Post by antigua on Mar 11, 2017 2:44:06 GMT -5
www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gretsch+hilotron&safe=off&tbm=shop&*
These pickups were allegedly designed as a cheap alternative to a Filter'tron, and it can be seen in the pics below that this pickup does appear to use many of the same pieces. The only thing it's really missing is a coil, though, leading me to believe that the coils, or at least winding them, must have represented a large portion of the manufacturing costs.
This HiLo'Tron set came out of a 2009 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose.
I haven't loaded them into a guitar yet, so I can't comment on how they sound to my ears, but I will follow up once I have installed them.
Gretsch HiLo'Tron Bridge
- DC Resistance: 4.06K ohms
- Measured L: 1.547H
- Calculated C: 70 (80 - 10)
- Gauss: 215
unloaded: dV: -4.1dB f: 14.3kHz (black)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: -3.9dB f: 6.01kHz (red)
Gretsch HiLo'Tron Neck
- DC Resistance: 3.505K ohms
- Measured L: 1.244H
- Calculated C: 79 (89 - 10)
- Gauss: 215
unloaded: dV: -4.7dB f: 15.1kHz (black)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: -4.3dB f: 6.14kHz (red)
Bode plot:
This pickup is worth comparing to the TV Jones TV-HT, reviewed here guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/7797/tv-jones-ht-analysis-review .
The HiLo Trons have a much lower inductance that the TV-HT's, 1.5H in the bridge versus 2.5H in the TV-HT bridge, and 1.2H in the neck as opposed to 1.7H in the TV-HT neck. In fact this set has the lowest inductance of any stand alone pickup I've ever tested of the hundred plus I've looked at. It makes you wonder if the coil is in fact pulled out of the Filter'tron pile... but no, the DC resistance is high enough to suggest that these coils are wound specifically for the HiLo'tron model. The Filter'tron specs can be seen here guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/7781/gretsch-filter-tron-analysis-review
With loaded resonant knees of 6kHz, these pickups are theoretically also brighter than the TV-HT with resonant knees at 4.4 and 5.1kHz, but this frequency range is hitting the limit of what an electric guitar and guitar amp audibly produces, so it's probably a distinction without a difference.
Even though th TV-HT uses smaller screws pieces than the Gretsch, I actually measured a higher guass of 300G over the TV-HT pole pieces, and only around 215 over the HiLo'Tron pole piece. Whether that makes a difference to the tone or not, I'm not sure, but people often say the tone gets tighter and brighter as the magnetic strength is increased.
Here is the TV Jones TV-HT bode plot:
It can be seen that the TV-HT plot "sags" more than the HiLo'Tron, and the reason for that is higher eddy current damping in the TV-HT. Eddy currents are caused by metal parts, mostly steel. I didn't bust out the caliper, but it appears to me that the TV-HT has a slightly thicker steel frame than the HiLo'Tron, which could explain the difference. From a tonal standpoint, the difference is non-existent, both because the difference is less an 1dBV, and because the difference is well past 5kHz.
Pics:
For reference, here is a picture of a Gretsch Filter'tron. The screws are a bit difference, but otherwise the production materials look very similar.
These pickups were allegedly designed as a cheap alternative to a Filter'tron, and it can be seen in the pics below that this pickup does appear to use many of the same pieces. The only thing it's really missing is a coil, though, leading me to believe that the coils, or at least winding them, must have represented a large portion of the manufacturing costs.
This HiLo'Tron set came out of a 2009 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose.
I haven't loaded them into a guitar yet, so I can't comment on how they sound to my ears, but I will follow up once I have installed them.
Gretsch HiLo'Tron Bridge
- DC Resistance: 4.06K ohms
- Measured L: 1.547H
- Calculated C: 70 (80 - 10)
- Gauss: 215
unloaded: dV: -4.1dB f: 14.3kHz (black)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: -3.9dB f: 6.01kHz (red)
Gretsch HiLo'Tron Neck
- DC Resistance: 3.505K ohms
- Measured L: 1.244H
- Calculated C: 79 (89 - 10)
- Gauss: 215
unloaded: dV: -4.7dB f: 15.1kHz (black)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: -4.3dB f: 6.14kHz (red)
Bode plot:
This pickup is worth comparing to the TV Jones TV-HT, reviewed here guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/7797/tv-jones-ht-analysis-review .
The HiLo Trons have a much lower inductance that the TV-HT's, 1.5H in the bridge versus 2.5H in the TV-HT bridge, and 1.2H in the neck as opposed to 1.7H in the TV-HT neck. In fact this set has the lowest inductance of any stand alone pickup I've ever tested of the hundred plus I've looked at. It makes you wonder if the coil is in fact pulled out of the Filter'tron pile... but no, the DC resistance is high enough to suggest that these coils are wound specifically for the HiLo'tron model. The Filter'tron specs can be seen here guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/7781/gretsch-filter-tron-analysis-review
With loaded resonant knees of 6kHz, these pickups are theoretically also brighter than the TV-HT with resonant knees at 4.4 and 5.1kHz, but this frequency range is hitting the limit of what an electric guitar and guitar amp audibly produces, so it's probably a distinction without a difference.
Even though th TV-HT uses smaller screws pieces than the Gretsch, I actually measured a higher guass of 300G over the TV-HT pole pieces, and only around 215 over the HiLo'Tron pole piece. Whether that makes a difference to the tone or not, I'm not sure, but people often say the tone gets tighter and brighter as the magnetic strength is increased.
Here is the TV Jones TV-HT bode plot:
It can be seen that the TV-HT plot "sags" more than the HiLo'Tron, and the reason for that is higher eddy current damping in the TV-HT. Eddy currents are caused by metal parts, mostly steel. I didn't bust out the caliper, but it appears to me that the TV-HT has a slightly thicker steel frame than the HiLo'Tron, which could explain the difference. From a tonal standpoint, the difference is non-existent, both because the difference is less an 1dBV, and because the difference is well past 5kHz.
Pics:
For reference, here is a picture of a Gretsch Filter'tron. The screws are a bit difference, but otherwise the production materials look very similar.