GFS Pickups Retrotron Liverpool

Seems like everybody else has covered this

Replaced the stock HB's in an Ibanez AF75D hollowbody...Sort of a Gretsch copy. The stock pickups were trash, and thoroughly unsuited for this type of guitar.

I was looking to cop that "DAY TRIPPER" sound on the cheap. Mission accomplished. Set up with flatwounds it's a great match, but works really well with roundwounds as well. I've had them for a while now, and have played them through different amps to get a better feel for them before posting.
If any amp will show a pickup's true colors, both good and bad, it's a Fender Twin Reverb. These shine through mine, with harmonic complexity and chime everywhere. Nails that "Ticket to Ride" vibe better than my buddy's Gretsch RI. Through a Vox AC30 they're magic, and even sound good and nasty through my Blackface Bassman; add a little slapback echo and it's hello Brian Setzer.
Others have complained about these being too hot...that was my initial impression as well, but I found that setting them very low in the gutar not only tamed the output but brought out the harmonic mojo as well. An evening spent adjusting polepieces and pickup height is time well spent, and made ALL the difference IMHO.
For that rockabilly vibe and Harrison twang, these things are hard to beat regardless of price. Don't expect them to be correct vintage whatever that means,but they get the job done rather convincingly.

I've been playing and accumulating gear for over 30 years...my basement looks like a music store. I know good sounds when I hear them, and this is good. I've never owned a Gretsch before, never found the one that would justify the large cash outlay. I'm not looking for one anymore, as this setup fills that gap for very little dough. I'm not easy to please, but these make me smile, especially when i think about how little I have in them. I hesitated to buy them, as I am usually disappointed with lower priced gear...you get what you pay for. Now I have no reservations about buying other products from GFS. What a nice surprise!

First of all: I already filled one of these reviews out, but my Internet connection failed while I was trying to send it in. So if this winds up being redundant, sorry...

It's a pair of passive humbuckers. They're really cool-looking.

I put these in a Mexican Telecaster, bridge and neck positions. They're replacing a generic chrome humbucker in the neck and a Seymour-Duncan Little 59 in the bridge. The reason for the change is that the 59 sounded...I don't want to say bad, but it wasn't for me. It was pretty nice with distortion, but when you played chords, it took on this weird mid-range thing that made it sound like there was a wah pedal on or something. Blended with the neck pickup, it was a nice clean rhythm sound, but I was ultimately unsatisfied with this configuration because I wanted to be able to get three distinct, usable tonal shades. I bet if you are really into modern rock sounds (thick distortion, no twang), you might like the 59. But I'm kinda stuck on 60s pop tones, so I had to ditch it. And, maybe I'm a sucker (more on that below) but I couldn't pass up pickups this cheap called "Liverpool."

Well, luckily this turned out to be a good fit for me. That's good, because I was getting tired of taking blind leaps of faith with new pickups. If the Liverpools hadn't have worked out, I was just going to let this guitar just keep sounding sub-par forever. But I'm very pleased with them.
The output level is just right (don't have an exact reading, but it agrees with my ears). I have used it with a few different amps. It sounded really great with a silverface Fender Twin. The bridge has a nice, articulate chime. It's bright, but not shrill. That's why I started changing pickups on this guitar in the first place-when I played this at rehearsal or show volumes, the stock single-coils were just murder on the ears. In the middle position, the Liverpools have a rich and clangy (in a good way!) rhythm tone, kinda reminds me of the Byrds. The neck is really beefed up, kind of a Brown Sugar vibe. So for me, these pickups finally delivered the sound I was after. Whether it's clean or overdriven, the guitar rocks but still sounds like a guitar.

Yeah, I'd buy these again if I had to change the pickups in another guitar, mainly because I have learned that changing pickups sucks. There's no way to sit down and try them out in a store. You just have to drop the money and hope for the best. So now that I've found some I like, I'd use them again. I've played since the mid-90s and really haven't owned anything but mid-priced gear. My favorite guitar is a Burns Marquee( a British strat-alike) because I'm partial to single-coil pickups and I think they're best for recording. But when it comes to playing a gig, I prefer humbuckers. I especially like the Liverpools because, as mentioned, they don't sound muddy or shrill. They just make my guitar sound like a straight n' natchull guitar, and when I play the intro to "I Feel Fine," it sounds wicked. I'm no Nashville purist, but I think they're really nice for country licks, too. If you're more into Dave Davies than Eddie Van Halen, ya might think about checking these out.

