Has Gretsch been lying to us for over a decade?

[skycruiser]

If someone decides to go to court over the cheap pickups in the $300 bass I will be happy to watch from the sidelines. Again....disappointing (and I am not a Gretsch/Fender apologist) but I do think that a little bit of perspective could go a long way with this.

It would be interesting to see someone do an audio comparison between these apparently single-coil pickups and a pair of the 2202 true humbuckers installed in the 2220. I think many of us have found that it is not easy to capture that unique single-coil tone from humbuckers. Personally I've gone through several sets of J-bass hum-canceling pickups but was never happy with the results. Swapping in a pair of true humbuckers in this 2220 could drastically alter the sound - and could go either way (better or worse).

 

[Old_Noob]

Im gonna order some of that paper...I oddly do not have hum. Bought mine in 2020.

 

[NortyFiner]

I've had my 2220 for a few years now. It does NOT hum and has stronger output than I'm used to from Fender singles. So if they're single coils, they're impressive single coils.

 

[LBS-bass]

What's the oldest one that's been tested so far? Only one dual coil was found and that was in the single pickup version.

 

[NortyFiner]

Has anyone from Gretsch actually chimed in on this yet?

 

[sleddogn]

am still loving the other thread posts...as of midnight a post there is hoping lobster gets sued...don't they ever read new stuff?

 

[Snert]

^^ Nah, it'll just mess with their narrative. Even better were the posts there, and IIRC one here, that were saying Lobster did it for the money he made off YT. I know what the rates are from other YT creators I know and he's not making much. Great service in doing the reviews, but as a job his hourly rate would be pretty low.

 

[Bright Midnight]

So has Fender/Gretsch replied in any way?

 

[crobasster]

Does the single coil models are equiped with half coil ?

 

[BigAlBass69]

It is sad that for many, integrity is so devalued, explaining away that it’s a large company, just doing business, doesn’t matter because it’s a cheap product etc… Integrity should matter for any size business and for any one person. Ah but I am naive to the ways of the wicked world. I return to my cave now.

 

[JC BASS 91]

It would be interesting to see someone do an audio comparison between these apparently single-coil pickups and a pair of the 2202 true humbuckers installed in the 2220. I think many of us have found that it is not easy to capture that unique single-coil tone from humbuckers. Personally I've gone through several sets of J-bass hum-canceling pickups but was never happy with the results. Swapping in a pair of true humbuckers in this 2220 could drastically alter the sound - and could go either way (better or worse).

I actually bought one because I liked the sound and playability of the one I tried in a local store. I just hated the color and wanted something different, so I ordered one. The one I got played and sounded the same as the one in the store, so I was pleased and still am. Even if Gretsch/FMIC offered me free replacement pickups, I would likely decline (unless I got to keep the ones I have in the bass and have an extra set of pups around).

I just find it all interesting and would love to know where the breakdown happened and when. <shrug>

 

[mrperkolator]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone had the same experience I have had with these? Besides my aforementioned experiment where I found that there is a definite 60Hz hum when soloed and even when both pickups are selected, I have found this odd thing where, when both pickups are selected, it almost sounds as if there is a tiny bit of chorus to the sound of the bass. It also exists when the pickups are soloed, but only very faintly. When both pickups are on though, I can definitely hear what sounds like just a little bit of chorus effect there.

Yep. we all get the hum. That's what started all of this. The chorus effect may be issues from your pickups being too close to the strings. try playing and lowering them at the same time until the chorus goes away.

 

[LowEndLobster]

Back on topic, I had someone reach out via youtube comments yesterday and stated they had a G2220 example from 2013 that has the same single coil pickups. They didn't actually open up the pickups or use the paper though, but the pickup model appears to be the same from the outside, but without at least a look with the paper we still can't say for certain here... thought it looks like these basses have alwas been this way. Going to see if I can get him to snag a piece of the paper to test.

 

[SPlavick]

As of today the Gretsch web site still states that the G2220's pickups are "dual-coil bass humbucking".

