what pickup can give me the most twang in my 5120..should i be surfing,watching tv.
i have a set of gretsch filters in my 5120 now.but there not all that twangy.ok,but not great..are they close to the tv classics..or would i be better with the surf90s..
and finally, do the surf 90s last.hows the quality..amp i use is a 15watt blues jr. but im saving for a hotrod delux III..what do you guys think..thanks,your help has been great to me.been driving myself nuts
See if you can find a set of DeArmond 2000s. You will never be sorry. I put them on my 5120. To me, they are the best sounding of all Gretsch pickups with TWANG by the truckload. Also, The GFS Surf 90s are very good, not as good as the 2000s (IMO), but good nonetheless.
You know, you could alwasy take the cheap route like me, and utilize the stock G'buckers. I didn't want to shell out the scratch for serious pups, or dig into the guts of my guitar, as I can work on engines, but not wires. Now, I know what you're saying: "But everybody switches them out!" Thing is, most people never give them a chance. But here's the trick: Raise the pole-pieces. Just play around with different combos and pickup selections. I was hell-bent on getting Magna'Trons, but decided that $270 was a bit much for pickups. So I did what any hot rodder does...played around with existing parts. I love the sound now. Mostly b/c it's versitile. I can go from Luther Perkins twang, to fat jazz. Good luck in your endeavour.
Yes, DeArmond 2000's are great. Surf 90's are in the same family with them and Dynasonics. I have Surf 90's in three Gretsch guitars. (Yup, I like 'em.) This sound sample is a 5120 with Surf 90's and a Tru Arc stainless steel bridge.
Surf 90's
I'll affirm what Jack Stacey posted above. It's possible to adjust the poles on the Gretschbuckers until they sound the way you want them to. There is a wide range of tone adjustment possibilities with them. Each turn of the poles is noticeable. I have found youtube clips of guys playing stock 5120's that will blow you away with their tone.
thanks for the thread bob..you sold me on the surf 90s..thats the twang ive been looking for..loved rebel rouser..only question,,well two questions..will i have a problem fitting them in my 5120..i assume by the picture they are an english mount. and two, would you say the surf 90s are good to go for gigs.traveling,,will they last do you think? thanks alot, youve been a big help
Glad I could help, rockabilly katt. The Surf 90's are drop ins for a 5120. You can even use the stock Gretsch surrounds. (The GFS surrounds are black.) I've had them in one of my 5120's for a couple of years, with no problems at all. But then, I'm not playing the same guitar all the time either. I tend to rotate them for gigs, and play at home too. Maybe someone here has used the Surf 90's consistently for a time? By the way, I see you're a BJ user. I've been playing gigs through a Blues Jr III for the past seven months. Good luck katt!
I wanted more twang after putting TV Jones Classics in my 5120. I got some Surf 90's from Guitar Fetish. Maybe I did not do my homework, but the surf 90's required regular hubucker mounting rings...so they are the same size as humbuckers...would not accept a Gretsch mount.
BUT...that was the twang I was looking for...hearing in my head...so think The Animals "House of the Rising Sun" intro tone...well that is the bridge pup now on my 5120...and I am happy.
thanks bob..looking forward to getting mine..ill post some before and after shots after..and yes, i am a jr user.i love it..sadly, belongs to a friend.but ive had it for about a year now,(grad school) but now he wants it back..so i think i am going to go for the hodrod delux III.played one last weekend with a tele, store had no gretsch's. and the sound was amazing..anyhow..thanks for the help again
I admit to not giving the Gretschbuckers a chance. I convinced myself that I wanted single coils in my 5120 from the start. I have Surf 90's in my 5120, and really like them. They are going to stay.
I used the stock pickup surrounds. (I needed to drill a hole in the metal surrounds but that was no big deal.
I have a Baldwin era '76 Country Gent, and the pickups are awful and seriously make me want to kill myself..
Q.) Has anyone ever fitted Lace Alumitones in their Gretsches? and if so, would you recommend them?
Q.) Is it possible to commit this 'awful sacrilege' without wrecking the guitar? and what surrounds might fit??
I realise that they won't look too good cosmetically, but I really love the sound of Alumitones, and now, I hardly ever play my Gent because of the awful pickups.
