Beartron Standard

Our BearTron pickups are the SUNBEAR take on the much-loved Filtertron Humbucker designed by Ray Butts in the mid/late-50s. Indeed, it is often argued that while Gibson got the required paperwork in order before Butts, it was actually the Filtertron that takes the mantel as the first production Humbucking guitar pickup. Differing from Gibson’s version in numerous small but absolutely essential ways the Tron offers a much narrower, taller, and low wound coil geometry twinned with a larger, more powerful magnet. This seemingly contradictory approach leads to a notably “twangier”, grittier character and a huge presence that very much proves that there’s a whole lot more to a pickups power than its resistance reading.

From the Country, Rockabilly foundations that served as the birthing place for the Tron, they are now appreciated for the truly flexible, multi-faceted design they really are. They can be found in everything from doom-laden metal to hard rock, indie, blues and right back round to country once again. The common factor being that, when done right, they just sound so fantastic. As with all our pickups, we take great care in every area of production of the BearTrons to make each version as musical and appropriate for the player as we possibly can.

Output and Character

BRIDGE AV +/- 5k: Classic tone in every sense. Clear with plenty of the essential twang but just enough output alongside the correctly oversized Alnico V magnet to avoid any ear-piecing shrillness. The wonderful midrange grind these pickups possess is brilliant for driving rhythm passages and cutting solo work.

NECK AV +/- 4.4K: A neck position Tron is so charming. It works beautifully for rootsy blues bars and chewy, evocative lead work. Clear and very open sounding with a nice balanced frequency response. These also work seamlessly alongside a Tele bridge pickup or even matched to a PAF.

Options

This set is offered as standard with two-conductor vintage braid wiring and thin nickel covers. If you like four-conductor wiring for splitting this pickup etc, please let us know when ordering. If you would like your set aged or virtually any other tweak please do get in touch; various contact options are available.