What it looks like to me is a mutant blade single coil silicone'd into a mini-humbucker casing.

 

[skycruiser]

Back on topic, I had someone reach out via youtube comments yesterday and stated they had a G2220 example from 2013 that has the same single coil pickups. They didn't actually open up the pickups or use the paper though, but the pickup model appears to be the same from the outside, but without at least a look with the paper we still can't say for certain here... thought it looks like these basses have alwas been this way. Going to see if I can get him to snag a piece of the paper to test.

Do the ones from the 2202 have opposite magnet polarity between the two halves? Maybe a simple button magnet could be used to check if it is the side-by-side type of HB. If the magnet polarities are opposite direction, the button would flip over from one side to the other.

 

[B-Mac]

Im gonna order some of that paper...I oddly do not have hum. Bought mine in 2020.

This would be very helpful to the cause as the lack of audible hum stated by others has made several here think that originally the 2220 did in fact have humbuckers as advertised and then somewhere along the way the factory responsible for constructing these basses changed to the noisy pups that are the subject of this thread.

Early Junior Jet 2220 models were not marketed with the ‘II’ designation. This would help @LowEndLobster further document his findings.

 

[RichT]

I bought a G2220 about 6 weeks ago, and it was obvious from the moment I got it home that it behaved exactly like it had single coil pickups. All my other basses and guitars have humbuckers, but some of them have very decent coil split options so I know how the SC hum operates in my music room, which orientations makes the hum louder and quieter etc, and the Gretsch was exactly the same.

I was initially very disappointed that it was clearly claiming to be something other than what was being sold and I bought a noise cancelling pedal specifically to use with it. Forward to 6 weeks later and I haven't actually got the noise canceller out of the box. I've been completely won over by the G2220's fantastic neck, the light weight, the growly funky sound I get from it... I generally stopped noticing the hum and its become my favourite player out of basses costing 2-3 times as much among the 7 that I currently own. I'd go as far to say its the most comfortable bass I've ever played in my 35 years of playing.

In short, it's crap that Gretsch/Fender have done this, I'm not a Fender apologist (I've never owned any other Fender made bass) but Lobster's investigation just confirmed what I already strongly suspected based on my experience with my own G2220, and it doesn't in effect change anything regarding what I love about this bass. Truthfully, I'm not sure I'd want humbuckers in it now because it would no doubt alter the sound too much. I would however really appreciate it being retrofitted with a proper neck pickup. I think I'm more annoyed about all the pickups being bridge models than I am about Humbuckergate. I'm a middle position guy, if I could achieve hum cancelling from a RWRP neck pickup then I'd be perfectly happy.

 

[BunchyMutt]

I ordered both sizes of the magnet paper. Once I get it I can upload more photos of sidewinders. I also have what should be a quad coil, except it hums when on single coil mode. So that'll be interesting - did I mess up the wiring? Is something faulty inside? Is it actually a dual coil?

 

[Beej]

^^ Weasel words like that might save them in the US, but it won't everywhere.

Exact-a-mundo. The largest trading countries/regions with the US have stronger truth-in-advertising laws than the US does. Canada and EU countries have lists of companies/individuals who have violated competition and advertising laws and the penalties they have paid. On their surface, they appear to be very similar issues to what we see here, even if this situation is less egregious than some.

On the other hand, my complaint may only result in the govt levying some fines and slaps on the wrist, only to have FMIC refuse to sell their products in Canada any longer.*




*if you think FMIC might actually pull their products from Canada, read again about the USA's largest trading partners.

 

[Old_Noob]

This would be very helpful to the cause as the lack of audible hum stated by others has made several here think that originally the 2220 did in fact have humbuckers as advertised and then somewhere along the way the factory responsible for constructing these basses changed to the noisy pups that are the subject of this thread.

Early Junior Jet 2220 models were not marketed with the ‘II’ designation. This would help @LowEndLobster further document his findings.

Mine is Gretsch G2220 Junior Jet Bass II - Walnut Stain