[1][note 1] Butts built the prototype Filter'Tron in 1954 for guitarist Chet Atkins and it was manufactured by Gretsch and installed in almost all of the brand's guitars beginning in 1957.

Gretsch guitars and the "growl" and "twang" of their Filter'Trons played a major part in the rise of rock and roll, with adopters like Bo Diddley, Duane Eddy, George Harrison, and Neil Young.

[2] After a sharp decline in popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s, the Gretsch brand and Filter'Tron sound experienced a revival when Brian Setzer renewed public interest in the rockabilly genre.

"[2] Guitar.com observed that Filter'Trons are not as powerful as humbuckers or P-90s, but not as bright as Fender's single coil pickups; instead, they "fuse hazy clarity, twang and midrange growl" in their own unique and pleasing way.

However, he was displeased with the 60-cycle hum of the single coil pickups used in his signature 6120 guitar model and complained to his friend Ray Butts, an inventor and amp builder from Cairo, Illinois.

[5] In 1955, Butts began pitching Gretsch on adopting his new pickup design, pointing out its advantages over the brand's existing DeArmond-produced single coils.

[6] Gibson president Ted McCarty was initially cautious about potential similarities in their humbucking designs in his response, while noting the company had filed the patent for the PAF the prior year.

However, McCarty wrote Butts a second time upon learning that Chet Atkins was already publicly performing with Filter'Trons[6]—Atkins was first photographed doing so that year with a black 6120 on the Grand Ole Opry.

While there was tension between the two companies, Gibson and Gretsch eventually agreed that Lover and Butts had independently invented their pickups and the timing was coincidence.

The brand's fate changed, however, when Brian Setzer, a Gretsch enthusiast, revived public interest in the rockabilly genre and its twangy guitar tone.