I've fallen in love with this analog device...

[Phelonious Ponk]

They're called Filtertrons, and are a type of "humbucking" guitar pickup designed the the Gretsch company in the 1950s. There are two basic types of electric guitar pickups -- single coils (think Fender Statocaster/Telecaster) and humbuckers (think all things Gibson, including the Les Paul). Single coils tend to be bright. Humbuckers tend to have a big, warm sound with a higher output, that is somewhat muted in the highs. Filtertrons, though they've been around for years, are a new discovery for me. They have a rather low output for a humbucker, which is fairly easy to deal with, but a sound that is...well, I'm going to sound like an audiophile..."magical." They have this big warm, fat, powerful lower midrange like the best Gibson humbuckers, with a lovely, complex chime on top. Pixie dust glittering on a sledghammer. Just magnificent clean tone, and the nicest, most clearly articulated overdrive when used to hit a tube amp hard. I like the ones that came on my recently acquired Gretsch so much, I put one on one of my Fenderesque guitars, and I'm thinking of having another.

Just thought I'd share for the few who care.

Tim

 

[mep]

It just goes to show you that if you want to create magic, you need to have analog. Seriously Tim, I'm glad you came upon these and they are putting a smile on your face.

 

[garylkoh]

Tim, this is as fascinating to me as comparing MC carts to MM carts to MI carts.

Would it be possible to record you playing the Fenderesque guitar, then put the Filtertron on it and record it again. Same same song of course. If possible, also record a "normal" humbucker. We audiophiles would learn something concrete about the world of guitars.

 

[mep]

Gary-That would be a giant PITA as you would have to remove the guitar strings, remove the other pickups, install the new pickups, install a new set of strings, tune the guitar, and then record the sound. Hats off to Tim if he is willing to do all of that.

 

[Steve Williams]

I agree if I only knew what a humbucker is Gary

 

[garylkoh]

I'm sure that the guitar players would have a lot more information, but a humbucker is basically a balanced pick-up designed to cancel common-mode noise.

When designing vinyl cartridges, the same trade-offs are used - more coils for higher output but you then have higher overall inductance which lowers the resonance frequency and you lose the sparkling high frequencies but you gain dynamics and a nice warm tone.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Hi Tim

A declaration of love
The one and only right way to buy gear

Vincent

 

[Bill Hart]

Tim- I have one of those Tele 'hot rods' that has a humbucker in the neck position and the standard fender pick up at the bridge. Love the sound of that guitar, and play it more than my Les Paul, which is, as you mentioned, a traditional humbucker loaded guitar (I find the neck cramped on the Gibson, it's not that I'm a good player, the Fender is just easier for me, particularly for chords, rather than lead lines).
Gary- not sure it so easy for Tim to swap out pick ups but he could switch between the two. The difference is not subtle- the humbucker usually sounds way fatter and louder. I run mine through an echoplex preamp module and that really gives it an overloaded quality before I plug it into a small Marshall (tube) stack. It has that sound that folks associate with Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons or Gary Moore- very rich, harmonically soaked, but a little muted and definitely distorted.
FWIW, the amazing guitar sound captured on the first Led Zep album was done on a Telecaster, not a Les Paul and did not, as far as I know, have tricked out pick-ups. (Jimmy Page is usually associated with the Les Paul) Tim, do you know?
Last comment: many guitars are now set up (or can be modified) to allow the pick-ups to act as humbuckers or split.
My Les Paul has aftermarket pick-ups and they are wired out of phase, ala the Peter Green Les Paul.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I agree if I only knew what a humbucker is Gary

This part is easy. There are a lot of variations on the designs, but the basics are simple. A single coil pickup is a single bar magnet, or row of magnets (one for each string, in the center of many windings of copper wire. It creates a magnetic field that picks up the vibrations of the strings. A humbucker is two rows or bars, with wire around them wound in opposite directions, so they have reverse polarity. This cancels out the 60-cycle hum common in single coil pickups; they "buck" the hum...get it? It also increases output and decreases treble response. Lower output humbuckers tend to have better highs. Filtertrons have shimmer and chime, sparkle and shine. Jangle. Magic. Another pickup with a similar sound can be found on vintage Rickenbacker guitars. Early Beatles records are full of Gretschs and Rics. You know the opening riff on Drive My Car? Classic Gretsch tone, on the dirty side, into a Vox AC-30.

