Ibanez FG100 Pickup swap - Super 58 to GFS Retrotron 

Excellent review! I really appreciate that you used multiple amps so we could really get how the same pickups respond in vastly different ways depending on the amplification. Each brand has its own unique character. I can't say that one is better than the other; that depends on context and the player. Thanks for providing us with solid comparisons.

The new ones sound tighter - I was a little surprised because the Super 58s are great pickups

I'm a huge fan of GFS but the Super 58 sounded good. Sometimes adding a clear od pedal or an eq can make a huge difference

I really liked the bass response of the Super 58s & the sparkle/jangle of the GFS. They both really bring out the subtle differences in each amp. Great video.

I like both pick ups and I like the way you made the comparison video. Short passages of each pick up and position through different amps. I really like the short passages because it's easier to compare tones.

I've heard some pro country recording artists also use Retrotron Liverpool Classic pups in their Tele's because they give that old country vibe like no others pups can!

The GFS added some sparkle I personally liked their sound much better than the Super 58 pups

Fantastic comparison/review.......helped me in my decision, thank you.

A Very Nice Demonstration. And An Interesting Comparison. Many Thanks And Greetings From Scotland.

Wish all pickup demos were done like this. Thanks!

Thought it was blasphemy as a fan boi of the super 58. But those GFS sound legit!!!

Hi, I am an Ibanez JTK2 owner and Ibanez Super 58 pickups are installed on it, but the trick is in the cutoffs for each pickup, plus their mixing, cutoffs are provided in the instrument's device. My Guitar is versatile and capable of producing 11 overtones, even very experienced and strong guitarists are not able to distinguish the sound of the instrument, it is playing, it is Ibanez / Fender / Gibson, or any other brand of guitar.

Neck pickup was brighter, but I liked the original too! The original bridge pickup was waayyy better and would clear up the muddy middle position. IMO.

I might have left the Super 58' in the neck position. But the GFS sounded so clear and smooth on the bridge.

IM a big fan of the super 58s and also almost all guitar fetish pickups. I could see how one wouldn't want the super 58 sound in a guitar such as that.

The GFS pickups definitely took it a step or two closer to Gretsch-y territory. Sounds a little like a Full'tron actually.

To be honest, the sound. Sound from the GFS pick ups sounds like the Ibanez stock pick ups with just the right amount of treble and mid range tweaking to give a Gretsch like sound. I was going to mod mone but I see now I can get the same sound using EQ and pick up selector in the middle for a spanky jangly tone.

Thanks for the info

I can't play that good, but the only ones I want is that neck from GFS, and I got it. Love to put it in a telle YIKES! :-) Nice licks sir.

I used a set of Memphis Alnico 2 Retrotrons (Rickenbacker tone) on a custom built 12 string. They sound great.

Interesting comparison, but in my opinion the target groups and genres are totally different. GFS has more chime and a bit thinner to my ear, I prefer the original

The Retrotrons provide more clarity but less bottom end - so the FG100 loses its jazzy character. Which Retrotron version did you use? As far as I know there exist 5 different versions (Memphis, Nashville, Nashville Hot, Liverpool, Liverpool Hot).

Hi, do you still have the original super 58 pickups?

My preference GFS way better, and some very nice playing thank you.

Which version of the Retrotrons are they?

I thought the super 58 sound better with the fender amp and the GFS Pups with the Vox.

Not a lot of difference. The retrotrons don't give it a very Gretchy vibe to my ear. Just a little bit less full, some more mids, maybe a tad scooped.

Geschmacksache, beide gut, :-)

I love GFS pickups when used correctly. Those sound bad vs. the Ibanez, much less punch, thin sounding. Myself, I would have picked a greater wound one like the Hot Nashville or Liverpool with higher output. Not sure which you picked but to me it sounds terrible.

... I would never have made that exchange.

I had an Ibanez AS-50 semi...traded it for a drum machine, YIKES

You could have made some nice $ on those super 58s specially if they were mid 80s very sought after

IMHO every serious guitar player deserves a good rockabilly guitar, but you shouldn't have your precious vintage Ibanez jazzbox altered in such a way. I hope you didn't drill the top for that Bigsby. The value of an original Ibanez FG100 is EUR1100-1500. Now it has become a player's guitar with a value of EUR 850,- max. You should have taken a cheaper guitar. For instance an Ibanez Artcore that already has a Bigsby. All you would have needed would have been these GFS pickups and you could have kept the money for the Bigsby in your pocket. The value of the Ibanez FG100 would have stayed intact. Now you loose EUR250-750 PLUS what you paid for the new parts MINUS the value of the leftover parts.