Milder than TV Jones Classic?

[freefrog]

I've already tried to explain the "scratchy" thing in the post 4. Again, it's a distortion effect involving the eddy currents due to double rows of long screw poles, the powerful magnetic flux due to a double thick A5 magnet, and the high pitched resonant peak due to low DCR / inductance, putting the grit in high frequencies.

It's not typical of TV Jones Classic's. That's just how Filter'Tron's sound, by design. And this design is dated from an era where the use of very long capacitive cables + lo-fi "prehistoric" effects was cooperating nicely with the Filter'Tron recipe (those who made a carreer with these pickups know that. See what Reverb explains about Brian Setzer: "Other, slightly less crucial components of the Setzer sound include an early-‘60s Fender tube reverb unit that he uses occasionally, and a really, really long guitar cable. When I say "really, really long," I mean about 60 feet long. If you have any experience with long guitar cables, you probably know that a cable of this length will have a significant impact on the guitar tone, rolling off a lot of treble. Apparently, this is how Setzer likes it [...]". 60ft of cable is the same thing than a 2.7nF from hot to ground, BTW. I use a hardly higher value with my 3.3nF cap as a tone filter on a tone switch: this cap just makes me sound as if I was plugging through 73 more ft of cable).

I can produce the Scratchy sound with my TV Classic's if I want to: I've just to set them too close to the strings and to play through a too hi-fi wiring / rig.

But I also know how to make them sound to my liking by setting their height differently and by adjusting the capacitive load. Once that done, I've no problem to obtain classic Setzer or Malcolm Young tones (more raunchy than scratchy: the Filter'Tron gritty character never totally disappears and that's where some users might prefer other pickups, of course).

FWIW.

 

[Securb]

I can produce the Scratchy sound with my TV Classic's if I want to: I've just to set them too close to the strings and to play through a too hi-fi wiring / rig.

I totally agree. I have my pickups very close to the strings on all of my guitars with the exception of the TV Jones in the Tele. That pickup is level with the pickguard. If I raise it, I start to get distortion, which is what I suspect the "scratchy" sound is. Just back it way off ,and I assume it will sound glorious. Even backed off, I get plenty of bite and a Malcolm-esque rhythm tone.

 

[ICTGoober]

Okay - it's on the bench, and color me surprised. This is an expensive axe with a lot of extras (it's the Japanese built George Harrison Tribute). Yes, indeed - I get what the client is talking about now. I wouldn't describe the tone as scratchy, but it is very trebly - almost brittle on the "normal" setting of the 3 position tone switch. The 2nd position rolls off some of the treble, and I find it almost acceptable. The 3rd position (which Gretsch describes as the mud position) the treble is very much rolled off - even muffled. The neck pickup alone is quite bright. The bridge position is twangy in every way. I can see why rockabilly players would dig it. It almost sounds like a Rickenbacker to my ear.

The laminated top is quite rigid, and with 2 bars running under the top (3/4" wide and deep), this is nearly a solidbody - and it's all maple. The pickups are mounted solid into the bars, the pickup rings are merely for looks. And the pickups are 2 wire, very simple. The Fleor units are 2 wire also. This should be a straightforward swap. I told the client he should try a half-round set of strings if these new units are still too bright. He asked me to put a set in the case, should he need them.

Nothing to do with the tone, but the zero fret is a tall jumbo, and the rest of the frets are short and narrow like banjo frets. That makes the action at the zero fret a wee bit high. I'll deal with that later - I'm thinking installing a lower fret would work. Remains to be seen...

 

[jeremy]

i might just dress that zero fret down rather than replace it?

 

[ICTGoober]

I've done that, too - but replacing it is more exact in my experience.

 

[freefrog]

The 2nd position rolls off some of the treble, and I find it almost acceptable

Not surprised by your experience. If it was for me, I'd try lower and higher cap values than those of this 2d position and I wouldn't hesitate to wire permanently a cap of the best sounding value between hot and ground of the output jack. It would emulate permanently the softening effect of a very long cable...

But that's just me. Thx for the instructive report and good luck in your job of guitar tech anyway.