Over the last 2 days I've come across a baby blue G5127 and a G5191 (Tim Armstrong edition) within an hour and a half drive on Craigslist. The 5127 is selling for approximately $700 and the 5191 for $750. I love the baby blue look, but prefer humbuckers over single coil. My questions are: Is there a humbucker that would fit where the DeArmond 2000's are? If so, what one? I generally play a lot of punk rock/distorted/overdrive stuff, so the hollow body guitar built for a punk guitarist makes sense, but good god, there is just something about that blue. Any feedback about either guitar is appreciated. Thanks.

First post. A lot of time trying to find answers to these questions has led me here.

I love my 5127....

But, it does like to howl with feedback if I'm not careful. Stage4 size and amp direction have a big impact... but smaller spaces, with higher distortion levels, tend to give me some issue. I don't know much about the TA model... Is the bracing the same (Tone post)? Or doe sit have a little bit more in there?

I think TV has or is working on something that fits, but, I'm not 100% on that. But, I can't imagine wanting to replace the D2000's!

.... And yes, there is something about that blue!

Thanks for the feedback Axis! To be honest, I'm not real sure about the bracing, but it's something I'll look into. I'll also look into what TV could be doing. Thanks again.

I dropped TV Classics (DeArmond Mount) in my 5129 (red) a few months after getting it. GFS also sells a similar pickup, though I haven't used that one.

The one thing I will say is, after swapping the pups in my 5129, I went and bought a 5124 (white) to leave stock because I missed the 2000s.

Bottom line is, if you get the 5127 give those pickups a chance. I was a Gibson humbucker guy for a decade before I found those, and now I only have one guitar with any kind of humbucker, and they're filters.

I think the TA is a killer guitar, but with the options you have, I'd jump on the 5127 in a heart beat.

That price is a little steep though, I'd try to get them down a bit if you can. It's not totally unheard of, and it depends on if there's a case, and condition, but I paid about $450 for both my 512x without cases, and the 5124 is a lot more rare than the 5127.

Thanks Ripley. Looks like I hit the wrong key (I was up late last night), the guy is asking around $650, but with it being Craigslist there's some negotiation to be had. I'm a sucker for rare/hard to find things and as a 30 year old man, a bit embarrassed to admit I love a good light blue, so this is really hard to pass up.

There's a case and all kinds of extras thrown in (books/dvd's/etc...), some of which I'm interested in, some I'm not.

I'm hoping to have a decision made tonight and get whatever one I choose picked up tomorrow.

I know what you mean about being a Gibson humbucker guy, I love my Les Paul.

Go for the 5127, you might dig the stock DeArmonds and if not then drop some TV Jones in it. I don't think I'd pay more than $500-$550 though. Good luck!

I think I'm starting to lean towards the 5127. Thanks for all the help.

The dearmonds sound great overdriven, I play my 5129 a lot more than my les paul, more flexibility with the hollow body.

Another thing that might be worth considering is that the TA is still in production, so you have a better chance of finding another one of those at some future point, should you decide you'd like to have both, whereas the 5127 is already an extinct species and they ain't makin' em no more.

FWIW I play a lot of the same style stuff. I missed that in the OP first time I read it.

I've used all my Gretsches for punk, metal, and all kinds of high gain, high volume hard rock. I've not had much (if any) trouble with feedback with any of it. My usual rig is a 2x12 Peavey Classic 50 with a 4x12 under it. I've played with that maxed and as long as I didn't step right in front of the amp (like to adjust controls) I was fine.

I love the DeArmond 2000s. They are my faborite Gretsch pickup of all of them. I mounted a pair on my 5120 which comes with GretschBuckers.

Parabar, that's exactly what I was thinking too.

Ripley, that's quite the setup. My setup lately has been Orange Tiny Terror, Fulltone OCD, through a Peavey 2x12 XXX cab (another CL hidden gem) (I've got the Boss noise suppressor in there too). I do have a Peavey 5150 that I've used forever. I've become a basement rocker as of late (which sucks), so I've been slowly downsizing.

Bear, did you have to make any adjustments to the body to switch out the pickups or was it a pretty smooth fit? I love the way the 5120's sound, it'd be nice to know that the Gretschbuckers would fit on a 5127.

Bear, did you have to make any adjustments to the body to switch out the pickups or was it a pretty smooth fit? I love the way the 5120's sound, it'd be nice to know that the Gretschbuckers would fit on a 5127.

Paul Setzer made me slightly oversized Dyna bases that just barely cover the bucker routs. If you want to put regular sized buckers on the 5127 you would have to do some wood routing as the reverse on the 512X series is harder to do.

The 5127 sold before I could get to it. Looks like I'll be taking the 5191. Not a bad backup plan. Thanks for all the info guys.

FWIW... 5125 on the bay here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290...