TV Jones PU's in a Monaco III

[jaberwock]

I remember seeing some pics of a Monaco III on this site, with TV Jones Filtertrons fitted; after an ill fated attempt to record the M III last weekend, sounded beautiful but the 60 Hz buzz was impossible to eliminate, on quietly picked sections, or naturally decaying chords, as much as I love the Lollar P90's I want to try something that doesn't buzz.

Will the " standard no ears" TV classic fit in the P90 cavity ? I don't want to fit a pickup ring, or do any extra routing. Would there be any problems with the PU height ? and finally has anybody opinions on the sound, I've listened to their website samples, which sound great, but it will probably sound a little different on a spruce topped, hollow, body.

Thanks Jaberwock

[murkat]

TV Jones makes some great pickups!

And they make there models to direct fit P90 size.

The Classic + is my fav.

[jaberwock]

TV Jones makes some great pickups!

And they make there models to direct fit P90 size.

The Classic + is my fav.

So the Classic plus will drop straight into my P90 rout no problems, great !! that's the best excuse I've had to spend some money all week. So I guess just have to drill two new holes for the height adjustor screws; do they use springs, or foam ?

Thanks Jaberwock

[murkat]

"do they use springs, or foam ?"

whatever floats your boat.

FWIW, in my opinion, the regular classic in the neck was anemic and flat

compared to the classic + in the bridge. Two classic +'s, one for each area

is the way too go, then adjust to taste.

[threehole]

TV Jones makes some great pickups!

And they make there models to direct fit P90 size.

The Classic + is my fav.

So the Classic plus will drop straight into my P90 rout no problems, great !! that's the best excuse I've had to spend some money all week. So I guess just have to drill two new holes for the height adjustor screws; do they use springs, or foam ?

Thanks Jaberwock

You have to be sure to order the p90 mount ones, those will fit. I did this to my MIII. One problem was that the screws that mount the p90s are in a different location, more central, compared to the ones on the TV Jones which are spaced out towards the ends of the pickup. In one of the cutouts, I think the bridge but I can't remember for sure, there is no wood under the extreme top or bottom (again, can't recall which) where the TV Jones mounting hole lines up. That side of the cavity is just open to the hollow part of the body. I had a yardstick laying around, so I cut a piece of that to fit into the cavity from top to bottom and screwed that down so that it provided a place for the problematic TV Jones mounting screw to bind.

Another observation, filtertrons do not react well, in my opinion, to volume pots. They lose a ton of top end. So I would recommend a treble bypass mod on the volume. You can try without it, but if you want to do it later, you have to remove the pickups to get in there as there is no access to the controls via a plate/cutout.

I used a Classic + in the bridge, a regular Classic in the middle, and an underwound Classic at the neck. The inbetween sounds are not great, a lot of treble is lost, and no amount of height adjustment addresses it. Not sure what would happen in a combo with a p90 however.

Also, I rewired the 5 way to replace the neck/middle setting with the bridge/neck combo, which is a classic Gretsch sound.

By the way, each one alone sounds great, and the bridge alone is fantastic.

[jaberwock]

I am seriously thinking of leaving the middle PU cavity empty, if the in between sounds are not that great; it would give me a lot more picking space, and reduce the magnetic pull on the strings, then fit a regular three way toggle switch. I would have to design some kind of cover for the PU void, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Would two classic plus PU's balance well in the neck and bridge ? I'm a tad worried a Powertron in the bridge would lose that classic Filtertron sound.

Thanks for all your replies Jaberwock

TV Jones makes some great pickups!

And they make there models to direct fit P90 size.

The Classic + is my fav.

So the Classic plus will drop straight into my P90 rout no problems, great !! that's the best excuse I've had to spend some money all week. So I guess just have to drill two new holes for the height adjustor screws; do they use springs, or foam ?

Thanks Jaberwock

You have to be sure to order the p90 mount ones, those will fit. I did this to my MIII. One problem was that the screws that mount the p90s are in a different location, more central, compared to the ones on the TV Jones which are spaced out towards the ends of the pickup. In one of the cutouts, I think the bridge but I can't remember for sure, there is no wood under the extreme top or bottom (again, can't recall which) where the TV Jones mounting hole lines up. That side of the cavity is just open to the hollow part of the body. I had a yardstick laying around, so I cut a piece of that to fit into the cavity from top to bottom and screwed that down so that it provided a place for the problematic TV Jones mounting screw to bind.

