Gretsch Pickups
Cream City Music also has a large variety of new Gretsch pickups, parts and accessories.
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DeArmond Dynasonic
From about 1949 to 1957 Harry DeArmond's pickups were standard on almost all electric Gretsch guitars, with the exception of the Convertible model. At least in their Gretsch iteration use black-faced single coils, with poles adjustable by a separate set of screws. Because they have a row of screws and a parallel row of poles, they are sometimes mistaken for humbuckers.
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"Patent Applied For" FilterTron
Beginning in late 1957 the first FilterTron humbuckers began to be fitted. The earliest FilterTrons have no markings on their covers and a smooth plastic frame. Beginning in 1958 and through about 1960 FilterTrons had “Pat. Applied For” stamped on the metal pickup cover, but the smooth plastic frame remained.
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"Patent Number" FilterTron
From sometime in 1960 through about 1970 the FilterTron patent number - US Pat. No. 2892371 - was stamped on cover and all FilterTrons had ridged plastic frames surrounding the pickups. Today, Gretsch offers several different types of re-issue FilterTrons with both ceramic and alnico magnets.
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SuperTron II
The SuperTron was a variation on the FilterTron used from 1964-1980. It had a blade spanning its full width instead of individual polepieces, and it was usually used on higher-end models such as the Viking and Country Gentleman, although it also turned up on the Monkees model. The SuperTron was designed to be a bit hotter than a FilterTron and to retain volume when strings were bent, but it never really caught on. They are not being reissued.
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HiLoTron
Single-coil HiLoTron pickups were introduced in mid-1960 and used on various Gretsch models - usually cheaper, entry-level guitars, through about 1980. Essentially a single-coil version of the FilterTron, HiLoTrons have a reputation for being weak. The reputation is largely undeserved, although HiLoTrons can definitely be finicky to work with. In 2001, TV Jones began working on re-issue HiLoTrons, and Gretsch finally released new HiLoTrons on reissue Tennesseans in 2002.
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70s FilterTron
From 1970 through 1981, in a Baldwin-era cost-cutting move, FilterTrons were put in the same open-top metal frames as HiLoTrons and the polepieces were hidden under a black plastic cover. Some FilterTrons from this period were also fitted with cheaper ceramic magnets rather than the usual Alnico type. FilterTrons from the '70s also tend to have a higher output than their '50s and '60s counterparts.
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Humbucker
From 1976-1981 DiMarzio or generic Japanese humbuckers were fitted to many models. Guitars fitted with these pickups just aren't very Gretsch-like, generally speaking, and have been mostly overlooked by both players and collectors. The good news is any Gibson-type humbucker drops right in, including some FilterTron soundalikes made by TV Jones.
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Clipper Transitional
One of the rarest Gretsch pickups are called "Clippers" - soap-bar like single coil pickups, used in part during 1959 to 1960. During that time, Gretsch had stopped bringing in DeArmond pickups, and the HiLoTrons Clippers were currently not available for mass marketing. Dan Duffy, who supervised quality control at Gretsch for years, says pickups like these were kept on hand for special runs. “There were quite a few different pickups like this back then. A store probably ordered 12 or 24 pieces made up on special order. Pickups like these were available from Fred's wholesale musical instrument and music accessory business located down on the 7th floor. They also came in black and some even had small pole pieces. They were a install-yourself item or the store tech would do it for you. Orders with a different pickup setup were honored back then.” The Clipper was the only Gretsch to use them as a standard, from-the-factory fitting, and is the only guitar they're seen on today.
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Ceramic Magnet FilterTron
Gretsch used ceramic magnets in FilterTrons through the 90s rather than the Alnico magnets used through the vintage years. To most ears, the ceramic magnets give a harsher, edgier sound. After Fender began managing operations, Alnico magnets returned.
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TV Jones "Dual FilterTron"
Used on the 6114 New Jet, these pickups were an effort at making a hotter, more modern FilterTron, and can be spotted by their flat black tops (no polepieces).
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TV Jones Classic
These Filtertron variants were first seen on the 120th Anniversary model.