I'm not impressed by the TV Jones replacements at all, and all of the TV Jones demos I've heard are uninspiring to say the least.. (IMO) The demos are either weedy, or fuzzy with added overdrive / distorsion, and sounding like death metal..
The twang's the thang..!! and that's what I want..!!
(but with perfect articulation and tone)
Before I installed '03 ceramic FilterTrons in my 5120, I changed the tone cap out to a .47mf Orange drop, big difference! You might want to try that first...
My profile has a sample of that 5120 with the ceramics if your interested.
I just got my Gent out of it's case for the first time this year, and dis-assembled the bridge and cleaned it down and set the intonation.. Some of the bridge saddles were in the wrong way since I bought it.. Should they all be adjustable from the Bigsby side? I would have thought so..
Many thanks for your suggestion.. I shall try a .47mf orange drop cap this week, and also adjust and clean the polepieces with a tiny amount of WD 40 spray.
A bit of experimentation is of course much cheaper than buying new pickups, and I don't really want to hack the Gent about cosmetically at all. Even eight new screw holes for pickup frames is eight too many.
Unfortunately, I couldn't log into your 'Sleepwalk' sample on your profile for some reason..:-(
thanks bob..looking forward to getting mine..ill post some before and after shots after..and yes, i am a jr user.i love it..sadly, belongs to a friend.but ive had it for about a year now,(grad school) but now he wants it back..so i think i am going to go for the hodrod delux III.played one last weekend with a tele, store had no gretsch's. and the sound was amazing..anyhow..thanks for the help again
thanks bob..looking forward to getting mine..ill post some before and after shots after..and yes, i am a jr user.i love it..sadly, belongs to a friend.but ive had it for about a year now,(grad school) but now he wants it back..so i think i am going to go for the hodrod delux III.played one last weekend with a tele, store had no gretsch's. and the sound was amazing..anyhow..thanks for the help again
I think the Hot Rod III has an audio taper pot m now for voulme rather than a linear taper...that is a goood thing.... I changed my vol pot to an audio taper on my HRDLX.... also.... there may be tone stack mods that may hgave been done to the III to make the tone more blackface...
Now, IF you know how to BIAS and amp....(this will kill you if you do not know what you are doing!!) check the bias...Fender bia's COLD at 60 ma...should be around 72 to 74 ma for warmer tone...also... I put JJ tubes in mine and what a world of difference....if you want more info...PM me...
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what pickup can give me the most twang in my 5120..should i be surfing,watching tv. i have a set of gretsch filters in my 5120 now.but there not all that twangy.ok,but not great..are they close to the tv classics..or would i be better with the surf90s.. and finally, do the surf 90s last.hows the quality..amp i use is a 15watt blues jr. but im saving for a hotrod delux III..what do you guys think..thanks,your help has been great to me.been driving myself nuts
See if you can find a set of DeArmond 2000s. You will never be sorry. I put them on my 5120. To me, they are the best sounding of all Gretsch pickups with TWANG by the truckload. Also, The GFS Surf 90s are very good, not as good as the 2000s (IMO), but good nonetheless.
You know, you could alwasy take the cheap route like me, and utilize the stock G'buckers. I didn't want to shell out the scratch for serious pups, or dig into the guts of my guitar, as I can work on engines, but not wires. Now, I know what you're saying: "But everybody switches them out!" Thing is, most people never give them a chance. But here's the trick: Raise the pole-pieces. Just play around with different combos and pickup selections. I was hell-bent on getting Magna'Trons, but decided that $270 was a bit much for pickups. So I did what any hot rodder does...played around with existing parts. I love the sound now. Mostly b/c it's versitile. I can go from Luther Perkins twang, to fat jazz. Good luck in your endeavour.
Classics will not get you closer to twang. I feel they are similar to the HS Filters, with a touch more mids, maybe...
Take Bear's advice, find some Dearmond 2000s. For a while, my 5127 was the twangiest guitar I owned... including a Tele.
Yes, DeArmond 2000's are great. Surf 90's are in the same family with them and Dynasonics. I have Surf 90's in three Gretsch guitars. (Yup, I like 'em.) This sound sample is a 5120 with Surf 90's and a Tru Arc stainless steel bridge. Surf 90's
And here's a thread with pickup comparisons.
