I have a 1960 Gretsch Anniversary that has the original Hi Lo in the neck and a ceramic Filter at the bridge that I added in 1990.

The current pick up configuration has to go.

In my pick ups box I have a DeArmond from a 56 Gretsch and a P90 from a 61 Gibson. The P90 was in the neck position and has a lower Ohms reading consistent with this (about 7.6).

What do you think of the following options:

1) TV Jones Filters in both places.

2) P90 in the neck, DeArmond in the bridge.

3) DeArmond in the neck, P90 in the bridge.

4) I also have an old Mosrite pick up, but never liked the farty sound of Mosrites on the Ventures albums so it's not in the running, but convince me otherwise.

Number 3 sounds appealing to me. I like the DeArmond as a neck PU probably more than any other.

I know a lot of people favor P90s at the neck because of Eddie Cochran, but while I practically worship him, I don't think his guitar ever sounded all that special. Maybe it was the recording techniques of the time of one mic in the room, but give me Grady Martin's sound on the Burnette records any day of the week.

As some routing will be required I won't be able to experiment without doing a lot of cutting, so I'd rather have my mind made up before I proceed.

That 56 De'Armond belongs in the neck... Nuff said

Option 2 worked out pretty well for Eddie.

The Eddie Cochran configuration works I think because the DeArmonds are a little louder, but the opposite might also work.

I kind of doubt that you need to rout, as a P90 can have that bottom metal part sit on top of the body and the pickup is not too high with a Gretsch bridge. If you cut a hole for it and have the dog ears right on the top, the pickup might be too low. If anything it might still be too low even if not routed. Talking about the bridge position, I'm not sure about the neck position.

You can then get something to cover up the space if you want, there are spacers available or cut your own from mousepad material.

You'll still have to drill holes for the screws on the sides though.

The Eddie Cochran configuration works I think because the DeArmonds are a little louder, but the opposite might also work.

I kind of doubt that you need to rout, as a P90 can have that bottom metal part sit on top of the body and the pickup is not too high with a Gretsch bridge. If you cut a hole for it and have the dog ears right on the top, the pickup might be too low. If anything it might still be too low even if not routed. Talking about the bridge position, I'm not sure about the neck position.

You can then get something to cover up the space if you want, there are spacers available or cut your own from mousepad material.

You'll still have to drill holes for the screws on the sides though.

That's a good point about not having to rout for the P90 (which is a dog ear BTW).

I don't doubt the Eddie Cochran approach worked, but it seems to me (and this is HIGHLY debatable) that he got what he wanted by removing the "better" pick up, the dearmond at the neck always seems to sound the best to me and the bridge one takes work to sort out.

I was thinking to do the same thing as Eddie but it occured to me that I couldn't think of any of his songs where his guitar sound really excited me (NOT to be confused with his playing, singing and general coolness which is, of course, awesome).

I never really got the EC configuration either. To me P90s are more powerful pick ups than DeArmonds. All my P90 guitars are louder and more powerful than my DeArmond guitars.
I would be afraid that a P90 at the neck would be a bit too muddy sounding compared to the DeArmond.
As you know I am a major P90 fan and I probably would put P90s in both positions. But if you want to choose between the two I would go with option 3. P90 at bridge and DeArmond at neck. I agree with you that they sound great at the neck.

I know a lot of people favor P90s at the neck because of Eddie Cochran

Granted I Cochran'd my 5129 because of him but it honestly sounds awesome. I love a P90 in a neck position and the combo of the DeArmond in the bridge sounds great. I love to use this guitar for really high gain overdrive, it sounds sweeeet.

MS XIII, the bassist in the band got a new Eddie Cochran 6120. He turned up at practice with it and I couldn't get it out of my hands fast enough. Everything just seemed backwards.

I think what I really should do is a thread on Eddie Cochran's set up!

I would do P90 bridge, DeArmond neck. Generally I think P90 neck pups are a little dark for my liking, and the Dyna neck is one of the few that I'll play on the neck pos. alone. I like the Dyna bridge too, but there's something about that P90 growl in the bridge that I love too.

Just my $.02.

I set the P90 on top of the body at the bridge. What is an appropriate clearance range for a P90?

MS XIII, the bassist in the band got a new Eddie Cochran 6120. He turned up at practice with it and I couldn't get it out of my hands fast enough. Everything just seemed backwards.

I think what I really should do is a thread on Eddie Cochran's set up!

Looks like you made up your mind about option 2 already then

I said at the outset I was thinking of option 3.

But I've never dealt with P90s and a lot of people know a lot more about them than I do (I don't even own a Gibson).

I started this thread in part to see if my thinking in the abstract clashes with a reality unknown to me, and people would tell me this.

Why don't you just tape the pickups in place and see how they sound?

I can do that with the P90 or any other pick up in the bridge spot, but the Hi Lo trons are surface pick ups and there is only a slim opening for them. See the pic below.

The Hi Lo neck spot will be routed but what pick up goes there will dictate the size of the rout.

Will a neck Filtertron with no ears fit without routing?

Will a neck Filtertron with no ears fit without routing?

Into the bridge or neck?

A filtertron with ears was in the bridge. I have a TV Jones in there now which I just put in. To my surprise it is a lot deeper of a profile than the old filters so if I want to keep the TV in there I have to dig more into the bracing bars. I'll focus on the P90 first.

In the neck, I don't know anything about non ears Filters. My neck TV Jones filter has the old filter style long screws (ie they stick out on the bottom like on a deArmond although not quite as far). There would be no way to put these in the existing bridge rout for the hi lo.

I was thinking a no ears neck position in the neck, so you can try that out.