Custom Gretsch Pickups

Guns N’ Roses’ Richard Fortus gives us the inside scoop on how he developed the pickups for his forthcoming signature Falcon with Gretsch

Richard Fortus’s use of Gretsch Falcons on stage with Guns N’ Roses is regarded as a benchmark of hard-rock tone: the bottom- and top-end prominence of the Filter’Tron humbuckers in his Players Edition models tessellate perfectly with Slash’s midrange-focused sounds. With much excitement brewing about the forthcoming release of the Richard Fortus signature Gretsch Falcons and their bespoke pickups, we decided to check in with the man himself to find out how he managed to nail down a tone that’s fit for one of the world’s most celebrated rock ’n’ roll bands.