Gretsch Lovers

jrockbridge

jrockbridge

Stealing Your Riffs
What are your thoughts about Blacktop Filtertron pickups? What do you like about them? What do you dislike about them?
 
I love Gretsches but my Duo Jet has Dynasonics and my Tenny has HiLo'Trons, so I can't help you with the FTs...
 
Honestly, it depends on which Guitar they're in. For instance, the Black Top BroadTrons (not the FilterTrons you're asking about, I know) sounded way too dark for my tastes in my G5220 Jet but absolutely luscious in my G5655TG CenterBlock.

The BTFTs are not as bright and chimey as, say, the High Sensitive FTs but are definitely not just smaller humbuckers or even Epi/Gib-style minihums, either.

What are you looking to put them in/are they already in?
 
GilmourD said:
Honestly, it depends on which Guitar they're in. For instance, the Black Top BroadTrons (not the FilterTrons you're asking about, I know) sounded way too dark for my tastes in my G5220 Jet but absolutely luscious in my G5655TG CenterBlock.

The BTFTs are not as bright and chimey as, say, the High Sensitive FTs but are definitely not just smaller humbuckers or even Epi/Gib-style minihums, either.

What are you looking to put them in/are they already in?
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I’m considering the mid level Gretsch blacktop pickups as replacements for Broad’Tron BT-2S in either one of two guitars. Of course, nobody can predict whether they would work out for me.

Mine is mint green, almost like a surf green. The neck P90 sounds good. Even the middle position is decent. But, the bridge position is not something I’d use.
IMG_1557.jpeg



This is one is similar to the one I own but mine is a 2410T. I’ve come to realize that I want to try something other than the BT-2S that’s closer to traditional Gretsch. While the high sensitivity Filtertron pickups would likely sound great, paying that much for upgrading a cheap guitar seems silly to me. The mid grade blacktop pickups seem to be considered to be a more classic Gretsch sounding pickup. And, the upgrade price is more reasonable for a budget guitar.
IMG_1555.jpeg
 
jrockbridge said:
I’m considering the mid level Gretsch blacktop pickups as replacements for Broad’Tron BT-2S in either one of two guitars. Of course, nobody can predict whether they would work out for me.
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I don't live in the Gretsch world, never owned one. Back when they first started making some of their guitars in China, I picked one up at a guitar center. It was comical how bad it was. Yes, in the years since, China has got a lot better at making guitars, the Gretschs are probably a lot better now too. I've just never had the itch to see. Anyways, in general, with any brand, it's kind of like playing the lottery. Sometimes you get way more than you paid for. Long story short, I don't think it's necessarily silly to put expensive pickups in a cheap guitar. Possibly silly? Yes. If the guitar is a piece of crap or, it's OK but, you have other guitars that are so much better so, this guitar won't ever get played, yes it would be silly.


"While the high sensitivity Filtertron pickups would likely sound great, paying that much for upgrading a cheap guitar seems silly to me. The mid grade blacktop pickups seem to be considered to be a more classic Gretsch sounding pickup. And, the upgrade price is more reasonable for a budget guitar."
 
My first Gretsch was a 5120 Electromatic with the infamous "Mudbuckers", which were in essence a fairly decent set of vintage sounding humbuckers. But in that guitar it resulted in a dark sound, very jazzy, smokey, and Gibson-like. When the 5420 series came out with the Blacktop Filtertrons after a couple of yrs I got a good deal on a set from someone upgrading their 5420 to Filtertrons or TVJs. The Blacktops made the 5120 much more Gretchy, more twangy. Later on I got a White Falcon with TVJ Classics. Compared to the 5120 the Falcon had much better clean tones IMO. Just more full sounding and richer when played clean. Sweeter across the spectrum from lows to highs. But with OD and distortion they were pretty darn similar IMO. So I wound up moving the 5120 on during the pandemic. Now I kinda regret not putting the old mudbuckers back in and keeping it , I kinda miss the dark bluesy vibe of the original guitar, a totally different thing than the Pro Line Falcon with TVJ Classics.
The Blacktops will get you a more traditional Gretch sound but IMO they dont match TVJ Classics in the cleans dept. But if you are mainly a player who uses mild OD to heavy distortion they will get you in more traditional Gretsch ballpark than with their more Gibson inspired pickups.
 
jrockbridge said:
I’m considering the mid level Gretsch blacktop pickups as replacements for Broad’Tron BT-2S in either one of two guitars. Of course, nobody can predict whether they would work out for me.

Mine is mint green, almost like a surf green. The neck P90 sounds good. Even the middle position is decent. But, the bridge position is not something I’d use. View attachment 100776


This is one is similar to the one I own but mine is a 2410T. I’ve come to realize that I want to try something other than the BT-2S that’s closer to traditional Gretsch. While the high sensitivity Filtertron pickups would likely sound great, paying that much for upgrading a cheap guitar seems silly to me. The mid grade blacktop pickups seem to be considered to be a more classic Gretsch sounding pickup. And, the upgrade price is more reasonable for a budget guitar.
View attachment 100777
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The Black Tops FilterTrons would get you 95% of the way there. They are true FilterTrons, just with the '70s style covers and they're wound a touch (and I mean a touch) hotter while using the narrower standard humbucker fillister head screws for poles instead of 6-40 (vintage spec) or 6-32 (HSFT spec) screws.

At a certain point there's a level of minutiae that I don't feel you're concerned with and the BTFTs will add that clarity and Gretschiness that you want.

That said... I've definitely put pickups in a guitar where the pickups cost more than the guitar. :bounce:

The BT-2S and improved BT-3S pickups aren't terrible but they're also definitely not that classic Gretsch sound. Heck, if you could find a set of Black Top Broadtrons like what I have in my G5655TG those might also work extremely well for your hollowbody there, and you can find those used sometimes for almost nothing.

If you need help finding the correct pickup rings, lemme know. Your two guitars have Gibson-style rings. Standard Gretsch rings have the screws a little closer together and might not completely cover the existing screw holes, but there are rings out there that will drop right into the existing screw holes and fit the Filtertrons without a gap.
 
GilmourD said:
This might be of interest to you:

For Sale - set of Filtertron Nick 13 blacktops w creme bobbin cover.

$100 when I bought my nick13 duojet I pulled the set of Filtertron Nick 13 blacktops w creme bobbin covers. Been sitting in the drawer. they seems a tad more chimey than stock blacktops which I hahhte. :) You might like chimier blacktops.
gretsch-talk.com gretsch-talk.com
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Thanks for thinking of me. Nice looking out.

You can buy new Blacktop Filtertron pickups between $45 and $60 each, depending on where you look. So, I don't think a used pair for $100 is much of a bargain. Also, my G2410T has gold hardware, so I'd need the gold hardware Blacktop Filtertron pair for my guitar. The gold ones are less common but not impossible to find.
 
I had to spend a few buck at TVJ for the correct rings and heights spacers when I did my 5120 conversion to the blacktops. Around $30-40 as I recall but its been a while ago.I think I paid around $90 for the 2 pickups. I didnt bother with upgrading the wiring harness.
 
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