6122-1959

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Re: 6122-1959

Postby Norm » Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:29 pm

That IS pretty.

Who made it and what kind of resistance did they assign to it?

Never mind...I see it's a TV Jones so I'll assume it's a 4 K
...that's how it looks to me...The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station. Your mileage may vary...

Audio samples: http://www.youtube.com/user/acountrygent/videos
That should do it.
Norm
 
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby George Beasley » Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:28 am

Here are some photos of the process of replacing the stereo neck pickup with a TV Jones Super'Tron in a DeArmond housing. I will come back later and add descriptions. Note....just for informational pictures, I stuck my iPhone through the pickup holes to take photos of the inside of the guitar. I also took some pictures of the Stereo Pickup, as I had never seen any detailed pics.

thanks,
George

I bought this guitar from Richard Hudson 2 or 3 years ago. At the time, he said he just never bonded with it, and was playing a 6122-1959. I had owned a 6122-1959 since 2005 or 2006, and loved it....but once I got the 6120 CGP, I quit playing the 6122. It was mostly a case of liking the smaller body, and shorter scale....the CGP just fit my hands. That being said, I was disappointed with there being no tone control, and I found I never used the stereo function. Although I talked about making this guitar similar to the 6122-1959 in the past, I never did anything about it until this thread came up....and possibly in Xmas gift buying mode, I decided to see if TV Jones could provide me with the pickups and wiring needed to do the job....as well as have it look as similar as possible to the original layout of the CGP. Though I was going to replace both pickups, I was told that the bridge pickup in both models was a Classic Plus pickup (the 6122 being housed in a HiLoTron casing, the CGP being housed in a DeArmond casing), and decided to keep that pickup, and raise it slightly
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Though not really necessary, I taped down the bridge to keep it in place while I did the pickup change. In this photo, you can see that I had previously installed a Tru-Arc copper bridge. It sounds good now, and I remember it feeling better and having a different sound when I installed it, but to tell the truth, I can't remember what those differences were. It works, and sounds good, so it stays....
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I removed the pickguard, and saw little pieces of foam tape on the DeArmond housing to keep the pickguard from clicking on the housing....
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Here is the replacement Super'Tron next to the other pickups. If you want this setup, you need to order the Super'Tron in the gold-plated DeArmond mount, and request it be made with cream colored plastic (I was told they have white...but it would not match the CGP). Looks like a good match.
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I unscrewed all of the jacks, pots, switches, and pickups.....as I had already decided that it would be easier to replace the entire wiring harness. This was done for two reasons: 1. Simplicity 2. If I ever wanted it to be put back to original, I would only need to resolder one pickup to a volume pot and resolder the ground wire to the bridge. After I removed all the hardware, I realized the pickup hole was the right size for an iPhone. I stuck the camera end in the pickup holes, and snapped a few pics with the flash turned on.
The first pic is through the neck pickup hole, looking towards the bridge. You can see the piece of pine or spruce that is glued to the top providing support. Not sure if they do this will all Gretsches, but it has the effect of making the part of the top that houses the pickups and bridge about 1/2" thick. There is a sound post placed under the bridge area. Waffle bracing is applied to the back (which is obviously different from the original). Part of the waffle bracing under the bridge pickup hole shows signs of lacquer over spray coming through the pickup holes..as does the bottom part of the sound post.
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The second inside pic is shot with the phone in the bridge pickup hole, facing towards the neck. You can really see how thick that center piece of wood is. You can also see that it has channels cut into it. I assume to assist in the fitting of the insert to the top.
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I've installed the neck pickup, and am in the process of pulling the pots and jacks into place, before reinstalling the bridge pickup. This is assisted by the $7 kit TVJ sells....which is basically a few different sizes of surgical tubing, and a wooden dowel. The tubing can be fed through the holes, and retrieved at a pickup hole. You slide the shaft of the pot into the tubing (or place the jack on the tapered wooden dowel) and pull them to their proper position. Over priced in terms of cost of materials, but reusable, and saves you $5 in time going to hunt down the right surgical tubing)
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The pickups installed. Note that I replaced the Stereo switch with the bridge pickup vol pot. Though it covers the hole nicely....having two volume pots (plus the master volume on the cutaway) deviates from the true wiring of the 6122-1959. Though I would have liked to stay true, I figured that a hole needed to be filled, and besides, if I left individual neck pickup volume at max, it shouldn't make a difference. It looks good, anyway.
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While I had the guitar taken apart, I decided to install I Callaham string bar replacement for the stock Bigsby part. This is a mod that Paul really liked and championed. As you can see, it is made of steel, and doesn't match the rest of the gold plating. Personally....I am fine with it. It is not readily visible with playing....plus being a moving part, I don't know that it needs to be plated.
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The rest of the pictures are just of the TV Jones Stereo pickup that he made for the 6120-CGP (and from what I've heard, the only place you can get this pickup...though I haven't asked TVJ himself...so I guess that needs to be asked).

