The History of PU and the Brands That Define It
Ray Butts
The man who created another humbucker, the “Filter Tron”
When you think of mainstream humbucker pickups today, you probably picture that iconic Gibson design.Gibson began installing humbuckers in 1957. Around the same time, the Filter Tron pickup made its debut. Like Gibson’s P-490, the Filter Tron features a humbucker design and is known as “the other humbucker” that emerged in the 1950s. The man who developed this groundbreaking pickup was Ray Butts.
Like Seymour Duncan and Bill Lawrence, Ray Batz was active as a performer, but he was an accordionist, not a guitarist. Although Batz had built a career as a performer, he put an end to it following his father’s death and began working as an appliance repairman. Shortly thereafter, he launched “Ray Batz Music,” a business selling and repairing musical instruments and amplifiers.
The Development of the Echo Sonic Amp and His Encounter with Chet Atkins
In 1952, his friend, guitarist Bill Goldtony, asked him, “Les Paul was performing with an echo effect during his live shows, so I want an amp that can do that.” In response, Batz built a prototype by embedding a wire recorder into a Gibson amp.However, this caused noise whenever the wires crossed, so after much trial and error, he settled on using tape instead.
The resulting amplifier was named the “Echosonic.” Considering that amplifiers with reverb didn’t appear on the market until the early 1960s, this was a remarkably early development. It is said that the Echosonic later served as a reference for the EchoPlex.
In 1954, Batz met the legendary guitarist Chet Atkins. Atkins took a liking to the Echo Sonic and purchased it immediately. It is said to have been used in the recording of numerous classic songs, including “Mr. Sandman.” This was the fateful meeting between Ray Batz and Chet Atkins.
Development of the Filter'Tron Pickup
In 1954, Gretsch released the 6120 as Chet Atkins’ signature model. This 6120 was equipped with the “Gretsch Dual-Monde Federatone Pickup” (later known as the Dynasonic), developed by Dual-Monde.
In 1957, the 6122 Country Gentleman was released. This model was co-developed with Atkins, and its name was derived from the title of one of Chet Atkins’ songs. This model would be equipped with the Filter’Tron pickup, newly developed by Batz. The EchoSonic amplifier, mentioned earlier, played a significant role in the development of the Filter’Tron pickup.
At the time, Atkins was plagued by hum noise when using the 6120 in combination with the Echo Sonic, so he consulted with Batz. Consequently, Batz—quite by chance—arrived at the same solution as Gibson: hum cancellation.
The resulting pickup featured a humbucker design and was named the “Filter’Tron.” Batz pitched the Filter’Tron to Gretsch, and with Atkins’ backing, it was installed in the 6122. From then on, the number of Gretsch models equipped with the Filter’Tron as standard increased, and it became the flagship model among Gretsch pickups.
Like Gibson pickups, the Filter’Tron features a humbucker design, but it is built smaller than its Gibson counterparts. This results in a narrower spacing between the pole pieces compared to Gibson pickups. Additionally, it utilized Alnico and ferrite magnets that were approximately twice as thick as those used in Gibson pickups. As a result, the pickup delivered a crisp, articulate sound with a pronounced high-frequency response.
Had the Filter'Tron not been developed, other Gretsch pickups such as the Hi-Lo'Tron and Super'Tron would never have been created, and the position of Gretsch guitars in the modern era would have been different. Considering this, I believe Ray Butts’ contribution was immense.