Used Gretsch Bass Guitar For Sale (2023 Update)

Purchased the Walnut version. This is the first guitar which I had to do nothing to it out of the box except an initial tuning. All screws were tight, the nut height was correct, the relief was good, the action was good with NO fret buzz, the finish was flawless, the fret ends were perfect and the intonation was spot on! I've never seen this, especially for the price point. I love the short scale of this instrument and it can be played as fast as you can do. Wow! I'm happy and impressed. I like it even more than my Ibanez Gio Mikro. Gretsch has done something with the pickups as ther is NO hum from the pickups even though they are claimed not to be humbuckers after all.John

Bought earlier today and have been playing it since getting it home. I prefer flatwound strings so put some on as soon as I could. Lowered the action to just under 2 mm at the 12th fret on the bass side. Intonation is just about spot on. Didn’t need to tweak the truss rod at all but will check it in a day or two. I’m over 70 and bought my first bass around 1965. This little bass is quite amazing for its price. There does seem to be some quality control issues reading online reviews but mine is very good. Gloss finish immaculate with no pooling or dull patches. Tone and volume are very smooth and work as they should. It’s very easy to replace with CTS or similar but at present there’s no need. Jack socket holds the jack securely. Frets beautifully finished. The flattish neck is great to play on and it’s gloss finish feels really smooth. Not sticky. Walnut fingerboard looked in nice condition but I put a little lemon oil on it when changing the strings. There has been some uproar that Gretsch were advertising these as having mini humbuckers when in fact they are single coils. I have no problem with single coils being a Fender fan. These single coils do not exhibit any background hiss through my amplifier. Some have complained that they do but mine is silent. The only gripe which has cost the review one star is concerning the machineheads. They have a little play in them which I hate. The only thing I will change will be these in due course when I find some with the correct 14 mm hole diameter. Plenty of space on the headstock so might go down the vintage style rout. Not sure. The main thing is to get good quality and ensure the existing holes are covered. All in all I’m very happy with this bass. It weighs in at 8.2lbs. Not too heavy. The bass sounds really nice with lots of tonal variance available using the pickup selector and tone control.Brian

Purchased the Walnut version. This is the first guitar which I had to do nothing to it out of the box except an initial tuning. All screws were tight, the nut height was correct, the relief was good, the action was good with NO fret buzz, the finish was flawless, the fret ends were perfect and the intonation was spot on! I've never seen this, especially for the price point. I love the short scale of this instrument and it can be played as fast as you can do. Wow! I'm happy and impressed. I like it even more than my Ibanez Gio Mikro. Gretsch has done something with the pickups as ther is NO hum from the pickups even though they are claimed not to be humbuckers after all.John

To start, I have particularly small hands for an adult lady. I started playing bass about 6 months ago – I have been playing guitar for about 2 years now and am comfortable with different scale lengths and string gauges. I started playing bass with a standard scale instrument and struggled for the first time to reach across four frets, and felt like my progress was stalling because of the instrument I was trying to use. Decided to try a short scale and it instantly made a world of difference in my playing; this bass just feels good while holding and playing for extended periods of time. The bass is also beautiful! I love the retro vibe, between the shell pink body and the vertical text on the headstock. The walnut fingerboard has the most beautiful markings on it; it's my favorite fingerboard on any instrument I own, which includes much more expensive instruments that sport rosewood, ebony, pau ferro, purpleheart, and maple fingerboards. I was worried the tone would suffer from the shorter scale but I actually much prefer the sound of this baby compared to the standard scale I had previously, and have had no trouble tweaking the knobs to dial in just the sound I'm looking for. This is my first Gretsch purchase but I am definitely sold on the quality of their products, especially for such a budget friendly price! At the end of the day, I've more than doubled my weekly bass practice time since getting this sucker, which is all anyone can really ask for in an instrument! The only negative I've come across for short scale basses in general is you'll have fewer options when it comes to string choices compared to standard scale, and especially compared to guitars. PS – shout out to my gear advisor Ryan T. – he rocks! Despite my being a relative n00b to guitar and bass, he treats me with so much respect and seems genuinely interested in my musical journey. I never feel pressured to buy something I'm not interested in and he even helped me track down a great set of short scale strings that also accommodate my nickel allergy! 🤘Leesah

