The pickups sound great in that Gretsh! I was thinking of a set of these in my Pro Jet but at the moment GFS only has the bridge pickup available in the color I want so I ordered a set of Gobojo Mr.2000’s that are Filter’Tron size that will drop right in and I can use the original mounting rings. I’m still waiting for them to come in the mail I can’t wait to get them and install them in my guitar! Thanks for the video
@Blompcube You are right, I mounted a Compton bridge too, it's the aluminium one. I can only recommend to upgrade your 5120, it will get a lot more sound!
GFS Surfs sound great man. Dropped them in my 1995 Peerless Epiphone Riviera and they COMPLETELY changed the sound of the guitar. Now I can get an almost Tele like tone out the guitar. I've switched to GFS for all my pup mods and haven't had a bad experience (yet). To the contrary, all so far have been great.
I prefer the gretschbuckers, the GFS are good, but i love the jazzy/cool sound of the stock pickup. for something more picky, i rather would go for a single pickup on a strat or a tele in fact. GFS alone sound vintage but thin to my hear. Thanks for this very usefull comparison.
hey! I think a lot of the brightness comes from the vox ac15 which is a awesome amplifier for this guitar. also the compton bridge does some magic on the sound too. :-)
I have an Airline MAP reissue with Alnico Hot-10 humbuckers....I liked the Bridge pickup but I didn't like the neck pickup which sounded dull to me. I replaced the neck pickup with a GFS Surf 90 and it made a big difference. The two contrasting pickups make a great combination and combined I can get some really nice tones....well worth the $35 investment. The Surf 90's fit right in without any modifications. BTW, my Surf 90' don't sound as tinny and thin as in this video....
Just put some of those pickups in my G5120... What a difference they make. So much more articulate sounding...very vintage. Tried them with ALL styles...and yes ...they do the LOT. Makes you realise how bad the gretschbuckers actually are...one dimensional and flat sounding. Ive got a 350 ton hydraulic press at work...im going to squish the gretschbuckers in it! Should make an interesting paperweight...its all theyre fit for. i would recomend these surf 90s to anyone and everyone!
Whew...saved me some $$$ here . I actually like both pickups but I just do not get the gut wrenching HATE that people spew over the Gretsch Buckers....sorry. I was about to spend nearly $80 on a set of GFS surf 90s to stick in my Douglas WNO 630 . Guess I will stick with the Gretschbuckers I just bought for $40 . And yes, I own 50s and 60s Gretsch guitars so I do know what "That Great Gretsch Sound" really sounds like! The Grestch Buckers will do just fine in my Douglas thank you very much.
There are some things to improve the sound of the gretschbuckers. At first try to adjust the pole pieces (google for "tv jones pole piece height"), this improves the sound a bit, but you get the best results by changing the bridge. I bought a compton compensated bridge which improved the sound a lot! I generally use D'Addario EXL110 for all my guitars, so nothing special here. Same goes with the amp, top boost channel with a bit of tone cut
really? I bought one for 125€ at Thomann store... but anyway, great pickup... If you get them as cheap as you say on ebay, that´s one more reason to buy them...
Friend of mine put a pair of these on an Ibanez Artcore, wasn't impressed, just bleh. Sounded better with the stock humbuckers. The "pole screws" are fake, they do nothing at all besides make the pickups look like something they're not. The Retrotron humbuckers are better.
That's because they're not polepieces. They're based on the DeArmond Dynasonic pickup. It's a singlecoil pickup, and the screws are there to adjust the height of the real polepieces. They attach to a bracket underneath the pickup coil, connected to the polepiece, which can freely slide inside the coil. It's quite a clever design, but it results in it being quite finnicky and difficult to adjust, as it has a very narrow range of distance to the string where the frequency-response is optimal.
@@MrFingers127 Not on GFS Surf 90's. On these pickups, the screws are simply ornamental. Doesn't mean they don't sound great though. They're in my gigging axe presently.
They sound rather good on your vid, lots of twang and so on, But if I was you, I would´ve got me two dynasonics... I know they are a bit expensive, but they´re worth every penny...
The pickups sound great in that Gretsh! I was thinking of a set of these in my Pro Jet but at the moment GFS only has the bridge pickup available in the color I want so I ordered a set of Gobojo Mr.2000’s that are Filter’Tron size that will drop right in and I can use the original mounting rings. I’m still waiting for them to come in the mail I can’t wait to get them and install them in my guitar! Thanks for the video
Ordered a set based on the echo portion of your demo. Because YEP. THAT's the sound! Thanks
Thanks for your feedback. Have fun with the pickups, I am sure you‘ll love them!
Great sounding pickups.
Beautiful guitar!
I have these pickups and I was going to put them into my Indonesian Gretsch. I'm looking forward to installing them
The title implies a comparison between two pickup types, but it all looks like the GFS.
@Blompcube You are right, I mounted a Compton bridge too, it's the aluminium one. I can only recommend to upgrade your 5120, it will get a lot more sound!
GFS Surfs sound great man. Dropped them in my 1995 Peerless Epiphone Riviera and they COMPLETELY changed the sound of the guitar. Now I can get an almost Tele like tone out the guitar. I've switched to GFS for all my pup mods and haven't had a bad experience (yet). To the contrary, all so far have been great.
