Gretsch G9240 Alligator Biscuit

Nice vintage styled resonator guitar based on the Regal-type of instruments made in the 1930's, with the "cokebottle" headstock. For the price, it's a hard to beat instrument with a very nice sound and decent playability straight out of the box (very sturdy box & foam "shell" as well), maybe a bit "dull" sounding, but nothing that can't be fixed by replacing the cone with a proper handspun one.

I ordered it for noodling around in various tunings, so well functioning tuners are quite critical, as is a properly cut nut. And I can testify that this guitar comes equipped with some of the best tuners that can be found in this price range, making (re)tuning a breeze: they're swift, accurate and keep their pitch perfectly.

Apart from that it's a nicely finished instrument, without any major defects or issues, with a comfortable, mild V-shaped chunky neck. There is some stain-bleed in the binding, but that's purely cosmetic, and was easily polished away with some dissolvant. The selling point for me (apart from the price that is) was that it's a fairly small, "parlour-sized" instrument which means it sits very comfortably on your lap. Don't let the size fool you though, it's a full-blown and full-sounding instrument, which can measure itself with more expensive instruments. I can recommend it!

The guitar looks great and stay in tune well, even when I use heavier string gauges (.12). The sound is super bright, and loud. I believe louder than most all-steel resonator I have played.It plays great on country and bluegrass music definitely.
If you look for some dark and dirty sound, this may not be the first option.

Being a resonator, the guitar suffers from buzz during weather changes. I had to readjust the cone position and therefore the intonation quite often to get the sound right. You can insert some cloth in between the guitar and the cone to remove the buzz permanently, but the sound and volume will be affected for sure.

In the end, I sold mine after two years of constantly fixing the buzz problems. I really missed its bright sound though.

Sorry for my bad use of words, I am no luthier.

I
This is a very nice looking guitar with a pretty pearl headstock and nice binding, it plays very well and keeps in tune, the overall finish is good with a few traces of glue which had not been removed at manufacture, these have polished off. The tone is bright with a reasonably solid bass and mid range. The string set up suits me, although some may think it a little high. The neck is smooth and comfortable for someone used to playing electrics. The body size is not over large and quite comfortable to play standing. Comparing the Alligator to several other resonators I've tried at a similar price,this is a good buy.