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TV Jones pickup Magnatron?
Joined: Feb 16, 2012 Posts: 153 Rincon Beach, California, USA 
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Posted on Jun 01 2022 06:54 PM
I’ve been thinking of getting TVJ pickups for my Gretsch Jet that I put together for surf. The stock pickups are really dark. My buddy Tavo recommended the TVJones Magnatron, which he felt was like 2 slug magnet Jaguar pickups under the same cover. Anybody else have an opinion for a surf machine? I have the TVJ classics in another guitar. They are nice, but don’t have that surf bite.
Last edited: Jun 01, 2022 19:00:00 |
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Joined: Feb 16, 2012 Posts: 153 Rincon Beach, California, USA
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Posted on Jun 01 2022 06:58 PM
Disregard this part Last edited: Jun 01, 2022 19:01:39 |
Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4555 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ. 
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Posted on Jun 01 2022 11:10 PM
Seems like I’ve met you somewhere else. I won’t weigh in regarding the Magnatron, because I have no firsthand experience with them. From reading the specs, it looks promising. I’ve played Surf on two different type of Gretsch pickups, Dynasonics (T-Armand’s in TV Jones’ terminology) and Supertrons. From the Pickup Guide on TV’s site, I get the impression that the Magnatron is brighter than either of these. I know that my Dynasonic equipped Jet sounded absolutely great for Surf, but there is the risk of single coil hum. The Dyna-equipped Jet was like a slightly heftier sounding Tele, with the added feature of a Bigsby. In some ways, this was an almost perfect Surf axe, despite not looking the part. Supertrons are less bright, but there’s an incredible heft and they still have great highs. They do not have the tendency to mud it up, like larger humbuckers. Supertrons and their fraternal-twins, the DuoTron, are the pickups I use the most and the bridge Supertron will Surf with the best of them. It’s a shame you can’t try these various pickups before you buy. —The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |
Joined: Mar 06, 2006 Posts: 311 seattle, wa
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Posted on Jun 01 2022 11:26 PM
I’ve used the magnatron. It’s a great pickup overall - just depends on what you’re after. I found it to be the clearest and brightest of all the tv jones offerings. It doesn’t really sound like other pickups that I’ve had of theirs (t-armonds, seltzer signatures, classics/+). It’s sonically more of a gretschy strat pickup than the other way around in my opinion. It would be perfect on a baritone if you were using filtertron sized pickups. I found it too bright and thin (particularly in the bridge) with what I was using it for though could see using it in certain applications and have been tempted to use it for another baritone or 12 string build. I think if you still really wanted the clarity and were using them on your main guitar, I might think about using one in the neck and a classic + in the bridge to get a thicker (not too thick) and less “piercing” tone in the bridge but maintain the note separation and clarity in the neck. I’m betting that they would blend nicely as well. —-Eric New music! Also: Last edited: Jun 01, 2022 23:34:42 |
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Joined: Mar 06, 2006 Posts: 311 seattle, wa
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Posted on Jun 01 2022 11:37 PM
I just saw that you said that you have the classics in another guitar. I found the classic+ to have more bite and be better for surf than the regular classic which I found to have a softer attack and less twang I suppose. The t-Armonds are great- I have them in my duojet. The bridge is quite hot. It might be a cross between a jazzmaster with the slugs and a mosrite with the output if you must make a comparison. —-Eric New music! Also: |
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Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4555 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Jun 02 2022 12:15 AM
cirecc wrote:
I’ve had Classic Plus pickups in the past, and would concur. It’s powerful, but not so powerful that clarity is sacrificed. —The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |
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