This is just a top shot of the pickup. From this view it looks identical to its bridge pickup brother. Both are FilterTron looking pickups, housed in the DeArmond single coil pickup casing that was used on many Gretsch electric guitars before 56/57. The pickups are made with a cream colored plastic top piece (according to the underside of the plastic, it was made by 3M)
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This is just a shot of the underside...showing the "TV Jones Stereo Neck Made in USA" printing.
[img][http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3780/11708623683_9479c1f8c5_c.jpg[img]



The DeArmond housing is held in place on the pickup with what looks like silicon jell that you can buy anywhere. With a little pressure, the seals break loose, the the pickup comes out of the housing. Note there is still a ground wire soldered to the metal casing.

There is also a pic taken from the long side of the pickup. It showed that the top "coil" is segregated for the EAD and GBE strings. There also appears to be a more standard hum bucking coil underneath the windings. I didn't (and don't plan on) remove the tape on the bottom coils.

The last shot is a side view...showing the top coil separated..but the bottom "coil" being one big mass. I am guessing it is some kind of magnet thing,,,
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[img][http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3806/11708769474_df0a21fb5c_c.jpg[img]
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Note: After I got the guitar put together, I noticed that the volume was much less when both the neck and bridge pickups were engaged. I assume that one pickup is out of phase. I now need to remove one volume pot, and reverse the pickup wires....much trickier than when trying to work on electronics when the strings are off!!
Thanks,
George
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby Eddie Estes » Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:56 pm

Do you think there is anyway to add the SuperTron to this type of guitar without major rewiring?

I am wondering if the stereo pickup has 4 wires or two wires to hook up.
I would like a SuperTron with the ability to put the stereo one back if at some time I want to.
Eddie Estes
 
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby George Beasley » Sat Jan 04, 2014 3:53 pm

Eddie, I think that the way that I am rewiring my 6120 is probably the easiest ways to rewire the guitar for a SupetTron. I say this because I am using a new wiring harness........you can just unscrew the pots, switches, and jack....then clip the ground wire. Solder the pickups you want to the pots, resolder the ground, and screw everything back into place. If you didn't care about having the dummy stereo switch intact, you could probably just wire the supertron to the volume pot and disconnect the switch...but it seemed easier for me just to replace the harness in the event I wanted to put it back to original.
Thanks,
George
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby Eddie Estes » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:36 pm

Oh ok. So you kept the original harness. That is what I wanted if I ever decided to do that.

I want it so I could put the guitar back original.

I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks,
Eddie
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby Chuck » Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:56 pm

Well, I can't thank everyone enough on this forum for their advice and counsel around helping me choose my next Gretsch. So much insight, knowledge and not to mention patience. I decided to get...well, I'll let the pictures tell the story. I am over the moon happy with this guitar...Chuck S
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Chuck
 
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby guitarchuck » Wed Jan 15, 2014 8:00 pm

Congratulations Chuck! From the other Chuck
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby Richard Hudson » Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:45 pm

Told ya. :-)
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby Steve Sanders » Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:18 pm

It is a beeee-yoooot! Looks just like mine! Get ready for some nice Chet tones / tunes! You done good. Oh yeah, nice cap too! Congratulations!! Steve
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Re: 6122-1959

Postby Tom Workman » Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:45 pm

Here's a high-five to ya, Chuck! I took mine to an open jam that a local music store hosted this past Saturday and it drew quite a bit of attention. The holy grail indeed and I'm happy for you. -Tom W.
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