Check out the newest news, views, lessons and more for Fender lovers -- FenderRocks.com

DevilYouKnow · May 7th, 2012, 04:28 PM

So, Jason Lollar of much pickup fame put the Lollartron pickups on his site in the last day or two. They are HB-sized filtertron pickup, so you won't need English mounts, etc. If you have a Gibson or an Epi, they ought to drop right in, easy-peasy. Just thought I'd let y'all know. I have a '62 Guild that was waiting for Dynasonics but ... these'll be a better/easier fit. Best, ~DYK

Michiel · May 8th, 2012, 03:53 PM

Hey, well spotted! Cool, the description of the neck pu sounds very tasty to me.

I am CURIOUS now.

TV the Wired Turtle · May 8th, 2012, 04:51 PM

they use alnico2 mags and have a higher DC resistance than tvjones.. more warm buttery than twangy growl like tvjones that are vintage reproductions of 59' filters. plus those of use with pro series arent about to try to install humbucker mounted pickups in our filter routes.

james lee · May 8th, 2012, 05:04 PM

If the price is right this will give 5120 owners another option that won't be as hard on the wallet.

I love the looks of Gretsch.. but that sound just is not my thing. Warm and buttery is definitely my thing.

polishbroadcast · May 8th, 2012, 05:18 PM

Link w/ clips:
https://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/me...bucker-pickups

@TVtWT: Yeah i'm not really sure who these are aimed at since the 512X crowd might as well go pro series after buying these.

Sounds pretty nice either way.

polishbroadcast · May 8th, 2012, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james lee

If the price is right this will give 5120 owners another option that won't be as hard on the wallet.

They are $350 which is $100 more than a set of TV Jones, and $280 more than GFS Retrotrons.

stevo · May 8th, 2012, 07:38 PM

Might be good to put in an ES335 or even some solid body humbucker guitar. Nice alternative sound to the standard sound. I'm curious to see how they compare to TV Jones as people start using them.

james lee · May 8th, 2012, 09:30 PM

From Lollars advert, it's based off a country gent, not a 6120, so I would assume the neck is like a supertron and the bridge would be a hotter wound filtertron.

TV the Wired Turtle · May 8th, 2012, 09:56 PM

these pickups are much more expensive than Lollars. their DC resistance is higher than the tvjones and the magnet choice yields a non traditional darker (dumbucker) tone. Again none of us players using pro series guitars are about to staple these things into our guitars for the sake of comparison so the electro guitar players that paid $500 for their guitar will be required to spend $400 to put them into their guitars. challenge!

cybermgk · May 9th, 2012, 05:35 AM

Agree with Tavo. I don't see these in a lot of Gretsch guitars. Disagree that all Humbuckers are 'Dumbuckers' (there are some fine sounding Humbuckers). These sound too PAFy to me. More of a competition to GFS offerings to me, or P90 in a hum size imho. Why the Alnico 2s? Not if you are trying for the Filter sound. Might sound good, though not Filtery, in a really bright sounding git.

stevo · May 9th, 2012, 07:07 AM

Why Alnico 2? I'm guessing patents are in the way. Lawrence couldn't use Alnico 5 in their noiseless series because the design violated Kinman's patent which spec'd Alnico 5 among other things. DiMarzio got around the problem by using Alnico 2 and then launched a suit against Kinman to block him. Or the other way around. Geez, it's hard to tell what happened first, but Kinman did indicate to me that Alnico 5 was the point of hot contention.

So it could be that the Gretsch patent you see on your HS Filtertron specs out Alnico 5 in such a way that it can't be copied.

cybermgk · May 9th, 2012, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevo

Why Alnico 2? I'm guessing patents are in the way. Lawrence couldn't use Alnico 5 in their noiseless series because the design violated Kinman's patent which spec'd Alnico 5 among other things. DiMarzio got around the problem by using Alnico 2 and then launched a suit against Kinman to block him. Or the other way around. Geez, it's hard to tell what happened first, but Kinman did indicate to me that Alnico 5 was the point of hot contention.

So it could be that the Gretsch patent you see on your HS Filtertron specs out Alnico 5 in such a way that it can't be copied.