Tim

 

[Joe D]

Would like to hear slide with those pix...and as you say tubes..way cool Ponk...a lot of the guitar hooks in Harrison/ Beatles is ala those pix

 

[DaveyF]

Like everything in audio land, guitar pup's ( pick-ups) and their associated sound are quite variable. I do not think that one can generalize so much when talking about the single coil sound vs. the hum-bucking sound.
On my Eric Clapton Strat, for example, there is an overdrive circuit on the board, which essentially allows me to drive the coils hard enough that they sound a little like a 'bucker'.
If you were to compare the sound of Texas Specials to Noiseless single coils, you do get a slightly different sound, and this is still with single coils. Same holds true for the various types of 'buckers. Even your Filtertrons have various degrees of 'bite'. Although, I will grant you this...IMO, the single coils can 'scream' a lot better than Filtertrons...IF that's the sound you're looking for.
As I'm sure you would agree Tim, the sound you are looking for is dependent on the type of guitar/amp and maybe pedal that you use. If your looking to do a 'softer' jangly type of sound...then Filtertrons are the way to go...if you want a SRV type of 'bite'...IMHO, no way.

 

[NorthStar]

-- Every audiophile prefer their own gear, and their own music mediums.

It is the exact same thing with musicians.

 

[jfrech]

I agree if I only knew what a humbucker is Gary

Well I for one would not come home and tell my wife I just got a "humbucker" Even is it's a "balanced pick-up designed to cancel common-mode noise" I'd be explaining that to the business end of a 12 gauge and I'm not sure she'd care what the "humbucker" really is...

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Like everything in audio land, guitar pup's ( pick-ups) and their associated sound are quite variable. I do not think that one can generalize so much when talking about the single coil sound vs. the hum-bucking sound.
On my Eric Clapton Strat, for example, there is an overdrive circuit on the board, which essentially allows me to drive the coils hard enough that they sound a little like a 'bucker'.
If you were to compare the sound of Texas Specials to Noiseless single coils, you do get a slightly different sound, and this is still with single coils. Same holds true for the various types of 'buckers. Even your Filtertrons have various degrees of 'bite'. Although, I will grant you this...IMO, the single coils can 'scream' a lot better than Filtertrons...IF that's the sound you're looking for.
As I'm sure you would agree Tim, the sound you are looking for is dependent on the type of guitar/amp and maybe pedal that you use. If your looking to do a 'softer' jangly type of sound...then Filtertrons are the way to go...if you want a SRV type of 'bite'...IMHO, no way.

Oh yeah, tons of variations within the broad types. And just as many "clubs" within the field as the audio hobby. As I'm sure you know, there are plenty of guys out there who would not consider your ECs pups, or even "noiseless" single coils to be actual single coils. They can sound great though. I can get "scream" from the Filtertrons with enough gain, but they sure aren't ideal for that. That's not really my thing, but I do have other guitars that can pull it off, more effectively than the Gretsch.

Tim

 

[HedgeHog]

Those are cool...I would really dig a white falcon or white penguin. Funny enough, a lot of guitarist prefer the touch sensitivity of passive p/u but I think most of my humbuckers are active.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I'm a big fan of the Tele bridge pickup. If I want "scream," that, into a cranked low-watt tube amp is the thing. If I want twang, all I have to do is dial it back. But my all-time favorite pickups are still the big MFD single coils Leo Fender designed and put in the first G&Ls. Clarity, bite, high output, low noise. They've got it all.

Tim