Hotter Pickups for The Green Green Gretsch of home....

KevS

OK they have been fitted,,and they sure look purty,,they really do look gorgeous..
I hear more clarity and tightness..

The old Blacktop Tron in my Gretsch 5422 neck position sounds looser,,less clarity..
It actually sounds kind of aged..The looseness sounds more sort of Organic Maaaan..

From 10 minutes swapping them back and forwards..
I think I like the HF trons more..I like the tonal balance..
The Blacktops sound less cultured rawer and vintage,,I like that too..
The HF Trons in the G5420 look way better than the Blacktops..

I think pickups do open up a little with age,,it could be an illusion that,but I've noticed guitars I've used a lot,especially at volume with drums seem to have something..Again it could be phantom..
<a href="https://imgur.com/nY7diLs"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/nY7diLs.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>   <a href="https://imgur.com/COtsSCX"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/COtsSCX.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

TheMarlin

Remember to get the pickups nice and close to the strings.  I pretty much have mine as close to the stings as they can get without fouling. 

And, I don’t mess with the pole pieces, don’t raise them, they’re set properly from the factory. Get the pickup itself as close as you can to the strings as you can. Thats how you get filtertrons to party.  

KevS

TheMarlin said:

Remember to get the pickups nice and close to the strings.  I pretty much have mine as close to the stings as they can get without fouling. 

And, I don’t mess with the pole pieces, don’t raise them, they’re set properly from the factory. Get the pickup itself as close as you can to the strings as you can. Thats how you get filtertrons to party.  

They are basically as high as they can go..That's with the spacers..I'm not sure if the tech raised the polepieces or not..
It sounds good..Double spacers on the bridge pickup,,single on the neck..The poles would be miles away if flush with the pickup tops..

There doesn't seem much range on the tone pot..He said the one in there was 250 K,so put in a better quality 250k..

musicman100

KevS said:

I have raised my Blacktops right up etc..
They don't sound bad,,they don't suit the guitar I feel..They are too civilised..It's like I want them to just have "More"..
It's like they are on about 8 and I want 10..I won't say 11..Sorry I just did,,Groan..
My 2 tone Green Gretsch Electromatic G 5420 T is one of those guitars you just want to play the living crap out of..
.It really has that play me,,play me hard feel..I've really bonded with it..I have quite short fingers..The 24.6 scale opens up what I can do..

I find the New Style Black Tops and the older ones lacking treble sizzle..

Gretsch Purists may get in a tizzy..I need something with ruder manners..I know original fIltertrons were quite low output..
Hopefully not something I have to take a mortgage out to buy either..

I would like the neck pickup to be Jazzier and have a bit more bass,,although clean tron bass rather than fat PAF bass.Although at would be better than just now..,,Out of any of my guitar,,this one I burst into the Jazz things on it..,,
The bridge to introduce a bit more muscle into the Rockabilly,,
but still be able to deliver Indie Jangle with a bit of sizzle on top,,all in a Gretsch way of course..
I have guitars with the PAF thing..

The Pots it came with seem to have an uneven range on them too..I know a Treble bleed is supposed to be good on the master..
I am open to push pulls on the pots too if they can add useful usable variation..

A Duane Eddy on Steroids/ Beatles / Malcolm Young switch...lol..
I know that one isn't really possible..

I love this guitar,,it plays so great with Gauge 11's on it..I wish it sounded as good as it plays..
<a href="https://imgur.com/wUms9Ae"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/wUms9Ae.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

These look so cool, very similar to the high end models 

ICBM

KevS said:

There doesn't seem much range on the tone pot..He said the one in there was 250 K,so put in a better quality 250k..

Did he use a log pot, or linear? Does the tone do nearly nothing until it’s nearly all the way down then all the change happens in the bottom quarter turn?

KevS

ICBM said:

KevS said:

There doesn't seem much range on the tone pot..He said the one in there was 250 K,so put in a better quality 250k..

Did he use a log pot, or linear? Does the tone do nearly nothing until it’s nearly all the way down then all the change happens in the bottom quarter turn?

That would describe how it was...Now it doesn't do a lot of range..Say down to 7 or 8 on a normal set up..
I wouldn't normally go lower than that anyway..It gives the illusion of fattening the sound up a bit when on zero..

KevS

musicman100 said:

KevS said:

I have raised my Blacktops right up etc..
They don't sound bad,,they don't suit the guitar I feel..They are too civilised..It's like I want them to just have "More"..
It's like they are on about 8 and I want 10..I won't say 11..Sorry I just did,,Groan..
My 2 tone Green Gretsch Electromatic G 5420 T is one of those guitars you just want to play the living crap out of..
.It really has that play me,,play me hard feel..I've really bonded with it..I have quite short fingers..The 24.6 scale opens up what I can do..

I find the New Style Black Tops and the older ones lacking treble sizzle..

Gretsch Purists may get in a tizzy..I need something with ruder manners..I know original fIltertrons were quite low output..
Hopefully not something I have to take a mortgage out to buy either..