I was actually thinking along the lines of Alnico IVs

TV the Wired Turtle · May 9th, 2012, 02:25 PM

if you look at the poles spacing in the picture.. the bobbins have the same distance as a HUMBUCKER!! the reason you have the incredible clarity of a Filtertron is because the bobbins are much closer together than a dumbucker.

Youre paying for just another humbucker that looks like a tvjones classic. that crap GFS company has done the same thing.

I'll buy a lollar and take some measurements and open it up to show you that its just a humbucker.

to reiterate, the bobbins on a filtertron are close together and this creates much more clarity, just like a single coil pickup that has much more focus and clarity...

so lollar is just selling you one of his humbuckers that looks like a tvjones classic...

all this isnt gonna matter to someone that doesnt live for the sound of vintage 59' filtertons... but to those of us that DO want this sound and DO believe in tvjones, this
thing Lollar has done is just wrong.

Lizardkinged · May 9th, 2012, 02:43 PM

I agree Tavo. Realistically these aren't going to be much different than the "slash alnico pros" or w/e they're called by SD... Alnico 2 PAFs. <albiet slash's are a bit hotter like say a JB model, but made with Alnico 2 to be a tad smoother...

I personally like a PAF sound. But realistically they dont have a lot of character. In my opinion, they're all a 59/burstbucker, that has the EQ's tweaked and or overall output adjusted with the exception of say a Dimebucker or any of the other hotter ceramic models (invader what have you really, blackouts). SD really only uses Alnico II, (technically 1 has Alnico III bar mags) Alnico V and Ceramic bars type.

I've heard of Alnico IV but I was also told thats just a combination of using II and V mags.

Pickup construction can be complicated, but what we're talking about is tradition, and Lollar's kindof trampling on it by saying his PAF can get ACTUAL filter tone.

TV the Wired Turtle · May 9th, 2012, 03:03 PM

oh totally a good vintage PAF is amazing. I had a set of antiquity PAFs from Seymour and they were the best les paul 50s sound..but thats a gibson sound not a vintage gretsch sound. I'm a gretsch man first, fender man second ...err rutters I mean.

dobro · May 9th, 2012, 03:27 PM

I was disappointed in the sound clips. Thanks for clarifying.

cybermgk · May 9th, 2012, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizardkinged

I've heard of Alnico IV but I was also told thats just a combination of using II and V mags.
ACTUAL filter tone.

No, there are actual Alnico IV mags. Have most of the brightness of Alnico Vs, and more balance across the frequency range (as opposed to Vs boosting of the highs and bases), and a lower output. Of course, the rest of the pup has influence from the design and windings. But, IF I were trying to recreate the vintage Filter tone, and couldn't use Alnico Vs, seems to be a better fit than Alnico IIs. That was why I was mentioning it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizardkinged

Pickup construction can be complicated, but what we're talking about is tradition, and Lollar's kindof trampling on it by saying his PAF can get ACTUAL filter tone

Agree 100%. They don't come close, even said they were very PAFy.

cybermgk · May 9th, 2012, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TV the Wired Turtle

Youre paying for just another humbucker that looks like a tvjones classic. that crap GFS company has done the same thing.

Why I mentioned the Lollers seem mopre like a very expensive version of GFS offerings. I actually think GFS comes close than the Loller's did to filtertron tone in some of their offerings. Albeit, the Lollars are likely built a little better,

Quote:

Originally Posted by TV the Wired Turtle

all this isnt gonna matter to someone that doesnt live for the sound of vintage 59' filtertons... but to those of us that DO want this sound and DO believe in tvjones, this
thing Lollar has done is just wrong.

I actually didn't like them as a PAF hummie. They were okay, but even Loller has better sounding versions.

stevo · May 9th, 2012, 04:27 PM

Well, it seems that if you want the Gretsch sound in your non-Gretsch guitar, you can't go wrong with TV Jones. But can you get a HS Filtertron and put it in a Guild Starfire?

TV the Wired Turtle · May 9th, 2012, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybermgk

Why I mentioned the Lollers seem mopre like a very expensive version of GFS offerings. I actually think GFS comes close than the Loller's did to filtertron tone in some of their offerings. Albeit, the Lollars are likely built a little better,

I actually didn't like them as a PAF hummie. They were okay, but even Loller has better sounding versions.

I like my Lollar CC..
but I'm not a fan of the dumbucker in general.