I bought this base in December. It was advertised as having to humbucking pick ups. That is untrue there single coil pick ups and they've hum very loud. I put GHS Bright Flats on it. I can't get the intonation set correctly. I am not an expert but this is the only bass I couldn't get close. The bridge is very cheaply made. The tuners are also cheap and loos. You never know how far you will have to turn one to tighten or loosen the string. The bass sounds good. I have had cheaper basses that was better made and sounded better. If GC doesn't give me back my money or in store credit I will sell it. I did by the extended warranty. If I have to sell it I would not go back to GC. This is the second Jet I got from there. The jack kept falling out of the first one. I am not driving two hours each way just to talk to them.William

Purchased the Walnut version. This is the first guitar which I had to do nothing to it out of the box except an initial tuning. All screws were tight, the nut height was correct, the relief was good, the action was good with NO fret buzz, the finish was flawless, the fret ends were perfect and the intonation was spot on! I've never seen this, especially for the price point. I love the short scale of this instrument and it can be played as fast as you can do. Wow! I'm happy and impressed. I like it even more than my Ibanez Gio Mikro. Gretsch has done something with the pickups as ther is NO hum from the pickups even though they are claimed not to be humbuckers after all.John

Bought earlier today and have been playing it since getting it home. I prefer flatwound strings so put some on as soon as I could. Lowered the action to just under 2 mm at the 12th fret on the bass side. Intonation is just about spot on. Didn’t need to tweak the truss rod at all but will check it in a day or two. I’m over 70 and bought my first bass around 1965. This little bass is quite amazing for its price. There does seem to be some quality control issues reading online reviews but mine is very good. Gloss finish immaculate with no pooling or dull patches. Tone and volume are very smooth and work as they should. It’s very easy to replace with CTS or similar but at present there’s no need. Jack socket holds the jack securely. Frets beautifully finished. The flattish neck is great to play on and it’s gloss finish feels really smooth. Not sticky. Walnut fingerboard looked in nice condition but I put a little lemon oil on it when changing the strings. There has been some uproar that Gretsch were advertising these as having mini humbuckers when in fact they are single coils. I have no problem with single coils being a Fender fan. These single coils do not exhibit any background hiss through my amplifier. Some have complained that they do but mine is silent. The only gripe which has cost the review one star is concerning the machineheads. They have a little play in them which I hate. The only thing I will change will be these in due course when I find some with the correct 14 mm hole diameter. Plenty of space on the headstock so might go down the vintage style rout. Not sure. The main thing is to get good quality and ensure the existing holes are covered. All in all I’m very happy with this bass. It weighs in at 8.2lbs. Not too heavy. The bass sounds really nice with lots of tonal variance available using the pickup selector and tone control.Brian

I bought this bass as it was my dream bass and I never spend over $500 on any instrument incase someone steels it I can afford to replace it. this bass plays like butter. Its not neck heavy at all. I use a padded leather strap and It hangs just fine. you can get multiple tones with it that are useable and sound great. I also like that I can just pick it up and play it without having to use a amp.JoBoo

I may not be an experienced player but I have heard plenty of bass' and this is one of the best and smoothest sounding guitar.Xxxxx

Really like this bass. Setup was great right out of the box, finish was flawless. Has a real nice woody thump to it. Works great in the rockabilly/classic country bands i play in. Only negative comments i might have would be it is a little neck heavy. I run it thru a Mark Bass 210 combo and it kicks butt!LARRY