Another observation, filtertrons do not react well, in my opinion, to volume pots. They lose a ton of top end. So I would recommend a treble bypass mod on the volume. You can try without it, but if you want to do it later, you have to remove the pickups to get in there as there is no access to the controls via a plate/cutout.

I used a Classic + in the bridge, a regular Classic in the middle, and an underwound Classic at the neck. The inbetween sounds are not great, a lot of treble is lost, and no amount of height adjustment addresses it. Not sure what would happen in a combo with a p90 however.

Also, I rewired the 5 way to replace the neck/middle setting with the bridge/neck combo, which is a classic Gretsch sound.

By the way, each one alone sounds great, and the bridge alone is fantastic.

How does it look ? I know sound is the primary consideration, but it never hurts for a guitar to look cool, any pictures ?

Thanks Jaberwock

[threehole]

I am seriously thinking of leaving the middle PU cavity empty, if the in between sounds are not that great; it would give me a lot more picking space, and reduce the magnetic pull on the strings, then fit a regular three way toggle switch. I would have to design some kind of cover for the PU void, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Would two classic plus PU's balance well in the neck and bridge ? I'm a tad worried a Powertron in the bridge would lose that classic Filtertron sound.

Thanks for all your replies Jaberwock

TV Jones makes some great pickups!

And they make there models to direct fit P90 size.

The Classic + is my fav.

So the Classic plus will drop straight into my P90 rout no problems, great !! that's the best excuse I've had to spend some money all week. So I guess just have to drill two new holes for the height adjustor screws; do they use springs, or foam ?

Thanks Jaberwock

You have to be sure to order the p90 mount ones, those will fit. I did this to my MIII. One problem was that the screws that mount the p90s are in a different location, more central, compared to the ones on the TV Jones which are spaced out towards the ends of the pickup. In one of the cutouts, I think the bridge but I can't remember for sure, there is no wood under the extreme top or bottom (again, can't recall which) where the TV Jones mounting hole lines up. That side of the cavity is just open to the hollow part of the body. I had a yardstick laying around, so I cut a piece of that to fit into the cavity from top to bottom and screwed that down so that it provided a place for the problematic TV Jones mounting screw to bind.

Another observation, filtertrons do not react well, in my opinion, to volume pots. They lose a ton of top end. So I would recommend a treble bypass mod on the volume. You can try without it, but if you want to do it later, you have to remove the pickups to get in there as there is no access to the controls via a plate/cutout.

I used a Classic + in the bridge, a regular Classic in the middle, and an underwound Classic at the neck. The inbetween sounds are not great, a lot of treble is lost, and no amount of height adjustment addresses it. Not sure what would happen in a combo with a p90 however.

Also, I rewired the 5 way to replace the neck/middle setting with the bridge/neck combo, which is a classic Gretsch sound.

By the way, each one alone sounds great, and the bridge alone is fantastic.

How does it look ? I know sound is the primary consideration, but it never hurts for a guitar to look cool, any pictures ?

Thanks Jaberwock

[triodecr]

[jaberwock]

Wow !! thanks for the pictures, does the maple top sound much brighter than the spruce ?

Played the M III gig on the weekend and the Lollars sounded glorious ( an ISP Decimator tames most of the buzz issues in a live situation), so I'm contemplating building a " Cabrionita special" with TV Jones classic plus, PU's, and Warmoth neck, and body; probably a solid Indian Rosewood neck.

Thanks Jaberwock

[threehole]

I never played a spruce top monaco, so I do not know. This guitar is not particularly bright, so I doubt the spruce could be too much darker.

[jaberwock]

I never played a spruce top monaco, so I do not know. This guitar is not particularly bright, so I doubt the spruce could be too much darker.

I tried the PRS hollowbody with spruce, and maple tops, there was a significant difference in tone; amazingly loud acoustically !!