FAO: George re. Retrotron

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 3:26 am

George wrote:Put a Retrotron in my CV 50s Strat. Its well balanced and sounds okay but a bit meh - sterile. Maybe that's just humbuckers. Looks nice though.

Now you've had it in a bit longer, what are your thoughts?

Am planning massively in advance as I won't be able to do this until Feb when am back in the Uk for a couple of weeks, but have been thinking about sticking either some GFS mini humbuckers or mini retrotrons in my Jag (or mixture of both) as it has been routed for P90s already.

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Am leaning towards one of each, but can't decide which way round to have them...

George · Post by **George** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 10:17 am

Having spent more time I like it but might still revert to an SC out of personal preference. It is very responsive and clear for a humbucker. My one is the standard Liverpool around 8k with alnico 5 magnets so it's close to a hot SC anyway. I think because it's been paired alongside ultra chirpy and articulate alnico 3 strat pickups in my CV was why I balked at first, but it is a very nice humbucker. Being able to get some nice single coil-esque grind that is hum cancelling is useful too.

So yeah, I would recommend them in general. As for the setup you're after: I imagine a Liverpool would retain some of that Jaguar tone in the bridge. If you wanted a bit more grind go for the hot version as apparently it's just a little extra heft without spoiling the feel of them. To get one for nice clean neck tones the alnico 2 Memphis could sound great. I don't know about the mini humbuckers but you could probably match them up somehow. Trouble is, if you go for a hardcore 12k mini humbucker in the bridge and an underwound A2 retrotron in the neck you'll have balancing issues.

A matching pair of mini retrotrons would look the business in a Jag as well. Maybe something to consider. A hot Liverpool in the bridge, and regular Liverpool or Memphis in the neck could sound really balanced and cover a lot of ground.

George · Post by **George** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:21 am

In fact I'll see if I can get a demo up today. Nothing fancy, just DI'd through the AC Tone or something.

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:59 am

Thanks George that's really useful and a demo would be excellent if you have the time.
The mini ones either come in Nashville (ceramic) or Liverpool A5 configuration, both standard and hot, so unfortunately no A2 option otherwise I would have gone for that in the neck without question.
I'd definitely go for a hot bridge, and likely a Liverpool. My current Jag bridge pup has been rewound to a huge and glorious 21.5k so anything after that will be a step down in output. I know what you mean about aesthetics, a matched pair would definitely look the business.