Thinking of replacing the pickups in a 6120-CGP

[George Beasley]

I've had a great 6120-CGP for about 18 months. I like it so much that I got rid of my Nashville Classic a month or so ago, and got a Les Paul Standard.

That being said, I have never found any use for the Stereo pickup layout, and the lack of a tone control diminishes the usefulness of the CGP for me. I am considering a best of both world scenario (for me), where i have the feel of a guitar that is perfect for me (CGP), with the best tonal variety (6122-1959). i want to keep the 6120-CGP wiring harness whole and unaltered for archival/resale value years from now, so instead of unsoldering pickups and pots, I am thinking of pulling out the entire wiring harness/pickups/jacks/switches/pots of the 6120-CGP, and replacing it with custom setup replicating wiring harness and pickups of the Nashville Classic. This shouldn't be a physical problem, as TV Jones makes all of his pickups in different housing/mounting configurations; I could get a SuperTron for the neck that fits in the same housing of the stereo pickup on the CGP that s housed in a Dynasonic housing. The same goes for the FilterTron in the bridge.

However, I do have some questions for the more knowledgable among us:

Question one: It is my understanding that the bridge pickup on the NC is not a standard FilterTron. Is this pickup one of TVJ's standard variations....PowerTron, PowerTron Plus, etc, or is this pickup specific to the NC/CG?

Question Two: would you replace the "Stereo" switch on the CGP with another tone control/volume control, or use the switch for something else (kill switch/coil tap/ etc).

Last Question: what sould I do with the extra output jack? Wire everything to the jack wide open?

Anyway, I am just getting suggestions, so nothing is out of line. Please comment freely.

[George Beasley]

Also, I realize that a change in pickup/wiring won't make it sound exactly like a 6122 (due to the different body/scale length/mojo), it will get me closer.

Thanks,

[Norm]

My thought would be to contact TV Jones and see what a full prewired harness (including pickups) would cost.

The unknown factor (to me) is whether the holes in the top of the guitar will need to be enlarged to accept the filter tron size. If they do then the project will be a no-looking-back kind of thing.
The extra jack...leave it disconnected or, if you want to keep the original harness whole, just put in a generic jack as a dummy. You can bend the tab on the thing to help you distinguish between the hot jack on the old jack.

Or, (again assuming you don't need to rout out the holes), see if you can just swap both pickups and simply avoid switichg to stereo mode. TV Jones could advise you here.

Here are some schematics. Unfortunately the 6120 CGP is not shown

http://www.gretschguitars.com/support/c ... guides.php

The easiest thing to do would be to offer someone a trade, guitar for guitar, for a 6122-59 and negotiate who pays boot.

The biggest factor, like I said, is the size of the holes. If you have to cut them out I forsee no matter what you do, you will eventually regret it.

But that's just me.

[MitchC]

Yeah, I'd just call Tom and ask him all your questions. I'm sure he could fix you up...for a price.

It appears as if his SuperTron (neck) and Classic Plus (bridge) are both available in the DeArmond mount so routing may not have to be done. It's the wiring harness that would need the most attention.

As for the stereo switch...either a 'standby' (useless IMO) or put the tone control there ?

I have a CGP and often consider the same thing, but always come back to... just leave it as designed. I love the
1 3/4" nut width combined with the short scale... the CGP is the only Gretsch with this combination.

[Dean Peterson]

I agree. I have owned the CGP for two years without using the stereo. What I would like is to split off the 5th and 6th strings only to run through a octave divider for the bass effect. I called TV Jones and they said there was no way because of room for the windings. Someone could make this happen.

Dean

[alexjones]

George,
If a tone control is what your after - it is an extremely EASY upgrade. The best thing about it is that you don't have to drill any additional holes. It is my understanding that a tone control can be put anywhere in the circuit. Therefore get yourself a stacked pot (I believe a 500 k and a 250 k - I could find out for sure if you wanted me too). Then you replace the volume pot with the stacked pot in which you have both volume and tone in that same pot. I used an Angela paper in oil cap which is fantastic. The value of the cap was 0.022 uF. It might be worth doing this mod before you dump a ton of money into new pickups and a new harness. Just a thought - if you want any additional information just let me know.