Liverpool Vintage Alnico Humbuckers
Humbucking Pickups that resemble the look of an old Filtertron.
Neck Pickup- approx. 7.5 kohms.
Bridge Pickup- approx. 8.5 kohms.
Coils can be split for single coil sound.

Installed in Ibanez AS 73, Semi hollow body knock of an ES 335.

Other reviews claim pick ups are too hot. They maybe if you are looking for a weaker output. I think TV Jones offers the weaker ones like they made in the old days. They are advertised at being hotter. If one reads the description at GFS they would see that in fact they are about 35% percent hotter then an old filtertron. These pickups are similar to the old filtertrons except they actually have balls.
The tones on the neck pickup are sweet and punchy. The bridge is jangly clear and crisp, no harshness hear. Sounds great where a PAF is too thick and a single coil isn't full enough. Stuff like The Beatles, The Who, The Stones, The Kinks, the songs with an edge like Paperback writer sound authentic here as well.

I would replace these pickups and will likely buy more in the future as GFS prices are easily affordable.
I had a couple of questions about them and Jay responded in a timely manner each time.
The only negative I can come up with about the pickups doesn't have anything to do with the pickups, the bezels that came with it were too tall for the Ibanez but hey I just used the bezels that were on the Ibanez to begin with. One of the stickers was crooked on one of the boxes. LOL
28 years experience.
Other equipment includes a couple of Gibson LPs, Takamine, Custom Modified by Ruppe Peavey Classic 30 Head and 410 cabinet. Hand wired 5 watt tube head with custom detuned cabinets, and a Vox DA-5 practice amp
I play rock, blues, etc... My paying gig at this time is The Folsom Prison Gang. It is a tribute to the music of Johnny Cash.
I used this guitar for a show last Saturday and recieved a number of complements.

Dual coil "Filtertron" styled
I think around 7.5k neck and 8.5k bridge

older Epiphone Emperor (late 80's)
Neck and bridge positions
replaced Gretsch Filtertron neck and Gibson humbucker bridge


I used the other pickups on "more deserving" instruments

These pickups aren't bad, the only problem I have with them is they are too hot to get a great filtertron sound. I think if you used the neck pickup in the bridge position and had a neck in the 4.5k to 5k range they would be great pickups. They do have a nice jangly crang to them and they are balanced well for fingerstyle and have a great old country sound. I had bought this Epiphone they're in now when I was about 14 and played it for many hours until I got a real Gretsch, these PUs are not too far off from the real thing but I think they would do better in a semi hollowbody, they are pretty microphonic, not in a bad way, but they do pick up the sound of the body very much, you have no doubt this is a hollow guitar.

I will buy more pickups from GFS, they are pretty unbeatable for the buck. (by the way their vintage 59s are as good a PAF as I've ever heard, including real late 50's Gibsons...)I've been playing about 25 years and have had quite a few guitars, strats, teles, 335s, 6120s, country gents, LPs, SGs among others. Right now I am playing into a Peavey Blues Classic tube amp and a late 60's Fender twin Reverb amp w/ JBL D-120F speakers, through a Dyna-Comp, and very subtle delay with other effects sometimes sprinkled in (old TS808, envelope filter...) These pickups sound good, I just wish they would offer a more correct vintage winding option. Considering I can buy 8 sets for the $250 I paid for the TV Jones on my 1960 G6120 I really can't complain and the customer service is FANTASTIC ever question I ever had was personaly answered by Jay by the next day.

Humbucking alnico pickups supposed to sound like Gretsch Filtertrons, but wound WAY too hot. Bridge 9.2K, Neck 7.5K. They sound more like an average Gibson-style humbucker.