Gfs are amazing in all my experience with them. love em!
I prefer the gretschbuckers, the GFS are good, but i love the jazzy/cool sound of the stock pickup. for something more picky, i rather would go for a single pickup on a strat or a tele in fact. GFS alone sound vintage but thin to my hear. Thanks for this very usefull comparison.
hey! I think a lot of the brightness comes from the vox ac15 which is a awesome amplifier for this guitar. also the compton bridge does some magic on the sound too. :-)
@gmaggot In stock they are 500k (as I have them), if you want to change the wiring harness too, I would recommend the TV Jones wiring harness.
@metiltdah they are for sure (at least with adjusted pole pieces)!
I have an Airline MAP reissue with Alnico Hot-10 humbuckers....I liked the Bridge pickup but I didn't like the neck pickup which sounded dull to me. I replaced the neck pickup with a GFS Surf 90 and it made a big difference. The two contrasting pickups make a great combination and combined I can get some really nice tones....well worth the $35 investment. The Surf 90's fit right in without any modifications. BTW, my Surf 90' don't sound as tinny and thin as in this video....
Nice tone :-) can you tell me the name of the the music that you play between the minute 2.07 and 2.45 ? I can't remember... thank you.
It's Ghostriders in the sky!
of course!! I didn't remember, thank you very much! Greetings from Portugal.
What's the tune at 2:56?
Five Finger Full Price Stray Cat Strut!
@@hacku85 thanks
sounds nice. do you know whether the surf 90's are hooked up 250k or 500k pots?
did you have to do any routing to the guitar to get the surf 90s to fit?
Just put some of those pickups in my G5120...
What a difference they make.
So much more articulate sounding...very vintage.
Tried them with ALL styles...and yes ...they do the LOT.
Makes you realise how bad the gretschbuckers actually are...one dimensional and flat sounding.
Ive got a 350 ton hydraulic press at work...im going to squish the gretschbuckers in it!
Should make an interesting paperweight...its all theyre fit for.
i would recomend these surf 90s to anyone and everyone!
Whew...saved me some $$$ here . I actually like both pickups but I just do not get the gut wrenching HATE that people spew over the Gretsch Buckers....sorry.
I was about to spend nearly $80 on a set of GFS surf 90s to stick in my Douglas WNO 630 . Guess I will stick with the Gretschbuckers I just bought for $40 .
And yes, I own 50s and 60s Gretsch guitars so I do know what "That Great Gretsch Sound" really sounds like! The Grestch Buckers will do just fine in my Douglas thank you very much.
Thank you very much!
ah, ok... that´s great! next time i will look after that first...
I really like the "brite" and power of the GFS, nice twang and more jangle compared to the stock gretschbuckers (IMHO).
How did you get your Gretschbuckers to sound so good? Bridge, strings, amp setting?
Anyway, a very good comparison.
Im thinking in surf 90s for one of my guitars but here i have to say that stock pickus where also grate
There are some things to improve the sound of the gretschbuckers. At first try to adjust the pole pieces (google for "tv jones pole piece height"), this improves the sound a bit, but you get the best results by changing the bridge. I bought a compton compensated bridge which improved the sound a lot!
I generally use D'Addario EXL110 for all my guitars, so nothing special here. Same goes with the amp, top boost channel with a bit of tone cut
What did you put in for the GFS?
Different textures. I wouldn't say one sounds better than the other, but they definitely sound different.
great! Maybe the owner removed them to put in some TV jones... I´m more on the Dynasonic side...
I have the Surf 90s in a Jagmaster and sound more sweet and less shrill than yours. In your demo I prefer the Gretschbuckers.
really? I bought one for 125€ at Thomann store... but anyway, great pickup... If you get them as cheap as you say on ebay, that´s one more reason to buy them...
rubbish just buy a gretsch with black top filtertron pups? (i dont know really know much but i rate these for a certain sound) :)
Friend of mine put a pair of these on an Ibanez Artcore, wasn't impressed, just bleh. Sounded better with the stock humbuckers. The "pole screws" are fake, they do nothing at all besides make the pickups look like something they're not. The Retrotron humbuckers are better.
That's because they're not polepieces. They're based on the DeArmond Dynasonic pickup. It's a singlecoil pickup, and the screws are there to adjust the height of the real polepieces. They attach to a bracket underneath the pickup coil, connected to the polepiece, which can freely slide inside the coil. It's quite a clever design, but it results in it being quite finnicky and difficult to adjust, as it has a very narrow range of distance to the string where the frequency-response is optimal.
@@MrFingers127 Not on GFS Surf 90's. On these pickups, the screws are simply ornamental. Doesn't mean they don't sound great though. They're in my gigging axe presently.
no they fit perfectly out of stock.
They sound rather good on your vid, lots of twang and so on, But if I was you, I would´ve got me two dynasonics... I know they are a bit expensive, but they´re worth every penny...
I don't think so. They are very good for the money…sure, not that good as Dynasonics or TV Jones, but you get a lot of sound for the money you pay!
Not impressed with either here, but the Gretsch sound better.
You Sound drunk. There is a distinct difference between major and minor
the gretsch buckers and the gfs are equal. They sound cheap