I've been considering replacing the pickups in my Gretsch G5120 with something more reminiscent of the original Gretsch Filtertrons. The guitar came with the infamous "Gretschbuckers" that sound good, but could be improved on. My first thought after realizing that a pickup swap was in my future was, of course, TV Jones. I perused his website and read a lot of reviews. It seems he makes excellent quality stuff.

Today, however, I ran across an ad for GFS pickups (care of Guitarfetish.com) which sell for about a quarter the price of TVs. I'm wondering whether anyone has played the GFS "Retrotrons" and, if so, what they thought? Any help or advice regarding the Gretsch pickup swap would be appreciated.

Oh, and I typically use the guitar for clean to slightly driven blues and rock.

I don't have any experience with the Retrotrons but I've read good reviews of some of their other products. I have GFS Crunchy Pats in one of my guitars and I like what I'm hearing.

Her's a link to reviews of GFS pickups on Harmony Central. The Retrotrons are listed near the bottom of the page.

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Guitar+Pickup/brand/GFS+Pickups

Good Luck - Doug

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"I don't trust nobody, not even myself" - Willie Dixon

Thanks for the link. I didn't even consider that HC might have reviews of pickups and other miscellaneous stuff. Since the GFS pickups cost about a third of their TV Jones equivalents, they're probably worth a try.

Please keep us posted, I'm toying with the same project on the same guitar. The one lutier I've spoken with sofar told me the labor would cost more than the T.V. Jones pick-ups. Seems working on a semi-acoustic is a lot harder because the top is sealed.

Good luck,
John.E

Hi Vulkan,
I've had my 5120 for awhile now. I also wanted to change pick ups. My choice was the TV Jones. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, last I looked they were about 200 bucks... If you go with the GFS, let us know how they are.

If you haven't been there before check out the Gretsch Pages http://gretschpages.com/

Good Luck
Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

stay away from that guy. All you have to do with a hollowbody, is fish the elctronics out. It is a little bit tricky, but is not actually hard. i have changed pickups in and pots in a few. it takes about 2 minutes of extra work. if he is going to gouge you for work on one, find someone else.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Thanks Twelvebar, I thought as much, but because I haven't modded a guitar myself (yet) I wasn't sure.
John.E