More pics of my 5120 with TV Jones pickups
Here are some pictures of my Gretsch Electromatic 5120. I've tried to make it sound like Chet Atkins. Only he had the same pickup configuration in his Country Gentleman guitar. This guitar try to look like a 6120 I've told it that it's not. What can i do? There are some before pics and some after pics. It sure has gained some weight and a lot more sustain!!!! Hope the pics are placed right this time.

Now I only need to fix the small holes from the old tuners.

Looks great! Just about what I hope MY 5120 will be lookin' like here shortly! There IS one thing I think is missing from your pics and unfortunately will be missing from mine as well. And that's the one showing the back of the headstock. Yours says "Made in Korea" and that's just fine. Mine says the same. No problem; great guitars! What's missing is another notation back there. One that says "Voiced in the USA"! I would dearly love it if Tom would pack a nice decal with his pups with "Voiced in the USA" and containing the Flag proudly visible on every page of his website and seen on the bottom of each pup. To me, "That Great Gretsch Sound" will always be "Made in the USA" and a guitar so equipped should be listed as "Voiced in the USA" as well!

Thanks! And you are right about the "voiced in USA" decal. The guitar is totally different. You really have something to look forward to if you're about to put TV Jones pickups in it. But I tell you one thing...To live in Denmark and order all the stuff from USA is an expensive affair because of 25% taxes and shipping and tax on shipping....I think if I had saved all my money I could have bought a used US Gretsch but I like the process of doing this and putting my own stamp on it. And the Chet-arm is superb....Jimmy

the thing i hate about 5120's is how far the bridge pickup is away from the bridge.it looks out of place to me.BUT in the pics with the filtertrons it looks closer.is there space in the cavity to allow for some leeway with the filtertron to move it back a fraction of an inch?

I did a search on just that subject a while ago myself. From the photos I've seen; it looks like there's about 1/8" inch to play with, maybe a bit more. But even then because of the curve of the Filter-style pup ring, the old screw holes may be visible after the repositioning. There doesn't seem to be any easy way around it. But yeah; I agree; the pup is a bit too far from the bridge. Bummer. ....hopefully; someone else will pop in with better news!

Oh Wow jimmy h; I just rediscovered your photos! I'd forgotten all about them! So glad they're "back"! You didn't happen to mention how it sounds. I hope "great" cause..... .....I'm doing exactly the same thing with my Orange 5120. Yup; I had a '65 Gent with a Super and a standard Filter, and a bar bridge. and, I'll be replacing my Gretschbuckers with a Supertron at the neck and either a Classic or a Classic+ at the bridge, adding a bar bridge, and.....A Chet Arm!(yeah; I'm a Chet Fan Fingerpicker.) Does your guitar look like a 6120? Darn right it does!

My 5120
First, I can tell you that there are no space in the cavaty to work with. But I did something crazy...I simply bended the corners of the metal which the pickups are mounted on and that gave me some room to work with. About the sound I can tell you it's awsome. Clearer than the Tennesee Rose which I've just -*test*-('")ed in a shop here in Denmark. The Chet arm works perfect with no fuzz or bad sounds. The Supertron in neck position is very smooth but can be raw when needed, but I'm just playing soft Chet-like style as good as I'm able to. I'm just done with putting two Classics in a Gold Sparkle Jet made in China. Just like the one TV Jones shows on the website but also added a crome Chet arm and a rocking bar. I did have some trouble getting the Duo-Jet pickguard to fit because of it's thickness. But it's alright now and works perfect. All in all it took a lot of work to do the whole project but it's worth it. Thanks for the nice words about my 5120 it makes me even more proud of my guitar. Jimmy

By the way..I forgot to mention the sustain caused by the Chet-arm and the rocking bar. It can't be muck better I think. It makes it possible to play all the strange Chet chords and make them ring the only problem I have is that my hands won't do what my brain tells them to....but that has nothing to do with the guitar.

yeah but that 1/8th of an inch makes all the difference in aesthetics. having done industrial design it's all in the little details that count:) having said that though id be prepared to live with 2 small screw holes filled in if you could still see them! i dont understand this 'bended the corners of the metal...' works though..

As far as bending the metal to get the pup moved on a 5120; I suspect what we're talking about here is the way the guitar is routed to clear the tabs for the height adjusting screws. The route isn't squared off on the ends the full width of the route, but has a narrower area hogged away just barely wide enough for the tabs. So bending the tabs would give a bit more clearance before hitting the wood. And thinking about the screw holes showing after the move; I guess it would be only one hole anyway since the pickguard would hide the other one. That ain't quite so bad! And thanks to you Jimmy; on the description of the sounds with the Super! Just what I'm after! I had done a lot of going back and forth on the sound I was really after. Originally I thought I wanted more of a single-coil Dynasonic kind of sound, but after playing my 5120 with the stock Gretschbuckers for a few months; I found I was playing most often...as you said it so well...in the "soft Chet-like style". But it looks like I've finally found "My Sound" and can actually order my new pups now with a lot more confidence in my decision! .....and I'm really looking forward to the Chet Arm and bar bridge too....I just can't wrap my pinky around that darned Bigsby flat arm at all, and I'd heard some sound clips comparing the different Gretsch bridges, and the bar really does offer some great tones and colorations that the TOM style just can't duplicate!

You're right the Gretschbuggers the guitar came with are very good but they don't look good...and that's very important. We all wanna be a part of the real Gretsch world - and it gives you something when you have done it all by yourself. I'll never trade mine for a US Gretsch...but I will save the money to by one someday but I'm not in a hurry anymore. This guitar is just so good.

Yup; I'm really looking forward to getting my Supertron and Classic. I find the Gretschbuckers to be a very pleasant sounding set of pups as they are, but nope; they sure don't sound like, nor do they look anything like a real Gretsch. Doing it ourselves really is a big part of the fun. There isn't a standard Gretsch model currently made that will fit all the requirements I have set for my 5120 without making quite a few mods to the pro model. There were a lot of bad points about my '65 Country Gent as it was designed that I didn't care for, that aren't going to exist in my 5120. Even the biggest company can't make something that's perfect for everybody; but I figure we darned sure can make something thats darned near perfect for ourselves! Gotta luv it! :P

Yup, it's nice to have your own customized Gretsch. I had an orange Chet Atkins Nashville - the one from about '65 with double cutaway and a round pad on the back to avoid scratches from belt buckets. US made but it doesn't come close to my 5120 in sound and playability. I traded it together with an acoustic Guild and got a nice Gibson J-200 which I again traded for an even nicer Larrivee LJ-10. Hope you will enjoy your 5120 and maybe we'll see some pictures of it when it's finished...Good luck!