I'll affirm what Jack Stacey posted above. It's possible to adjust the poles on the Gretschbuckers until they sound the way you want them to. There is a wide range of tone adjustment possibilities with them. Each turn of the poles is noticeable. I have found youtube clips of guys playing stock 5120's that will blow you away with their tone.
thanks for the thread bob..you sold me on the surf 90s..thats the twang ive been looking for..loved rebel rouser..only question,,well two questions..will i have a problem fitting them in my 5120..i assume by the picture they are an english mount. and two, would you say the surf 90s are good to go for gigs.traveling,,will they last do you think? thanks alot, youve been a big help
Glad I could help, rockabilly katt. The Surf 90's are drop ins for a 5120. You can even use the stock Gretsch surrounds. (The GFS surrounds are black.) I've had them in one of my 5120's for a couple of years, with no problems at all. But then, I'm not playing the same guitar all the time either. I tend to rotate them for gigs, and play at home too. Maybe someone here has used the Surf 90's consistently for a time? By the way, I see you're a BJ user. I've been playing gigs through a Blues Jr III for the past seven months. Good luck katt!
I wanted more twang after putting TV Jones Classics in my 5120. I got some Surf 90's from Guitar Fetish. Maybe I did not do my homework, but the surf 90's required regular hubucker mounting rings...so they are the same size as humbuckers...would not accept a Gretsch mount.
BUT...that was the twang I was looking for...hearing in my head...so think The Animals "House of the Rising Sun" intro tone...well that is the bridge pup now on my 5120...and I am happy.
thanks bob..looking forward to getting mine..ill post some before and after shots after..and yes, i am a jr user.i love it..sadly, belongs to a friend.but ive had it for about a year now,(grad school) but now he wants it back..so i think i am going to go for the hodrod delux III.played one last weekend with a tele, store had no gretsch's. and the sound was amazing..anyhow..thanks for the help again
I admit to not giving the Gretschbuckers a chance. I convinced myself that I wanted single coils in my 5120 from the start. I have Surf 90's in my 5120, and really like them. They are going to stay.
I used the stock pickup surrounds. (I needed to drill a hole in the metal surrounds but that was no big deal.
Good luck!
Dylan
Hi fellow Gretsch Lovers..
I have a Baldwin era '76 Country Gent, and the pickups are awful and seriously make me want to kill myself..
Q.) Has anyone ever fitted Lace Alumitones in their Gretsches? and if so, would you recommend them?
Q.) Is it possible to commit this 'awful sacrilege' without wrecking the guitar? and what surrounds might fit??
I realise that they won't look too good cosmetically, but I really love the sound of Alumitones, and now, I hardly ever play my Gent because of the awful pickups.
I'm not impressed by the TV Jones replacements at all, and all of the TV Jones demos I've heard are uninspiring to say the least.. (IMO) The demos are either weedy, or fuzzy with added overdrive / distorsion, and sounding like death metal..
The twang's the thang..!! and that's what I want..!! (but with perfect articulation and tone)
Any thoughts?
Before I installed '03 ceramic FilterTrons in my 5120, I changed the tone cap out to a .47mf Orange drop, big difference! You might want to try that first...
My profile has a sample of that 5120 with the ceramics if your interested.
Hi Bente..
I just got my Gent out of it's case for the first time this year, and dis-assembled the bridge and cleaned it down and set the intonation.. Some of the bridge saddles were in the wrong way since I bought it.. Should they all be adjustable from the Bigsby side? I would have thought so..
Many thanks for your suggestion.. I shall try a .47mf orange drop cap this week, and also adjust and clean the polepieces with a tiny amount of WD 40 spray.
A bit of experimentation is of course much cheaper than buying new pickups, and I don't really want to hack the Gent about cosmetically at all. Even eight new screw holes for pickup frames is eight too many.
Unfortunately, I couldn't log into your 'Sleepwalk' sample on your profile for some reason..:-(
take care
richard BG
I think the Hot Rod III has an audio taper pot m now for voulme rather than a linear taper...that is a goood thing.... I changed my vol pot to an audio taper on my HRDLX.... also.... there may be tone stack mods that may hgave been done to the III to make the tone more blackface...
Now, IF you know how to BIAS and amp....(this will kill you if you do not know what you are doing!!) check the bias...Fender bia's COLD at 60 ma...should be around 72 to 74 ma for warmer tone...also... I put JJ tubes in mine and what a world of difference....if you want more info...PM me...
That's a shame...it's JUICY!