TV Jones....WOW!

[Kap'n]

Got my FMIC Gretsch back from the shop, replacing the stock HS Flitertrons for some TV Jones Classics.

These have totally transformed the guitar. While before it was a nice sounding guitar, the TV Classics give it all the clarity, snap and jangle a Gretsch should have. Though my Super Reverb clone, it sounds great for all sorts of pop stuff, and through the Ampeg it's jazzy.

Wheras before I almost never used the neck pickup by itself, or the mud switch, I'm messing with them all the time - they're much more usable. The stock HS Filtertrons were darker sounding with a bit of a treble spike.

A bit expensive for pickups, but I'd say they're worth every penny. Or more correctly, FMIC should put these in every Filtertron Gretsch stock. I'd bet they'd sell a bunch more.

[Kap'n]

Oddly enough, it does Rickenbacker better than my old Rickenbacker did.

[Rickenjangle]

Those buttheads at TVJ haven't emailed me back. I want to put 'em (TV Classic neck, TV Classic Plus in the bridge) in my pinstripe Electromatic Hollowbody and I need to know what mounting option to choose.

Oh well, I can wait... it's not like I'm stuck for choice when it comes to guitars to play...

[Kap'n]

They don't do well with emails. They were pretty helpful on the phone, though.

Which electromatic - the 5120 or 5122, or a different one?

This page should be useful.

[Rickenjangle]

The one with the tone-sucking Gretschbuckers...

I have a 5120 and a 5128. Love the 2K/Dynas that are in there - plus those are some of the most expensive to replace anyways...but the GretschBuckers - which sounded great in the store but don't stack up well at all with my other guitars' pickups - NEED to be scuttled...

[Kap'n]

Yep - I'll "need" something with Dynas at some point.

The Gretsch Pages has a pretty good forum with plenty of people who have done the conversion as well.

[refin]

Congrats,Kap'n! I need some good pups for my Ricky,I'm gonna see if they do surface mounts.

[Mikey]

I read an article/interview with Brian Setzer on the eve of the new CD/DVD release and they got talking gear used for recording and on stage. Brian basically says you can dump whatever pickups came with your Gretsch guitar and replace them with TV Jones because they sound much more like Gretsch than anything else out there. In fact, all his Gretsch signature models have TV Jones pick ups (according to him that is)

[Rickenjangle]

I finally got a response from Tom (TV) who confirmed that I need the English Mount. I've decided that I'm gonna give it two weeks and then pull the trigger if I don't change my mind. I know that changing pickups in these guitars is hard because of their construction, so I have to budget for that also...

[Kap'n]

I had a pro do it, particularly because of the funky wiring scheme of a traditional Gretsch, and because the holes are smaller than a typical Gibson bucker - or Gretchbucker.

It doesn't look as bad with a 5120. I've had decent results on a hollowbody by using surgical tubing slid over the pot shafts to assist in pulling them back into place.

[Rickenjangle]

Hey that's a sweet idea! I would have never thought about that. Then again, I can't do a decent solder joint to save my life...so for me it's gonna be a pro also...

[Kap'n]

Maybe if I call him out here, I can guilt Mikey into doing it for you.

[NeoFauve]

These have totally transformed the guitar. While before it was a nice sounding guitar, the TV Classics give it all the clarity, snap and jangle a Gretsch should have.

Some years ago I was considering trading my Bluesbird in on a Gretsch. The 120th Anniversary, with the Bamboo Yellow finish, had TVJ's, a new Tennesee Rose had the High Sensitives and an old stock green Annie had the ceramic Filtertrons.
I liked how they all played. They all sounded quite good and there were noticeable differences in sound btw the 3 fairly similar guitars.
The ceramics were crisp sounding, quiet HB's.
The High-Sens, were a sonic improvement with a broader range of pretty sound
The TVJ p'ups had more of everything. The warmth and sparkle, but everything in between.
It was like first you took midrange out of a sleeping bag and then peeled a couple of tube socks off of it.
Really hi-fi sounding.

I thought they sounded better than a reasonably priced '67 Anniversary I checked out around the same time.

[Kap'n]

The 120th Anniversary, with the Bamboo Yellow finish

That's a sweet guitar. There's a lot to be said for a Bluesbird too. Sometimes I wish I still had my old Nightbird. It's in this book

[NeoFauve]

I have a copy of that book, from my "interested in Kays" phase.

The 120th is a very nice guitar. A little showy. But i was really surprised at what a difference those pickups made.

[Rickenjangle]

In talking with Andy Babiuk over at FabGear music, I found out that he's a TVJ retailer. So I think I'm gonna do this up right and get a pair of pickups through him. Installation is $75 so that will be aggravation-avoidance-fees!

I can't wait to head back over there, now, and put in my order. My Gretsch has been languishing tooooo long without playing it - it's a case of either fix it or sell it...

[Kap'n]

yer goona love 'em

[Don]

You guys are killin' me!!!

[Rickenjangle]

Will I want to marry 'em??

[Kap'n]

Does a Gretsch have f-holes?

[Rickenjangle]

"F" YEAH!

[Rickenjangle]

So I'm not really in the marrying mood with my Gretsch but I have decided that I'm going to remain in a long-term relationship with her...the pickups are a definite improvement over the Gretschbuckers but not the magic bullet-train to Setzerland I thought they might be. Part of it is that Andy took the liberty of putting 11's or 12's on the guitar, which I just can't hang with anymore. Second is that the setup isn't all it should be. I was able to detune the guitar down to C and have the action get better AND the dang thing actually "felt" like I had 10's on there. So playability is a factor, to be sure - currently I've got it set to D standard tuning, which gives a nice low down twang.

But the pickups needed to be adjusted up a bit, and I needed to tweak the polepieces to do it. Now I'm thinking I have some more work to do with the polepieces to get the right EQ curve off the pickups.

I did discover, however, that the guitar is absolutely amazing-sounding through my Tweaker 15 set to closely emulate a piggyback blonde bassman. It really came alive at the higher volume with all the tube goodness filling out the sound.

However, it is SO different from my other guitars that to use it on a gig isn't in the cards right now. Not versatile enough unless I ganged all my rockabilly songs together in 1/2 of one set and just used the guitar there.

I don't know if I could say they were worth the expense...adding $350 to an $800 guitar...but they are nice.

[Kap'n]

John - check the TV Jones website. They've got some instructions on raising the pickups with foam. You need to raise the pickup bodies, and then adjust the polepieces to taste.

[Rickenjangle]

I've got the English mount, with 2 risers for the Bridge and one for the Neck pickup. I'll look around to see what anyone says about polepieces. I think a looser set of strings might be in order to get the string height down, and also to lower the middle pairs of poles on each pickup. They're all body and no bite. All woody and no sizzle or cut. I know it ain't supposed to be a Tele but when the tone's got a blanket over it I've gotta crank up and be heard and then my voice is muffled/masked by the overbearing Gretsch.

[Kap'n]

While not super bright, they should be much more balanced towards the top end compared to a standard humbucker.

[stratcat33511]

John - check the TV Jones website. They've got some instructions on raising the pickups with foam. You need to raise the pickup bodies, and then adjust the polepieces to taste.

I used a cheap new , mousepad
Did the trick for me