Ibanez AF-85 Archtop

Way too hot for any twang. The site says the Retrotron Nashville pickups have more twang, but they make them with ceramic magnets, which I have never cared for. Filtertrons sound like they do partially because they are wound to a very low impedence (in the 4 to 5K range). Compare these to the TV Jones Filtertrons and you'll see what I mean. These lack the growl and twang of the TV Jones Filtertrons ($120 each!). Again, they are simply an average-soundingh Gibson-style humbucker. Maybe the Retrotron Memphis would be more to my liking???

I'm selling these. I didn't want to shell out the cash for another set of TV Jones, but I guess that's what I'll be doing.

It's a humbucker-sized Retroton, passive, can be installed as single or double coil mode.

I put this in the neck on a Washburn SS80, replacing a SD Trembucker. I didn't liike the bass response on the Trembucker. Don't know who else uses this. The bridge pup is another Trembucker.

This pickup is incredibly hot. I used with a modded Fender Champ 110, Kustom Tube 12A, and Microcube --the three devices I use live -- plus Digitech RP pedals. In any combination, single or double coil wired, I was blown away by the presence and articulation of the pup. It has great bass and a unique, rich envelope. BUT. It also sounded harsh; that's the word people I played for used. I switched the tone capacitator from .047 to .0203 and still had this issue; my SS80 (also modded) has two pots, and with a Trembucker they've got to be 500K. I suspect you need a 250K pot setup (like a Tele or Fat Strat or a double HB axe where you install a full set) to get the best sound out of this pup. I took it out and am waiting to find an axe where I can try this.

I've played over 40 years and I have very nice gear, thanks, especially my Reverend guitars. I chose this to see what Revtrons sound like, and they DO sound different from PAFs, and I do like the difference. For the price I paid it was a cheap experiment. It was also a chance to do business again with Jay at Guitarfetish (eBay), who's very helpful and has good products at very reasonable prices; I previously installed his clasic Tele neck pup on a Squier 51 and was totally satisfied with the result, at a cost of $15. The overall rating is higher than sound because of Jay: service counts. I'll file another review when I find a new home for the 'tron. I wanted folks to be aware of the component value issue in the meanwhile.

Pickup features: Humbucking
Impedence or other specs: 9.5K Bridge, 9.0 K Neck

Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone 335 dot
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock epiphone (marked SAM SUNG)
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Power Pop, Classic rock, some new stuff too
Reason for pickup change: Stock pickup were extremely flat and lifeless- Nice guitar- plays excellent and acoustically nice and live, but could not get it to really ring through my amp- Played a bud's Gretsch and loved the Filtertrons- so did an ebay search- found these.

Perceived output level: These are surprisingly hot, especially since they are the tamest of the line
Tone: Big and very full bass- crunchy mids and almost Byrds-like jangle on the highs.
Sonic evaluation: Playing through a Line 6 Vetta II and a Fender Tweed Bassman LTD- These pickups are very cool- Alnico mags and kind of a classic Gretsch style case- Very quiet- not at all microphonic like the stock pickups- really rich and warm bottom end- especialy through the Bassman- Mids and highs are where this thing comes to life- Really cool Beatley mids and Rickenbackerish treble.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Cool for vintage rock and anything that needs a really wde range guitar sound

Comments: I'm very impressed with these. Never heard of the Mfr.- but I think I might try their Strat pickups which others have reccomended to me. The pickups are nicely made- beautifully chromed case and their logo punched on the top and back- four lead wire for coil tap (Haven't tried it) Neck pickup also is too cool- very crisp and clear with a bouncy sweet midrange- Not cheap like Mighty Mite which someone told me-
Not sure what else you would ask for in this kind of pickup- I saw a picture of them with metal trim rings- which I think would look cooler on my guitar- but I guess they're an extra charge. But can't complain- the pair including shipping was well under $100- my Guitar Center wanted $240 + $60 modification for a set of Alnico Gretsch Pickups- and I cannot imagine that they sound better than these Liverpools.
Always liked Duncans but I'm gonna try a few other ebay auctions and see if I can try his other pickups for cheap. They are supposed to have a website to buy these but I just got a coming soon screen-