The TV Jones Super'Tron is a replica of the original early 1960's prototype design. It is basically a TV Classic with steel blades instead of pole screws and the resulting tone retains classic Filter'tron clarity, but with a bold and full broadband punch.
The steel blades used in the Super'Tron provide a larger magnetized surface area producing greater inductance. While the DC Resistance is the same as the TV Classic, you will notice a little more output and body with a slightly more accentuated lower-mid range. Warmer and less aggressive than the mid 1960's Gretsch Super'Trons (which had a bunch of thin laminated steel blades instead of one piece of steel). Great choice for finger picking, jazz, punk, blues... it has been said that this design in the neck position was loved by Chet Atkins (according to Paul Yandell).
DC Resistance is not entirely an indicator of true pickup output, although it can be helpful.
Bridge: DCR - 4.8k / Inductance - 2.64H
Neck: DCR - 4.0k / Inductance - 1.81H
The Universal Mount is a direct drop-in replacement for guitars with standard sized Filter'Trons - with and without "ears" or "clips". This pickup comes standard with two pieces of compression rubber, 2 mounting (wood) screws, and 1 Universal Mount Clip Pack - which includes everything you will need to mount the pickups to a TV Jones ring or pickguard.
The Universal Mount can be installed two different ways:
NOTE: The Universal Mount requires one of the following TV Jones rings (unless suspending from a pickguard)
The Super'Tron is shipped with 4-conductor wire but is ready for standard 2-conductor connection. The extra red and green wires come soldered together and taped off - to split coils, send these to ground.
Splitting coils is generally not recommended for the Super'Tron due to low coil output but some say it works well due to higher coil inductance (because of the steel blades). 4-Conductor wire is also convenient for custom switching i.e. pickups combined in series or parallel.
Filter'Tron Replacement: The Universal Mount is a direct drop-in replacement for guitars with Vintage Filter'trons, HS Filter'trons, Fideli'trons, Mega'trons, Full-trons and any other standard sized 'Trons.
Blacktop Filter'Tron Replacement: You will need the Universal Mount and one Dual Screw Mount Adapter per pickup to mount into the stock rings.
Broad'Tron Replacement: You will need the Universal Mount along with a new EM2 Ring or EM5 Ring.
Gretsch-Bucker Replacement: You will need the Universal Mount along with a new EM2 Ring or EM5 Ring.
Post-2012 Electromatic Guitars: You will need the Universal Mount with one Dual Screw Mount Adapter per pickup. This is necessary to mount the pickup into your stock ring.
Streamliner Guitars: These guitars are made with "Gibson-style" rings instead of standard Gretsch rings. You will want to choose the Universal Mount with either our EM1 Ring, EM2 Ring, or EM5 Ring to replace the stock ring when installing a Universal Mount Pickup (this depends on which style you prefer). If you choose either the EM2 or EM5 Gretsch-style Rings you will also want a pack of Ring Risers (due to the neck angle).
Gretsch 5120/5122 Guitars: You will need the Universal Mount along with an EM2 Ring or EM5 Ring and Ring Risers. Risers are recommended because the neck angle on these guitars tend to be high. You can find those in our Hardware section.
Gretsch 5420/5422 - early models: You will need the Universal Mount. If your guitar came stock with the large metal rings you will not be able to replace them with the smaller Gretsch rings because the footprint is too large. You will need one of our Dual Screw Mount Adapters for each pickup to attach the pickup to your stock ring.
Pre-2012 Pro Jet Guitars: These will require some specific modification in order to install No Ears Mount pickups. You can refer to our Pro Jet Resource Page which is in the Resources section.
Humbucker Replacement: To replace standard Humbuckers you will need the Universal Mount with one of our EM1 (Gibson-style), EM2 (Gretsch), EM5 (Gretsch), or EM4 (Fender-style) rings.
TV Jones handcrafts your pickup and wiring harness at the time of order. Generally, orders ship within three to five business days.
If you require expedited service, please let us know in the notes when you order and we will do our best to accomodate your situation.