Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I had a few minutes this afternoon, so I threw it up. bad audio quality, but come on, you get the point!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3d105YUj8w

Bravo, Nick! You made my afternoon with that

I used to have one of that same model many years ago. Seeing you play it takes me back to how much fun that guitar was. What a great classic tone. You just can't go wrong with a Gretsch.

But smile a little next time, eh? And straighten your collar! (This is your mother speaking)

Fine work, Nick. The 5120 does have a nice sound to it, which makes me feel good about the one I'm picking up from my friend. Again, stellar little performance!

A beautiful tone, Nick and well played. Thanks for sharing this.

I'll chime in with the others...nice playing. Love that Gretsch tone. Makes me wish I had one of those.

JimK

Haha, thanks!

SMILE? I can barely focus when I'm not thinking about my mouth! though I did smile when I messed up! you can even hear me scoff at myself!

Sounds great Nick! They sound even better with TV Jones Classic Filtertrons on them. I just swapped mine out a month ago and I can't put it down since.

greg

soundmasterg wrote:Sounds great Nick! They sound even better with TV Jones Classic Filtertrons on them. I just swapped mine out a month ago and I can't put it down since.

greg

Everyone says that, but I cranked the guitar today into my Blues Jr, rather loud volumes.... WOW! I love it as it is!

soundmasterg wrote:Sounds great Nick! They sound even better with TV Jones Classic Filtertrons on them. I just swapped mine out a month ago and I can't put it down since.

greg

Greg, you've made a Professional-line Gretsch at a budget price, is what you've done.

Except that it's made in Korea (not necessarily bad) with Korean pots (better than Chinese--the Chinese are using them now, but not as good as Japanese Gretsches).

Anyway, you get what I mean.

My preference has always been for anything but those Korean-line humbuckers; as a matter of fact, I've got a dozen or so stashed away from conversions I've done. Gretsch guys (who are mostly old country/new rockabilly) shun these pickups.

But I trust Nick's judgement and respect his enthusiasm. Sounds like you've found a sound that you like, Nick. Have you ever played a FT-equipped Gretsch, Nick? They've got a very distinctive sound. I call it "juicier", because of the sweetness of the midrange.

Sounds great nick i enjoyed that.

jingle_jangle wrote: But I trust Nick's judgement and respect his enthusiasm. Sounds like you've found a sound that you like, Nick. Have you ever played a FT-equipped Gretsch, Nick? They've got a very distinctive sound. I call it "juicier", because of the sweetness of the midrange.

To be honest, I expected to want to swap out everything immediately, I am rather happy that I like the sound I get out of it now in all positions!

I've played a few FT equiped Gretsches, including a Country Gent, a Duojet with FT's installed, and a Tennessee Rose-FT And they are wonderful sounding pickups, and some day after a while, I'll probably go that rout, but I'm in no rush after listening to these!

They remind me of Gibson style humbuckers, only clearer and brighter, lower output, but still a good amount of breakup when I want it.

Like I said, I had a chance to crank it a bit yesterday and I was smitten, it has a nice even thick sound and you could hear the overtones come in just after the fundamental, it's fun! hahaha!

Filtertrons are in my future when I can afford them! as it is now, I'm already doing bridge work on my own because it's cheaper for me to do it myself! and I trust myself more than others in this case!

Sounds great Nick, they are great little guitars for the money those 5120's.

Oh, nice pickin' there too!

Great tone!

Thanks for the link, Nick.

jingle_jangle wrote:

soundmasterg wrote:Sounds great Nick! They sound even better with TV Jones Classic Filtertrons on them. I just swapped mine out a month ago and I can't put it down since.

greg

Greg, you've made a Professional-line Gretsch at a budget price, is what you've done.

Except that it's made in Korea (not necessarily bad) with Korean pots (better than Chinese--the Chinese are using them now, but not as good as Japanese Gretsches).

Anyway, you get what I mean.

My preference has always been for anything but those Korean-line humbuckers; as a matter of fact, I've got a dozen or so stashed away from conversions I've done. Gretsch guys (who are mostly old country/new rockabilly) shun these pickups.

But I trust Nick's judgement and respect his enthusiasm. Sounds like you've found a sound that you like, Nick. Have you ever played a FT-equipped Gretsch, Nick? They've got a very distinctive sound. I call it "juicier", because of the sweetness of the midrange.

Yeah I figured thats pretty much what I did Paul.....I can't afford a real Gretsch right now, so this was the only way to get Filtertron sound at the moment. The stock pots sound pretty good to me with the TV Jones pickups in there. They're certainly better than the ones Epiphone uses. I've got my old Korean Gretsch humbuckers, which everyone calls "Dumbbuckers." They have brass baseplates, which is the common thread with the lousy Epiphone humbuckers too. I plan to see if the regular nickle silver Gibson ones will interchange, and if so, I may experiment with winding different winds on them. I would guess that due to the double rows of polepices, that they will be a bit more articulate and cleaner than Gibson humbuckers no matter what you do with them though.

Nick, with the amp you're using, the Blues Junior, thats a good combination, because that amp is pretty bright compared to older BF and SF Fenders and/or Voxes or what have you. If you were using your Grestch with a blackface Deluxe Reverb like I do at a local blues jam I go to, they would be dark sounding. The Filtertrons liven up considerably, and have sweet mids as compared to the stock ones, but they could be a little bright sounding with that Blues Junior amp, though they probably still sound really good.

Greg