Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

[sosomething]

Ho there good people of the forum.

Yesterday I bought a nice Gretsch with some FilterTron pickups in it.

This:


It's a cool guitar. I'm a little confused by the pickups, though. They're just normal Gretsch FilterTrons, but nobody told me they were SO FREAKING HOT HOLY CRAP HIGH OUTPUT INSANE. I mean way hotter than anything else I even have. Is that normal?? I tried to adjust the pole pieces but they just turn and turn and don't go up or down. Is that normal too??

Help me out. I am a total Gretsch newb.

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

I think the standard Gretsch Filtertrons use ceramic magnets in them, that might have something to do with it. The TV Jones pickups use the original type with (I believe) Alnico magnets in them, and they should be less hot and more vintage sounding.

Al

Ho there good people of the forum.

Yesterday I bought a nice Gretsch with some FilterTron pickups in it.

This:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]54683[/ATTACH]

It's a cool guitar. I'm a little confused by the pickups, though. They're just normal Gretsch FilterTrons, but nobody told me they were SO FREAKING HOT HOLY CRAP HIGH OUTPUT INSANE. I mean way hotter than anything else I even have. Is that normal?? I tried to adjust the pole pieces but they just turn and turn and don't go up or down. Is that normal too??

Help me out. I am a total Gretsch newb.

[ArtieToo]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

Wow! Beautiful axe.

(Wait a sec . . . can I call an F-hole an "axe"?)

[beaubrummels]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

I have that exact guitar and mine is not that hot, at least not 'high output insane' by any measure. It is in the range of my stock Les Paul and SG, however, so I presume it's not exactly vintage if that was the expectation.

Was it used? Is it possible the previous owner did some mods to the pickups?

[JeffB]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

Those blacktop ones Gretsch puts in some guitars are really hot. Hard to tell on my teeny screen if those are the ones.Messed around with some of those boacktop ones at the Baltimore Gretsch Roundup a couple months back.. dynasonics are hot too.

TV Jones' are about like a typical hot PAF outputwise.

Edit- congrats, killer guit. Ever since the roundup, I have had massive Gretsch GAS.

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

There are hotter Gretsch humbuckers that I think are called Powertrons, they come in some guitars, maybe that's what you have. I still think the ceramic mags have something to do with it.

Al

[sosomething]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

Thanks guys.

Turns out they're just really sensitive to how close they are to the strings. I raised the action a bit (the only way to get the strings away from the pickups) and they've relaxed and brightened up considerably.

I think the pickups are stock. This is a 1962 Country Classic made in 2004, so they're just the standard Gretsch FilterTrons. I think part of what makes these pickups seem so hot to me is the particular tonality of 'Tron-style pickups I'm not used to. There is a certain hairiness to the pick attack that is a lot like what you get with a ton of gain, even when the amp is only slightly overdriven. It's really interesting getting used to the guitar because I've never owned a Gretsch before and they're not like a Gibson or Fender or any combination of the two. Totally its own thing.

[sosomething]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

Wow! Beautiful axe.

(Wait a sec . . . can I call an F-hole an "axe"?)

Ha! The F-hole isn't real! It's just painted on!

[AlexR]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

There are 2 screws at either end of the pickup - they should be your height adjust.

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

Just like many of the originals.

Al

Ha! The F-hole isn't real! It's just painted on!

[Chickenwings]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

that is a sweet axe!

[mleffler]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

I have a very similar model (6122-1962) and I needed to adjust the height of the pickups recently. They aren't like any other pickup adjustments I've ever seen. Check out one of the gretsch forums. The deal is that the two screws at the end of the pickups have shims underneath them instead of springs or tubing. There are a lot of suggestions for different shim materials out there, but I just replaced them with springs so I could adjust the height like a normal humbucker. This probably violates some basic Gretsch rule, but I am always tinkering and it works for me.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

Ho there good people of the forum.

Yesterday I bought a nice Gretsch with some FilterTron pickups in it.

This:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]54683[/ATTACH]

It's a cool guitar. I'm a little confused by the pickups, though. They're just normal Gretsch FilterTrons, but nobody told me they were SO FREAKING HOT HOLY CRAP HIGH OUTPUT INSANE. I mean way hotter than anything else I even have. Is that normal?? I tried to adjust the pole pieces but they just turn and turn and don't go up or down. Is that normal too??

Help me out. I am a total Gretsch newb.

First of all . . . HNGretschD to you. Looks beautiful.

I am surprised that the pick ups are sooo hot.

I just bought the TV Jones Power Tron & Power Tron+ units, and those are the hottest that TV Jones have to offer.
I wonder how they would compare with your units ?

[JeffB]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

BTW, I def recco heading over to the Gretsch Discussion Pages. My brother(evilthing) is a senior member there, and the member roundups (all over the country) are fantastic..

[sosomething]

Re: Just bought a Gretsch --- FilterTrons, WTF???

I have a very similar model (6122-1962) and I needed to adjust the height of the pickups recently. They aren't like any other pickup adjustments I've ever seen. Check out one of the gretsch forums. The deal is that the two screws at the end of the pickups have shims underneath them instead of springs or tubing. There are a lot of suggestions for different shim materials out there, but I just replaced them with springs so I could adjust the height like a normal humbucker. This probably violates some basic Gretsch rule, but I am always tinkering and it works for me.

THIS is the answer! Thank you!

I'll need to change the strings on it anyway, so that's when I'll address the shim issue.

It's a really cool guitar. It's really "Gretschy" which is awesome, because it totally adds a new color to my tonal palette that you really can't achieve any other way.