QUESTION
I am looking to buy a vintage Gretsch guitar and would like your opinion on which pickups are better the vintage Dearmonds used in Gretsch guitars or the Filtertron pickups used in vintage Gretsch guitars. This Will help make a decision on which model and year to buy . My style of music I ma playing at the moment is country – pop and I am in a working band at the moment.
REPLY
Well that is a big request for this limited blog space but I will give you a condensed version and any further questions can be addressed in the future. buying a guitar is usually done in reverse buy a person feeling comfortable with a model guitar and them choose pickups but I will tackle this anyway.
The General rule is the Dearmond pickups are preferred by rockabilly, blues and jazz style music. The pickups have a more warm mid tone and have a full sound when play clean and a sound that has been referred to as a twang. These are also very responsive pickups for finger pickers and killer for slide guitar. I am not sure why I am not a pickup winder but these pickups has a distinct character that i prefer myself.
The Dearmond pickups sound amazing in both solid body and hollow bodies . I prefer the sound in a hollow body my self or semi hollow guitar with these pickups but that is a personal preference. I would describe these pickups is in a hollow body they seem to really pickup up the wood tones of the guitar and give a real texture of an acoustic electric flavor to the sound even when heavily amplified its is a strange phenomenon.
The filtertron pickups are a bit different. For my taste they are more aggressive and have a higher end ring like you may hear on beatles records . they are also quieter than the dearmonds and are a bit more functional in some loud environments. The string attack is also more noticeable and have a more full range sound to me. Many people love these also for rockabilly although i do not , great for rock and pop and you have heard these on more records than you know. they are a great across the board pickup and are super versatile for country , rock, pop, funk and jazz .
Both are good but again it is u to you this is a brief description but again first would find a comfortable Gretsch model you enjoy playing then worry about the pickups. They are easier and cheaper to replace than the guitar. Please feel free to contract me directly at THE PARTS DRAWER for any further questions
Jim Pasch
Tags: gretsch guitar pickups, vintage gretsch guitars, vintage gretsch pickups, vintage guitar parts