Fantastic looking and sounding bass, first rate fit and finish. Set up very well straight from the box. There are a great range of tones (all good) from this bass due to Gretsch having a master volume and two separate volume controls so blending the pickups is easy and you can turn the bass down without having to try and find same setting at the start of the next set. The only negative things to say about the bass is it is neck heavy, but I’m used to playing Thunderbirds and a suede strap should put pay to that and it is prone to feedback at very high volumes being a hollow body bass, but l’d doubt you would buy this type of bass to play Heavy Metal etc . I’m very pleased with the bass, it is perfect or the music I play. it certainly is a keeper. Thanks to Tom at the Norwich store for his help.DW

This is the best investment I ever made. Put flatwounds on it or you are wasting money. Great tone. Great sound. If you love Bill Wyman and the Rolling Stones or just want a different sound pick this bad boy up today.IAMTHEREALSPENCERWHARTON

Great sound. Heads up–the scale is a bit bigger than other basses, so can take a little getting used to. Be patient finding your sounds. Really versatile, but takes a little time to get there. Bought as an alternative to a Spector Euro XL4. Was concerned about the lack of active pick-ups, but the White Falcon has plenty of punch.Bassophilia

First, the pictures do not do this bass any justice at all. Everything is put together so well, and you will not find a better binding job on any other instrument in my opinion. The pickups and sound are stellar, and I'm surprised at how versatile it is. The drawbacks are that one, this is a HUGE bass. It can be unwieldy to some smaller bassists, and makes rocking out and on stage movement a bit challenging (to those that care about such things). The tone more than makes up for this of course. People will definitely come up to you and comment on how cool your bass is; not just bassists will do this. Honestly, there hasn't been a show that I've played where this hasn't happened. Here is the biggest drawback to the White Falcon: if you bring it to a show, you'll have no choice but to bring it to all of them. I tried to bring a smaller bass to a show last month, and was constantly asked where "that sweet white bass" is. My band always reminds me to bring it to every show. This will be the bass you play forever. You no longer have options. I now play in a hip hop metal group…with a Gretsch White Falcon. I have no other choice. Luckily, the Falcon screams and shakes the ground with its sound and tone. The pickups are the loudest passives I've ever played with; absolutely top notch, and the sounds you can get out of this bass are incredible. Just be sure you understand that you'll be expected to be seen playing it every time you play.Matt Who Plays Bass

this really is an amazing bass. I bought it about a year ago from another website and it's even better than i expected. the only problems i've had with it so far is that i had to replace the pickup, also it's a little heavy so you'll need a good thick strap not a little two inch, i learned that the hard way.all in all it's an amazing bass.Bandman420

I bought this for my son before Christmas and he was blown away! He loves playing this bass! I’m impressed by the quality of construction and my son has been playing it non stop. I’ve been a customer of AMS for several years and they have been my exclusive shop for all of the gear that our four musician household could ever need. Thanks once again American Musical!Ronald A.

I previously purchased the U.S. version of this bass in tangerine and I loved it; except for the color. The color was more like bright metal flake orange than tangerine metallic and although the bass played great and sounded amazing I returned it. After seeing Ed Friedland (the Bass Whisperer) review both versions on YouTube I decided to try this one. Although it looks kind of plain it plays and sounds almost as good as the U.S. version for half the price. I’d highly recommend it if you want a great sounding, comfortable and easy to play short scale.Ranger Sarge

The first thing you'll notice is how beautiful it is…it exceeded my expectation TV Jones Pick Ups give it a bit of a growl. Best suited for Rock, Pop, Bluesjopi.ca.0moh7e

This was a Christmas gift for my husband. It arrived in excellent condition in the time frame specified. He absolutely loves it! The short scale neck was great for him and the hollow body is comfortable. This retro style and bright red color is great!219mccord

I love this bass. I've never spent this much money on an instrument because im pretty rough on them. But this is my baby and i love it. Being a complete hollow body it takes a little time to get used to, but once ya get it dialed in its a beast!jstou9