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He goes on to add that McCarty’s mention of
ceasing work on the Filter’Tron or getting a licence
is “presumptuous” but that he would be happy to
look at copies of the relevant patents to see if there
is indeed an infringement on his part.
It’s likely that Ray then typed up this letter
before sending it. But neither the typed version
nor any response from Gibson has ever been found.
Nevertheless, it’s all too tempting to imagine the
Gibson president’s reaction.
Both Butts and McCarty note that development
of their respective humbuckers began years before
this point and, on the face of it, this only adds to the
uncertainties of the timeline. But it’s important to
consider everything Ray says in his letter, especially
on the second page.
“In your letters you seem to be under the
impression that the pickup which I have is something
which I am working on and do not have perfected,”
he says. “I would like to make it clear that for the
purposes of the invention the first model that I made
worked successfully and clearly demonstrated the
basic ideas of the invention.”
Ray goes on to state that all work in the years
since has been simply refining and modifying small
details. He’s suggesting here that what’s important
is not when someone started conceptualising or
researching the idea but the point at which they had
a functional and fully realised invention. By stating
that he began his work years prior, and that his very
first humbucking pickup build was successful, Ray
is asserting that he got there before Gibson did, who
were likely at such a stage in early/mid-1955, before
the company’s patent application.
For TV Jones, the confidence of Ray’s response
and his intimation of proof to back up his claims is a
revelation in itself. “This is so important,” says Jones.
“People need to see this.”
The letters inspired Jones to dive into the rest of
Butts’ documents with even greater fervour, in case
there’s proof that Ray’s invention did indeed arrive
before Lover’s. “If there’s evidence here that Ray was
already making the Filter’Tron in early ’55 or in ’54,
that’s huge,” he says.
However, with many of the artefacts and
paperwork not clearly dated, finding such evidence
isn’t easy. A document from Ray’s attorneys provides
part of the timeline for the development of the
Filter’Tron. The itemised bill lists three different
matters handled for Ray between 16 July 1954 and
30 November 1956. The services appear to be listed
chronologically, and the first of these regards a patent
application for a reverb apparatus that Ray invented.
Other documents show his work on this apparatus
took place in early 1954.
The next matter concerns “services re your new ABOVE Tom examining the
low-hum-level pickup”. This suggests that Ray had Filter’Tron patent awarded
asked his attorneys to perform services regarding to Ray on 30 June 1959
his humbucking pickup design between early 1954
and November 1956. Ray’s letters to McCarty imply
that he only found out about the Gibson pickup in
October, and he tells McCarty that he has already
spoken with his attorneys. The bill here also states
that his lawyers looked into “possible interference
with the Gilson co”, presumably meaning Gibson.
At least some of this work, then, was carried out
in October-November ’56.
But most likely not all of it. With the bill dated
30 November 1956 and with two succeeding items,
it’s possible that Ray had first contacted his lawyers
regarding the new invention much earlier. The “loud
speaker construction” listed after the pickups is shown
in other documents to have occupied Ray in early/
mid-1956, which suggests that Ray was in contact
with his lawyers regarding the pickup a while
before his exchange with McCarty.
Another possible hint comes from correspondence
between Ray and Chet Atkins. Ray developed his new
pickup because Chet was frustrated with the hum
from his DeArmonds. Impressed by Ray’s EchoSonic
amplifier and other works, Atkins decided that Butts
was the only one who could get the pickup right. The
two were already exchanging letters in early 1954,
at which point Atkins was certain he would use the
EchoSonic on his next record. Again, this makes
it possible that Ray was tackling the pickup issues
for Atkins as early as 1954 and, if his claim that he
got the humbucker to work on his first attempt is
accurate, this would date the invention to that year.
But of course, it’s not quite that easy.
GUITAR MAGAZINE 69