GFS Pickups Retrotron Nashville Hot

Ceramic magnet, passive humbucker, in a Gretsh-like metal shell which partially exposes the bobbins and the pole pieces. Aesthetics count after all! Rated 13k for the bridge. They are advertised as being somewhat of a PAF meets Filtertron/DeArmond/Guild sound.

Installed in an Agile AL-2000 Les Paul Clone, in the bridge. Replacing the stock pickup. I have a GFS Dream 180 "Dreamtron" in the neck position. I wanted to change the pickups because I found the stock pickups a bit muddy and unrefined.

Well, when they said hot, they weren't lying! It is a pretty hot pickup for sure. My favorite bridge humbucker is actually a DeArmond Goldtone humbucker which came OEM on the Fender built DeArmond guitars from around 2000. Being as these are advertised to have a similar sound, and the rarity of those Goldtones now, I decided to give it a try. A/B-ing it with the Goldtone was interesting. The Nashville is not quite as hot, and does have a good jangly high end, much like Filtertrons and the Goldtone. It's not quite as warm, but they are very similar in sound. I play through a Vox AD30VT Valvetronix amp, on the clean channels, it has very nice, chime like tones. Definitely not as warm as a Fender sound though. Through the AC30 and JCM800 models (which happen to be my favorite models on the amp) you can get some nice crunchy overdriven sounds. Not quite as much bass as the Goldtone.

Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. While it's not exactly the tone I was looking for, it comes close, and for the price, it's hard to go wrong. As I said above, aesthetics count for me, and these look very cool dropped in my Agile. If it were lost or stolen, I would surely purchase these again.

I had a Epiphone Slasher that I loved for the looks (like a spaceage firebird), but the "ultra hot" PUs it came with barely lived up to their name; way to muddy for me. I decided I wanted a hybrid Malcom Young kind of thing, so I took out both the epiphones and purchased the bridge version of the GFS Nashville overwound.

It is great plugged into a marshall or marshall-simulating amp, lays down that classic crunch of hard rock chords. Lots of sustain, will teach me to get better at my palm muting.

a great value

For the price, it's well worth it. Gretsch Filtertron sound (yes, I had a Mal Young Gretsch once, so I knew what I was looking for) at 20% to 33% of the price.

Humbucking Retrotron Nashvile Hot Pups

Passive

Installed in an Ibanez AG85 archtop.
Both positions replaced the original humbuckers
Do not know of any artists using these.
Was looking for a bit more of a Gretch sound than what I was getting form the original Ibanez Humbuckers

Wide pallet of tones!! Hit it hard, you get som enice growl. Back off and easy strum, nice clean tones.

Tones, I rewired the pickups & tone controls from the way Ibanez had them. This allows me to get more range of tones. Very nice clean sweet sound with the switch in the middle, A bit warmer tone using just the Neck and real Twang with just the bridge pup. With the tone controls now more active, I can roll off some of the upper end and get a smooth jazzy tone, too.

I play mostly Contemporary Christian stuff, but some of it has a good edge to it and calls for distortion. I can get som eo that effect with these guys, but only up to a point.

A good comparison might be Brian Setzers settings on some of his more raucous songs. Very close to that.

GFS makes two distinct pups of this model, one for the neck, one for the bridge. I got both.

If the guitar was stolen, would I replace the new guitar with the same pups.......Yeh, most probably. I really think they are major improvement over the Ibanez Pups.

Benn playing off & on for over 30 years. Lastest string has been 13 years. I have a Strat, a Dean Evo SPeial select and this Ibanez with these Pups. Each guitar has its own distinct tone and I use them for specific songs a lot of the time. But, this Ibanez with these GFS Pups has much more range to its sound. I can do a LOT more with this set up than I can with either of the other guitars.

Pickup features: Passive Filtertron inspired humbucking pickup
Impedence or other specs: Double screw coil, ceramic magnet, 4 con wire

Model of guitar or bass: Dean Psychobilly
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Me and the guys listed below
You musical style(s): Rockabilly, psychobilly (for this guitar)
Reason for pickup change: The stock pickups were harsh, spikey, mushy and not very articulate.

Perceived output level: Moderately hot. Hotter than a PAF but not as hot as a distortion pickup
Tone: Tight bass, bright, jangly, twangy
Sonic evaluation: I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a 2X12 Jensen Cab and a Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor for overdrive.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Good pickup for rockabilly, great for psychobilly. The pickups are calibrated for neck or bridge position

Comments: I have to say I'm impressed by these pickups. I normally go for top of the line pickups but I was a bit shy to stick TV Jones or Bare Knuckle pickups into this cheap guitar. I won't say the GFS pickups are just as good as TV Jones or BKP but for 35 bucks they are great value. Despite it's ceramic magnet they have a great clean sound. With overdrive they're like Reverend Horton Heat on steroids. They do the AC/DC thing as well. They have that jangly and twangy thing Filtertrons are famous for but it could have used a little more growl for my taste. Excellent psychobilly pickups, esecially if you don't have hundreds to spend.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucking
Impedence or other specs: 8.7k?

Model of guitar or bass: ESP Ltd. M-50 Satin [awyeah]
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Old P.O.S. Stock ESP LH-200 or something - whatever it was, it didn't cut it.
Other pickups on guitar: GFS Crunchy PAF in tha bridge, muthafucka.
Artists using this pickup: Pfffffft. Dunno.
You musical style(s): SOLD MY SOUL TO ROCK AND ROLL AWYEAH
Reason for pickup change: Like I said - the old one couldn't keep up with the team, so I had to recruit the new kid, and the new kid is now the team captain.

Perceived output level: Twangy, and HOT. Strike it hard, and you get a slight drive. Very bassy and midsy. WARM AS ALL HELL. Quite nice, actually - like a friendly yet delightfully raunchy neighbor who knows how to party and where to get the good stuff.
Tone: Bassy and midsy. 12 adjustable polepieces let you get the sound YOU want, however, so have it, big boy.
Sonic evaluation: As with the GFS Crunchy PAF, it's getting shoved through a digital pipeline [DigiTech RP200 to a Crate GT212], and puked out with [I'm sure] exponentially less tone than it should. But it SHINES, compared to the old stock pickups, so regardless - it's a massive, positive leap from square one.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Blues and jazz and scuzzy funk stuff. Psychobilly and others. It works for what I do, and much, much more. Note that this pickup is unsuitable in the not-yet-installed-in-your-guitar position.

Comments: If it were lost, stolen, or destroyed, I'd buy a different GFS pickup, just to see what that one is like. The guy makes like 20 different pups, so I'm the combos of tone are numerous. Gorgeous twang - really, a beautiful decision on my part to try it out. Go and buy a GFS pickup. They rock.

Pickup features: Humbucking Passive
Impedence or other specs: 8.7 I think

Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone Sheraton
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Factory
Other pickups on guitar: Retrotron Hot Liverpool
Artists using this pickup: ??
You musical style(s): Hard Rock, Alternative
Reason for pickup change: I wanted to see if new pickups would make a difference.

Perceived output level: More than factory output
Tone: Fat and Glassy
Sonic evaluation: I am impressed with these pickups. They have great response. Ease of of the pick and you get these fat glassy tones. Pick a bit harder and you get a bit of overdrive. They sounded great when I tested them out on a cheap peavey practice amp. These are way better than the factory pickups in my sheraton. I have used Dimarzio and Carvin pickups in other guitars and these are much better. I would highly recomend you buy these now. I would imagine they will get popular, but right now they are a steal.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: