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Have You Ever...Seth Lover > Filtertron/TV Jones Swap


Gonk

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I have a Hamer USA Artist (GATASO) that I bought around 2000 with the Seth Lovers.

Over the years, I've said "I think I'm going to sell this" - and yet here we are...still together after all these years. 

Currently, my modification to this train of thought is "Maybe I'll replace the pickups."  The thought being putting in Filtertron style pickups.  I guess I'm looking for a Gretsch-ier sound - possibly without selling the Artist for a Gretsch. 

Has anyone done this?  Was a Gretsch-ier sound the result or is it just not really all that possible with a semi-hollow like the Artist?

PS
Selling is the alternative because I JUST got a Reverend Charger HB last summer and 'Domestic Affairs' will kill me if I go back to the well so soon!  

 

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Welcome to the bunch Gonk.

Been a lot of interest in Filtertrons lately.  A quick search of the forums will show several different approaches to putting Filtertron type pickups in Hamers. Most lately seem to point to putting them in Newports, but I think, they fit well in Artists too.

Another direction might be to talk to Josh Gravelin, his pickups have been making a lot of noise around here the past year or two.

http://www.gravelinpickups.com/

Good luck which ever way you decide to go.

Doug

 

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I've been a huge FilterTron fan for years.  I think I put my first 'Trons in a Daytona in the early 2000s, and haven't looked back in the dozen to decade and a half or so since then.  I put those damned things in eeeeeerrrythang!  Well, not quite, but I really dig that spongy/gritty to clear, chimey sound they get.

Putting something like that in a Newport would be cooooool...

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I had them in a Hamer Studio Custom.....A great alternative to "regular" humbuckers. Recently let it go, to someone here, , having become redundant when I picked up a hollowbody similarly equipped. I think you would like them a lot.

huber-surfmeister-tobacco-sunburst.jpg

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3 hours ago, cmatthes said:

I've been a huge FilterTron fan for years.  I think I put my first 'Trons in a Daytona in the early 2000s, and haven't looked back in the dozen to decade and a half or so since then.  I put those damned things in eeeeeerrrythang!  Well, not quite, but I really dig that spongy/gritty to clear, chimey sound they get.

Putting something like that in a Newport would be cooooool...

 

How right you are!

2001-Newport-sm.jpg

About as close to a do everything guitar there is.

 

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It isn't so much that I dislike the Seths. I got another 2 HB guitar recently. There are subtle differences between them but I guess Im looking for a way to get 'more different' without buying yet another.

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See my avatar...mine are in my Korina Artist. Aaron at Rumpelstiltskin wound mine to vintage Gretsch specs and OMG they do sound vintage. The low strings thud and have a crazy GROWL while the treble strings chime and cut. My Artist started with SD 59s and I Love the neck on this one...I just had it refretted because over the last 10 years I wore the original frets down to nothing. I kept searching for the perfect pickups for this special guitar and found them in the Rumpel’trons. You will not go wrong with Rumpel or Gravelin.

Does my Artist sounds like a Gretsch...? It will do the Malcolm Young thing and will chime like a Tom Petty song, but it doesn’t sound like Setzer on a Hollow 6120. The Artist is mostly solid.

I love how it sounds. Now, when I want to get that Gretsch sound, it will get close. Here is a clip. My Artist is the Reverb-ey rhythm guitar on this one.

https://acrev.bandcamp.com/track/clifton-city

Do the filters.

 

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Ah yeah! They'll be great in an Artist. 

I was briefly able to keep a Newport that had them in it. It was such a great sounding, playing, all around guitar. 

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7 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

I love how it sounds. Now, when I want to get that Gretsch sound, it will get close. Here is a clip. My Artist is the Reverb-ey rhythm guitar on this one.

https://acrev.bandcamp.com/track/clifton-city

Do the filters.

 

Thanks. Cool track! This is definitely the sound I'm going for. I still love metal/hard rock but over the past few years I've been getting more into twangier/jazzier things.

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Some related questions...

It's likely that I'm going to do the pickup swap in stages. My plan was to release some unused gear to get the pickups.

So...bridge first or neck? 

Also, is it more logical to upgrade the stock Reverend HBs than replace the Artist's Seths? I agree with the comment that said the trons won't necessarily make the Artist a Gretsch but I feel like being a semi-hollow it gets me closer to the Rockabilly...twangy... bluesy that I think I'm after. 

Thanks again to all for all the input!

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On 3/15/2018 at 10:44 AM, cmatthes said:

I've been a huge FilterTron fan for years.  I think I put my first 'Trons in a Daytona in the early 2000s, and haven't looked back in the dozen to decade and a half or so since then.  I put those damned things in eeeeeerrrythang!  Well, not quite, but I really dig that spongy/gritty to clear, chimey sound they get.

Putting something like that in a Newport would be cooooool...

Oh yes..... it's cooool....

 

 

Newport.jpg

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5 hours ago, Gonk said:

Some related questions...

It's likely that I'm going to do the pickup swap in stages. My plan was to release some unused gear to get the pickups.

So...bridge first or neck? 

Also, is it more logical to upgrade the stock Reverend HBs than replace the Artist's Seths? I agree with the comment that said the trons won't necessarily make the Artist a Gretsch but I feel like being a semi-hollow it gets me closer to the Rockabilly...twangy... bluesy that I think I'm after. 

Thanks again to all for all the input!

Bridge first. Get the GROWL.

Then when you get the neck that is sooooo smooth and so very clear you’ll be amazed.....and then you’ll go the chimney middle position and your jaw will drop.

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I have an Artist Custom that I adopted from MichaelB... He had replaced the Seth Lovers with a set of Rumplestiltskin 'trons. I added some TV Jones cream rings that mate up with the Gibson moutnting pattern, but are.cut to fit the Filtertron pickups.

Hard if not impossible to make this thing sound bad.  Really a nice change of pace...

LpDzdww.jpg

 

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20 hours ago, chromium said:

I have an Artist Custom that I adopted from MichaelB... He had replaced the Seth Lovers with a set of Rumplestiltskin 'trons. I added some TV Jones cream rings that mate up with the Gibson moutnting pattern, but are.cut to fit the Filtertron pickups.

Hard if not impossible to make this thing sound bad.  Really a nice change of pace...

LpDzdww.jpg

 

That top is spectacular. 

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