Gretsch Hi-Lo Tron Pickup 1965

Introduced in 1958, the Gretsch HiLo'Tron was Gretsch's single-coil answer to their own Filter'Tron humbucker — quieter in operation, lower in output, and tonally quite different from both the Filter'Tron and from standard Fender-style single-coils. The magnet in a HiLo'Tron sits to the side of the coil rather than beneath it, with an L-shaped iron piece connecting the pole screws to the magnet — a design that results in an unusually quiet single-coil with a warmer, less aggressive character than a P-90 and a clarity and sweetness that players who know them find genuinely addictive. George Harrison used them through the mid-1960s on his Gretsch Tennessean.

This is a 1965 example in very good condition with light wear, reading 3.10k — right in the correct range for a HiLo'Tron of this era, which typically falls between the upper 2K and mid-3K range. Fully working. For a restorer putting a mid-60s Tennessean, Corvette, Anniversary, or any other HiLo'Tron-equipped Gretsch back to correct original spec, this is the pickup to have. For a builder who wants that specific warm, clear, quietly characterful single-coil voice that the boutique reissue market has been chasing for decades — same answer.

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