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Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte

VS

Playability

65

Sound

70

Build

72

Value

54

Score

69

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Playability

67

Sound

79

Build

64

Value

70

Score

70

FIND IT ON:

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Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon vs Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte

Price History Comparison

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Prices

• New from $999.99 >>
• New from $1,199 >>
• Used from $810 >>

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Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte is probably the better product overall with its final score of 70 compared to the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon's 69 score, although not by a lot.

The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte wins when it comes to sound, playability, value for the money. On the other hand, the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon has the upper hand when it comes to build quality.

If you got small hands, you'll probably feel more comfortable playing the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon is the better choice.

The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte meets only 3. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in Both

Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.

Woods Used in the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon

Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.

Woods Used in the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte

Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.

Agathis is a softwood similar to Mahogany. It's more affordable, which makes it popular as a way to reduce production costs. People believe it to produce a warm tone with good punch and sustain.

Winner: Tie.

Pickup Configuration

The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon has an SS configuration while the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has HH pickups.

SS is the classic Telecaster configuration. It's used mainly for playing clean or with low-gain distortion, and it's very popular for the country genre because of their brightness. It doesn't give you as much versatility as a Strat SSS configuration, but you might like the cleaner look of a guitar body with fewer pickups.

On the other hand, Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.

Pickups Quality

Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.

However, the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.

Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.

Winner: Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.

Only the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Tap.

Coil Tap is similar to Coil Split but it works a bit differently. Instead of completely cancelling one of the coils of the humbucker, it only cuts part of the output once activated. Some people believe this gives the split pickups a more real single-coil sound.

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon compares to the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon is built in United States while the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte is made in Indonesia.

The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.

Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.

Winner: Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon has a Delrin nut. It's a fabricated nut material made to be similar to bone, but a lot more slippery. It's good for tuning stability as long as it's cut well.

On the other hand, the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte comes with a Locking nut. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.

Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon's brige is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.

On the other hand, the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's is a Floyd Rose. This is a double-locking bridge system that allows you to perform techniques like dive bombs and pinch harmonics. The locking nut allows your guitar to stay in tune even after the most intense tremolo usage. The disadvantage is that it takes more work to change the strings and set up everything correctly.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Tuners

Both come with regular tuners. The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon's are Grover Imperial Die-Cast while the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's are Grover Exclusive 18:1 Chrome

Winner: Tie.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon has a Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.

On the other hand, the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte comes with Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.

Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Final Build Quality Scores

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has the wider nut with 43mm (1.693'') vs 42.9mm (1.688''). This is a 0.1mm (0.0050000000000001'') difference

This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.

Scale Length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

In this case, both have a scale length of 25.5".

This is the scale used in most Stratocasters. It's slightly longer than the typical 24.75'' size found in Les Pauls, and it's one of the main reasons why Stratocasters have such a bright sound in general. A longer scale also means that the strings will have higher tension. This will help you get lower action without suffering fret buzz, which will also be helpful when playing in lower tunings without having to increase your string gauge.

However, this also means that there will be more separation between frets, which can make it more difficult to play. Also, bending the strings will require more strengths due to the increased tension, but remember that a tremolo guitar will offset this difficulty.

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

In this case, both have different neck shapes:

The Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon has a V type of neck. This neck shape was more common during Fender's early years. Some people like it because they use their thumb over the edge of the fretboard to press the lower strings. It's rather thicker than most modern necks, so it's not usually used for playing fast solos.

The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte, on the other hand, has a C neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

Fretboard Radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

In this case, the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Hand Size Comfortability

Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon favors large hands more than the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.

Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon:

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte:

Fret Size

The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has Medium frets, which should be taller than the Gretsch G6136CST Custom Shop White Falcon's Vintage frets.

Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.

Final Playability Scores