I would like the neck pickup to be Jazzier and have a bit more bass,,although clean tron bass rather than fat PAF bass.Although at would be better than just now..,,Out of any of my guitar,,this one I burst into the Jazz things on it..,,
The bridge to introduce a bit more muscle into the Rockabilly,,
but still be able to deliver Indie Jangle with a bit of sizzle on top,,all in a Gretsch way of course..
I have guitars with the PAF thing..

The Pots it came with seem to have an uneven range on them too..I know a Treble bleed is supposed to be good on the master..
I am open to push pulls on the pots too if they can add useful usable variation..

A Duane Eddy on Steroids/ Beatles / Malcolm Young switch...lol..
I know that one isn't really possible..

I love this guitar,,it plays so great with Gauge 11's on it..I wish it sounded as good as it plays..
<a href="https://imgur.com/wUms9Ae"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/wUms9Ae.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

These look so cool, very similar to the high end models 

The picture there is with the Blacktop filtertrons..Before the HF ones..

 The HF Trons are made in Japan...Sound good..Aesthetically I think Filtertrons are maybe the most beautiful pickup.. I have the guitar on my lap right now..Plays so good..I love the look of it..I imagine the two tone green is a marmite thing..I prefer it to orange or white and gold...Not having to plug it in to hear it well makes it great for insomnia..

OilCityPickups

KevS said:

musicman100 said:

KevS said:

I have raised my Blacktops right up etc..
They don't sound bad,,they don't suit the guitar I feel..They are too civilised..It's like I want them to just have "More"..
It's like they are on about 8 and I want 10..I won't say 11..Sorry I just did,,Groan..
My 2 tone Green Gretsch Electromatic G 5420 T is one of those guitars you just want to play the living crap out of..
.It really has that play me,,play me hard feel..I've really bonded with it..I have quite short fingers..The 24.6 scale opens up what I can do..

I find the New Style Black Tops and the older ones lacking treble sizzle..

Gretsch Purists may get in a tizzy..I need something with ruder manners..I know original fIltertrons were quite low output..
Hopefully not something I have to take a mortgage out to buy either..

I would like the neck pickup to be Jazzier and have a bit more bass,,although clean tron bass rather than fat PAF bass.Although at would be better than just now..,,Out of any of my guitar,,this one I burst into the Jazz things on it..,,
The bridge to introduce a bit more muscle into the Rockabilly,,
but still be able to deliver Indie Jangle with a bit of sizzle on top,,all in a Gretsch way of course..
I have guitars with the PAF thing..

The Pots it came with seem to have an uneven range on them too..I know a Treble bleed is supposed to be good on the master..
I am open to push pulls on the pots too if they can add useful usable variation..

A Duane Eddy on Steroids/ Beatles / Malcolm Young switch...lol..
I know that one isn't really possible..

I love this guitar,,it plays so great with Gauge 11's on it..I wish it sounded as good as it plays..
<a href="https://imgur.com/wUms9Ae"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/wUms9Ae.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

These look so cool, very similar to the high end models 

The picture there is with the Blacktop filtertrons..Before the HF ones..

 The HF Trons are made in Japan...Sound good..Aesthetically I think Filtertrons are maybe the most beautiful pickup.. I have the guitar on my lap right now..Plays so good..I love the look of it..I imagine the two tone green is a marmite thing..I prefer it to orange or white and gold...Not having to plug it in to hear it well makes it great for insomnia..

I'm with you ... absolutely love my 5420. Great out of the box and great modding platform. After all, part of Gretsch ownership has always been hot-rodding them to suit your style and sound, and they can be pretty much all things to all people. 

ICBM

KevS said:

That would describe how it was...Now it doesn't do a lot of range..Say down to 7 or 8 on a normal set up..

I wouldn't normally go lower than that anyway..It gives the illusion of fattening the sound up a bit when on zero..

Sounds like he's used the wrong value cap, wired it wrong, or the pot is faulty... which can be caused by bending the terminal back to solder it to the casing, if the wiring layout calls for that. If it's that, it can be fixed with a pair of fine-nose pliers, but the pot has to come out to get at it.

KevS

ICBM said:

KevS said:

That would describe how it was...Now it doesn't do a lot of range..Say down to 7 or 8 on a normal set up..

I wouldn't normally go lower than that anyway..It gives the illusion of fattening the sound up a bit when on zero..

Sounds like he's used the wrong value cap, wired it wrong, or the pot is faulty... which can be caused by bending the terminal back to solder it to the casing, if the wiring layout calls for that. If it's that, it can be fixed with a pair of fine-nose pliers, but the pot has to come out to get at it.

OK...Thanks for your Knowledge....I am taking it it should turn down to Mud...I kind of like it how it is,,I'm a bit scared it might lose it's mojo..I know that is probably being silly....Maybe I don't want to part with it for even a minute..It is still on my lap as I type this..Maybe it's just my one,but this is a seriously nice guitar..