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TV Jones is an American guitar pickup manufacturer founded in 1993 by luthier Thomas V. Jones in Whittier, California. Now based in Poulsbo, Washington, the company is best known for creating vintage-style Filter'Tron pickups, [1] using materials and a manufacturing process similar to what was used in the late 1950s and 1960s by Ray Butts and Gretsch.
Prior to the focus on guitar pickups, TV Jones was mainly in the business of guitar repairs and custom guitar-making. In the early 1990s, his interest turned to electronics and Jones began to examine pickups and the magnets used in various vintage models. Around this time, he was asked to repair a number of guitars for Stray Cats guitarist Brian Setzer, whose guitar sound relied heavily on vintage Gretsch models. [1] When Gretsch was in the process of creating his new signature model, Setzer conducted a "blind" sound test of various pickup models that were to be considered for use in these guitars. Jones' "Hotrod" pickup design was chosen because of its sound being the most faithful to the original Filter'Tron.
TV Jones' pickups subsequently became popular among many guitarists, particularly Gretsch aficionados, as word spread that TV Jones was making vintage-spec Filter'Tron pickups, most notably their TV Classics model. [2] The company expanded its product line with further 'Tron-branded pickups, like the Magne'Tron, Power'Tron, Super'Tron, and Thunder'Tron models.
In 2008, TV Jones released the Spectra Sonic Supreme guitar [3] —an upgrade to the Spectra Sonic manufactured and distributed by Gretsch until 2005—and the smaller, lighter, solid-body Model 10. Both were designed by TV Jones and manufactured in Japan at the factory where most professional line Gretsch guitars are made.
A single-coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single-coil pickups are one of the two most popular designs, along with dual-coil or "humbucking" pickups.
Seth E. Lover was a designer of amplifiers and musical instrument electronics and effects. He is most famous for developing the Gibson humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the electric guitar.
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is best known for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Precision Bass, and the Jazz Bass. The company was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. Andy Mooney has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) since June 2015.
A semi-acoustic guitar, also known as a hollow-body electric guitar, is a type of electric guitar designed to be played with a guitar amplifier featuring a fully or partly hollow body and at least one electromagnetic pickup. First created in the 1930s, they became popular in jazz and blues, where they remain widely used, and the early period of rock & roll, though they were later largely supplanted by solid-body electric guitars in rock.
An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players.
Rowe Industries was a manufacturer of guitar pickups and other music-related devices, as well as electrical components utilized in the aerospace industry into the 1980s.
The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schecter, Burns London and many other companies have produced electric baritone guitars since the 1960s, although always in small numbers due to low popularity. Tacoma, Santa Cruz, Taylor, Martin, Alvarez Guitars, Ovation Guitar Company and others have made acoustic baritone guitars.
The Gretsch 6120 is a hollow body electric guitar with f-holes, manufactured by Gretsch and first appearing in the mid-1950s with the endorsement of Chet Atkins. It was quickly adopted by rockabilly artists Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, and later by Eric Clapton, Brian Setzer, Reverend Horton Heat, and many others. Pete Townshend received one as a gift from Joe Walsh in 1970, which he would later use on recordings for Who's Next and Quadrophenia. It has been Manu Chao’s preferred electric guitar to play live since 2002. Poison Ivy Rorschach of The Cramps notably played a 1958 Gretsch 6120, which she bought in 1985. She said it was her favourite guitar to play. After George Harrison played Gretsch Country Gentleman and Tennessean models, Gretsch found that they could scarcely keep up with demand.
Gretsch is an American company that manufactures and markets musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums until his death in 1895. In 1916, his son, Fred Gretsch Sr. moved operations to a larger facility where Gretsch went on to become a prominent manufacturer of American musical instruments. Through the years, Gretsch has manufactured a wide range of instruments, though they currently focus on electric and acoustic guitars and drums.
A P.A.F., or simply PAF, is an early model of the humbucker guitar pickup invented by Seth Lover in 1955, so named for the "Patent Applied For" decal placed on the baseplate of each pickup. Gibson used the PAF on guitars from late 1956 until late 1962, long after the patent was granted. They were replaced by the Patent Number pickup, essentially a refined version of the PAF. These were in turn replaced by "T-Top" humbuckers in 1967, and production ended in 1975. Though it was not the first humbucking pickup ever, it was the first to gain widespread use, as the PAF's hum-free signal, tonal clarity, and touch sensitivity when paired with overdriven amplifiers made the pickups popular with rock and blues guitarists. The PAF is an essential tonal characteristic of the now-famous 1957–1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitars, and pickups of this type have gained a large following.
DiMarzio, Inc. is an American manufacturing company best known for popularizing direct-replacement guitar pickups. The company also produces other accessories, such as hardware, guitar straps, and instrument cables.
Joseph Raymond Butts was an American inventor and engineer best known for designing several devices that influenced the evolution of electrified music, in particular those used with the electric guitar. Most notably, Butts is the inventor of the EchoSonic, a guitar amplifier with a built-in tape echo, and the Filter'Tron, one of the first humbucker guitar pickups. He was active in other fields from studio equipment maintenance to sound engineering, and had intimate working relationships with people such as Sam Phillips at Sun Studios and Chet Atkins.
Burns Guitars London is an English manufacturer of electric guitars and bass guitars, founded by Alice Louise Farrell (1908–1993) and James Ormston (Jim) Burns (1925–1998) in 1959.
The Gretsch White Falcon is an electric hollow-body guitar introduced in 1954 by Gretsch.
The Gretsch 6128 is a chambered solid body electric guitar which has been manufactured by Gretsch since 1953.
The Gretsch G6131, popularly known as the Gretsch Jet Firebird, is an electric guitar made by Gretsch. The most popular use of this guitar is by late AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young and Crowded House lead singer and Split Enz co-frontman Neil Finn.
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the tele, is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Telecaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Luis Alberto Spinetta and Keith Richards.
Johan Frandsen, is the frontman guitarist, main songwriter and lead vocalist in the Swedish rock band, The Knockouts. His trademark guitar is a Gretsch White Falcon. Frandsen is an endorsed artist by Gretsch Guitars, TV Jones, Fender and Peerless.
The Fender Cabronita Telecaster is a class of guitars built by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation based on the company's Telecaster body shape. The name Cabronita is Spanish slang and roughly translates as little bastard or little devil. While retaining the shape and general feel of a Telecaster, they are a radical departure from the traditional electronics and sounds associated with the instrument. Like all Telecaster submodels, they are labeled simply as a Fender Telecaster on the headstock logo, identifiable only by their features.
The Filter'Tron is an early model of the humbucker guitar pickup invented by Ray Butts in the 1950s. Butts built the prototype Filter'Tron in 1954 for guitarist Chet Atkins and it was manufactured by Gretsch and installed in almost all of the brand's guitars beginning in 1957. Gretsch guitars and the "growl" and "twang" of their Filter'Trons played a major part in the rise of rock and roll, with adopters like Bo Diddley, Duane Eddy, George Harrison, and Neil Young. After a sharp decline in popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s, the Gretsch brand and Filter'Tron sound experienced a revival when Brian Setzer renewed public interest in the rockabilly genre. Gretsch guitars have since been embraced by new generations of guitarists, especially in rock music, and many manufacturers now offer Filter'Tron-style pickups.