Gretsch G5034TFT Rancher Bigsby

I fell in love with this ugly beautiful beast a few months ago and began saving for it immediately. I have had her for 5 months now and have very little to complain about, apart from a few points....

I gig with the Rancher Bigsby frequently (2-3 times a week). She holds up well on the road and stays in tune well when using D'addario 11's. She came with 12's, however, I experimented with 11's & 10's (nickel wound electric strings for the Fidelitron pickup)
as I thought the 12's deadened the acoustic sound of guitar.
The 10's were too light, 11's were just right.
I've also tried Ernie Balls Hybrid strings but was quickly driven mad trying to keep the guitar in tune! Also, I'm a hard strummer and the B broke during every gig, just too light for me.

Acoustically this guitar is quiet (I have yet to try acoustic strings). Plugged in, she growls. Sounds great with a little overdrive/distortion!
The volume knob is very useful if you don't have a floor tuner.

I didn't have to get the guitar set up when it arrived. Action was pretty much perfect. I play a bit of slide and it works great, no troubles. Vibrato arm was tight enough (I've read reports of them being too loose on arrival)

The Bigsby and arm itself are very stable, doesn't seem to have any notion to explode just yet! Provided you don't do any dive bombing on this baby! Stays in tune well while using the whammy.
After 5 months the gold coating is beginning to fade and turn to silver in some places.

We play 2-3 hours a night standing and the guitar is heavy. You'll definitely feel it across your shoulders the next morning. I am also the lead singer and have had to adjust my stance in order to compensate for the weight of the guitar.

Those who have any notions about installing strap locks will run into difficulty. The pins are big and you can't remove them.

ONE HUGE PROBLEM.. This has caused me SO much hardship since getting the Gretsch. There is no case. Thomann have sent me two hard cases. One of which I was assured it would fit and that it had been double checked. The case closed with about a 2 inch gap and for the sake of the neck, my pocket and my sanity I sent it back.
I scoured the internet in search of a case that might fit and found a part number of a case that Gretsch (Fender) had put with the guitar. Rang their office in America (from Ireland) and was assured that that was the case for it.
Valued at €150 (€50 more than I was expecting to spend) I called the nearest fender dealer and asked them to order it for me.
2 weeks later I drove 3 hours to the shop to find that the guitar wouldn't even sit into the case!
I now have to have a case made which is going to cost between €250 and €300 and is giving the case maker a serious headache.

All in all its a great guitar! Especially for and Indonesian build. Quiet in an open session setting. Its built to be plugged in.
Extremely eye catching, (expect a lot of open mouthed guitar players in the room)

I bought this guitar mainly because I wanted to have a guitar with a Bigsby and from this point of view this guitar hasnt disappointed. Plugged in to an amplifier, the guitar's got a very nice sound and the bigsby adds something, that's for sure.

However, were I to be looking at buying this guitar again knowing what I know now, I would probably have chosen another guitar, either another (more expensive) Gretsch semi-acoustic, and not worried about the acoustic side of it, or perhaps another brand altogether with a Bigsby on it.

The plusses; nice sound, the Bigsby effect.

The minuses; action is a bit high, also the narrow width of the fingerboard (43mm) makes it less playable for me than other guitars such as the Gibson Parlour, which is absolutely fantastic guitar. Because of the Bigsby, nothing can really be done about the action, once you've reached the bottom of the thread on the bridge.

In general, this is a nice guitar but I will mostly only use it for very specific purposes. Not a guitar I would play all the time.