Was great to see this Brett Kingman demo using a Tele Cabronita with Mr Glyns The Tron pickups to demonstrate some really cool pedals the other day. He’s got dozens of guitars to choose from, so chuffed he chose my pickups.
TheTron is the perfect pickup as a Gretsch upgrade, for the modern player wanting something other than Gibson style humbuckers, rockabilly players after that traditional tone, jazz players or, like me, Malcolm Young fans. Thereโs so much you can to with The Tron.
The Tron pickup set is based around the legendary Gretsch Filtertron pickups of the 50โs and 60โs. To say To say it has character is an understatement. It is full and rounded with a well balanced mid range. It has that distinctive โClankโ that separates it from other pickups. The neck pickup is clear and fat and the bridge stands out from the mix without ever sounding harsh.
This is a unique style of pickup and quite distinct from its Gibson cousin the PAF.
Available in standard size with traditional ‘through cover’ mounting. 2 or 3 screw humbucker style mounting. P90 size.
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The Tron demos
Here’s the full demo from Brett:
Who is it for?
The Tron is the perfect Filtertron pickup as a Gretsch upgrade. For the modern player wanting something other than Gibson style humbuckers For the rockabilly player after that traditional tone. For the jazz player or, like me, Malcolm Young fans. Thereโs so much you can to with The Tron.
Cabronita
As you can see from the demos it’s not just Gretsch guitars, the Tron are great in Telecaster Cabronitas. or any guitar for that matter.
For the modern player with one foot in the past.
Strat Tron
P90 size Tron
The Tron is now available in P90 size. This is the same pickup, same bobbins, same magnet. So if you need some Tron goodness in your P90 guitar this is the set for you.
P90 Size Tron
As the Tron pickup fits inside a P90 cover there are no compromises. This is the true Tron tone for your P90 guitar.
The P90 version has its own base plate. These are designed and made in house. This has an extra earthed shielding layer for that bit extra noise reduction.
Base Plate
The mounting screws are located at each end of the pickup. They come with screws and springs.
They are available in 49.2mm or 52mm spacing and with either cream or black covers.
Tron P90 set
There is a a link to the shop at the top of this page.
Development
Over the years Iโve repaired a fair few old Gretsch Filter-tron pickups. I have noticed the best sounding ones are at the upper range for ohms. Iโve taken that design and tweaked it until I got the fullness I was looking. But paying attention not to loose the essential clarity and clank.
Most of my pickups are made in collaboration with a professional player, but not this one.
I started playing guitar at the age of 16 when I first heard Malcolm Young. That’s the sound of a Filtertron through an almost clean valve amp. I didnโt feel I needed another set of ears for this one, I knew exactly what I wanted.
I needed this pickup set to be crystal clear with a clean amplifier but to come into its own when pushing an amp to clip.
I think that’s what it’s all about with this design – how it makes an amp clip.
The neck pickup needed to be clear, full and chiming in both a big archtop and in the neck position of a Telecaster. The bridge pickup needed to have no shortage of character, a clean almost jangly tone when played gently but with enough go in it to push the front end of a valve amp to clip when you dig in.
The design of The Tron Filtertron pickup
Here are my thoughts on the design of this pickup set. In this video I talk about the differences between Filtertron pickups and Gibson PAF’s.
In summary, the filtertron has a big magnet with low dc resistance. The PAF had a smaller magnet and higher dc resistance. Filtertrons get most of their power from their large magnet giving them a distinctive ‘clank’. They have an immediate feel under your fingers. An instant attack.
The magnet is very important. I get mine specially made for me to my spec. I am very fussy about my magnets.
In comparison, a PAF is smoother and less percussive sounding.
Mounting options
I’ve made this one to fit what you play.
TheTron pickup comes with the standard mounting screws for the โsoapbarโ style mounting known as the โuniversal mountingโ.
If your pickup is mounted on a humbucker style ring, you can fit it using one of my adapter plates.
I’ve developed two adapter plate options: 2-screw to mount to Gibson-style humbucker rings,
or 3-screw to mount to the ring found on some Gretsch guitars.
Adapter plates are $10 each ($20 with a set). Ypou can find the options to order tham at the checkout.
And as for the name “TheTron”? – I think you have to be a Kiwi…
Dimensions
The Tron Filter-tron pickup is a slightly different size to its ‘Gibson’ style humbucker cousins.
It is 71.5mm x 35mm where as a Gibson shape humbucker is 70mm x 38mm. It is possible to get adapter mounting rings to fit a Filter-tron type pickup in a Gibson type humbucker loaded guitar. I don’t sell these.
The P90 Tron is standard P90 size so 35mm x 85.5mm.
The Tron is available with a 52mm pole spacing to fit with Fender style bridge spacing.
The Gretsch FilterTron is something rather special. Originally designed in 1954/5 by Ray Butts for guitarist Chet Atkins who wasnโt satisfied by the DynaSonic pickup he was using. It has become a classic but often misunderstood pickup.
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What is the Filtertron sound?
It has left a distinct mark on the sound of RockโnโRoll. Itโs the sound of Malcolm Young, Brian Setzer, Billy Duffy and plenty more. That unmistakable โClankโ on the attack of the note is the essence of the FilterTron.
I started playing guitar because of the sound of a Gretsch FilterTron. Listen to Malcolm Young on the intro to โJailbreakโ – thatโs what Iโm talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRo2m6RYJpI
But you donโt only find FilterTrons in Gretches, thereโs the rather cool Fender Cabronita Telecaster for instance.
So what’s inside a Gretsch FilterTron?
So how does it make that distinctive sound? What makes it so different from a PAF?
Hereโs a vintage Gretsch FilterTron from 1961, letโs take a look under the hood.
With the cover off it looks quite different from a PAF. There are 2 rows of adjustable poles and theyโre bigger than on a Gibson. The top of the bobbins are rather neatly hidden by a thin plate.
The Technical Stuff
Hereโs where it gets really interesting. Those are very narrow bobbins and this one measures only 4.2KOhms. Not a lot of coil strength there but look what theyโre sitting on. That is one fat magnet. Itโs an Alnico V and literally twice the thickness of the magnet that youโd find in a PAF. So not only more powerful magnetic material but double the amount of it compared to a Gibson. That makes it quite a different beast.
So that Gretsch FilterTron sound consists of a weaker, thin sounding coil so lots of highs and twang from the windings and getting the aggression, attack and โclankโ from the powerful magnet. A powerful magnet gives an immediacy to tone. You can really feel it when you play a guitar with a larger magnet.
This is the original Gretsch FilterTron, the design didnโt change much through to the late 60โs although there are plenty of inconsistencies. They can have a dc resistance from 4KOhms up to 5KOhms.
By the 1970โs they had changed the design and really they just didnโt sound like Gretschโs any more.
A lot of the modern ones are simply small Gibson style humbuckers with cool looking covers and just miss the whole point of the FilterTron sound. This tone is not for everyone but for some of us it’s simple the best sound an electric guitar can make.
Itโs all about those weak coils and that monster magnet. There is more than one way to make an electric guitar pickup.
The work I did on this original set of Gretsch pickup really inspired me to design my own take on the Filtertron pickup. I call it ‘The Tron’. It has the same magnet as the original to give it that character but with slightly different coils. I have wound the bridge pickup to be on the upper end of the old ones to balance it with then neck pickup. Back in the day the bridge and neck were identical.
The Tron is available with a few different insert colors – for more information follow the link below.
Updated July 2024
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Mr Glyns Pickups
My own version of the FilterTron is now available:
