chord . WOW ! I was expecting the typical thinner bridge tone which I would remedy by boosting the mids or turning on a tube screamer but what I got instead was a gorgeous balance of filtertron kerrang mixed with the fullness and heft of something like a PAF . It was like all the top-end chime of the Sparkle Jets and La Cabrotinas I used to own , but the fullness and bottom end had been added in . Flipping back up to the neck and middle revealed a set of tones that were usable in all positions . Each one perfectly balanced and voiced to retain clarity and fullness . I was sold … I had found MY filtertrons but the surprises were not yet finished . After adding absolutely heavenly amounts of reverb I found that no matter how much wet mix I added in , the Lamber ’ Trons clarity was still audible and seemed to float like a buoy on a sea of reverb and delay trails . I demanded a set immediately but was told they were not yet ready for production . I was reduced to wailing and gnashing of teeth .
ASKING THE BUILDER … A couple months later I reached out to Kurtis to ask about how he was able to get that heft and body in the bridge position and if he had experienced the same thing I had with filtertron style pups in the past …
[ Kurtis ] I used vintage-sized magnets , like from the 50 ’ s , paired with my signature lowwind and tightly controlled tension winding methods to create a set that compliments itself ; all the while giving unique tones for each pickup position . The neck uses an AlNiCo IV magnet , and the bridge uses an AlNiCo VIII , similar to our Crema humbucker set . But that ’ s where the similarities end . We designed and made three different nickel silver baseplate model designs , custom injection molded bobbins , custom molded AlNiCo magnets , custom made screws , SLA printed internal spacers ; with the exception for the vintage-sized Filter ’ Tron
HW
cover , this set is re-designed and built from the ground up .
CONCLUSION … The Lamber ’ Trons deliver on their promise to bring traditional filtertron tones some much needed balance and refinement . Complementary in every position these are sure to help you level up the tone of any filtertron or filtertron style equipped guitar !
From $ 215.00 Lambertones . com
[ HW ] Do you find traditional filtertrons typically to be problematic ? Between neck and bridge I always struggle to get a tone that sounds right with all pickup positions .
[ Kurtis ] In my experience with filtertrons , I have found them really imbalanced . The neck and middle usually sound pretty good , but the bridge is consistently weak and thin in comparison . It requires tweaking your rig instead of sitting complimentary to other guitars or even to other pickup positions . They sound great in a mix , they cut , but when played on their own it leaves something to be desired .
[ HW ] How did you get that extra heft and fullness without losing the signature chime and sparkle filtertrons are known for ? How did you balance everything out ?