it adds a touch of class.
Here the body is solid mahogany, not chambered as per the Duo Jet, but all that bevelling makes it less heavy than it looks on the stand.
The drive is simple. Those dual humbuckers are controlled by a three-way pickup selector, volume and tone. Note the “Speed dial” style control knobs. That makes us thing Gibson Les Paul Custom.
If you look down at your feet to find an array of drive and distortion pedals limpetted to your pedalboard, this is the Gretsch for you.
It’s available in Sea Foam Green, Jet Black, Vintage White and Olive Drab (we’ve seen these in person and it’s hard to pick a favourite but, okay, the Olive Drab is convincing).
Check ‘em out over at Gretsch.
