Milder than TV Jones Classic?

[ICTGoober]

One of my clients has a Gretsch Country Gentleman w/ TV Jones Classic humbuckers. He thinks the pickups sound too scratchy. I should add that this client is a finger picker most of the time, and he leads worship services in his church. I am not hip to the TV Jones units, or any other pickups that would fit in this guitar. Any suggestions?

 

[Securb]

I would try wiring it in parallel before shopping other pickups

 

[ICTGoober]

You mean wire both in parallel to each other, or each unit in parallel? Are they 4 wire pickups?

 

[freefrog]

TV Jones Classic's have a very low inductance, setting their resonant peak very high in the audio range... Mines measure hardly more than 1.9H and 1.6H, for the record (it's twice less than an underwound T-Top for the bridge unit). That and their powerful magnet make them "naturally" gritty in high frequencies (in the 6.5khz range through an average 10' cable)... EDIT - and they can't be wired in parallel, BTW: they are 3 wires PU's (two output wires + a grounding bare one).

I tend to set them under the strings in a paradoxal way, with screw poles closer to the strings on the bass side, and a generous gap on the treble side if needed.

If the guitar has a tone switch, it might also be a good idea to use it: my guitar with TV Classic's has a switch putting a 3,3nF in parallel with the pickups and it makes them tonally close to P.A.F. clones.

If the guitar has no tone switch, playing it through a capacitive cable (IOW: a long and/or coily one) might help. Unless one mimics the capacitive load of a long cable by putting a low value cap between hot and ground of the output jack plug (start with 1nF / 0.001µ, adjust to taste with a higher or lower capacitance).

If changing pickups is required, TV Jones makes more powerful pickups, tonally closer to P.A.F. clones, with the same look. See the Power'Tron's.

 

[ICTGoober]

I did a little research on other offerings, and nearly everyone is trying to replicate the classic units which had alnico 5 magnets. I was hoping someone might offer alnico 2... Only one did, a Chinese pickup made by Fleor that sells for around $50 per set depending on the seller.

 

[Securb]

You mean wire both in parallel to each other, or each unit in parallel? Are they 4 wire pickups?

Mine are 4-wire, I would give that a try before spending $50

 

[Artie]

He thinks the pickups sound too scratchy.

I don't think I've heard a pup described as "scratchy." I wonder how that equates to tone.

 

[jeremy]

yeah, im not sure what scratchy means either. if it means too bright or thin, then the tone switch sounds like a good idea

 

[freefrog]

Mine are 4-wire, I would give that a try before spending $50

My bad, I'm sorry: you made me realize that TV Jones now sells Classic's with 4 wires... It's clearly mentioned in the "wiring notes": https://tvjones.com/tv-classic-bridge-universal-mount/

My own Classic's are wired like these ones, for the record, and the last one that I've bought had still this 3 wires cable: https://willcuttguitars.com/cdn/shop/products/IMG_2957_5000x.jpg?v=1620232386

A question, if you don't mind: have you tried your Classic(s) wired in parallel?

 

[jeremy]

i remember them being three wire too man, no worries. apparently they changed to 4 wire at some point

 

[ICTGoober]

He's gonna drop it off after New Years.

 

[Securb]

I remember my Classic+ distorting when it was too close to the strings, I mean serious distortion like I had an overdrive pedal going. It could simply be a case of backing the pickup off, scratchy might mean, fuzz or grainy.

 

[Securb]

A question, if you don't mind: have you tried your Classic(s) wired in parallel?

No, the guitar they are in is a hard rock/punk machine. It is a MIM Tele with an SD Hot Rails in the bridge and a Classic+ bridge pickup in the neck, allowing for some of those punk surf tones and old-school rhythm tones. I have never had the desire to bring down the heat on this guitar. There is a split on the Hot Rails if I desire.

 

[freefrog]

No, the guitar they are in is a hard rock/punk machine. It is a MIM Tele with an SD Hot Rails in the bridge and a Classic+ bridge pickup in the neck, allowing for some of those punk surf tones and old-school rhythm tones. I have never had the desire to bring down the heat on this guitar. There is a split on the Hot Rails if I desire.

Thx for your reply.

Something that I've not yet explained because it's a solution difficult to transpose to other cases : my bridge TV Classic has a switch for parallel option.
Somehow.
I mean: the switch puts it in parallel with a home made dummy coil itself in series with a resistor, in order to drop the measured DCR and inductance to the same value than for the neck PU. In the same time, this switch disables the tone pot. It makes the bridge unit a bit clearer, more "old school".
Now, I wonder how a Classic B in parallel with itself would sound: it would have a DCR a bit above 1k and an inductance under 0.5H, which is really, really low in theory.
In practice, who knows?
I'll be happy to read about the result if ICTGoober tries this solution.
+1 about TV Jones Classic's distorting when too close to the strings, that said: that's the result of strong magnetism + strong eddy currents typical of this design. I had that in mind when I've evoked height settings in my previous answer...