HTC tuners and pickups

[Ray K.]

Tom,

I got my Hollow T Classic in this week (03-13-08N) and it is a thing of beauty in every way! :)

(For anyone else reading this, I know...I know... the mandatory pics are coming soon.) :cool:

I had already talked with you here about pickups and need to get a set. I'm thinking a TF1 neck and TF3 bridge. But, if you have any other suggestions please let me know.

Btw, the TV's that came in it sound great! Though I wouldn't mind having a little more "beef" in the bridge as long as it cleans up well when I roll off the volume. I'm thinking the TF3 will give me that?

The tuners are the "vintage" split shaft...ugh! :rolleyes: So, I need to get a set of locking. I searched without much luck, but am pretty sure your Gotoh's with the staggered post are a drop in fit, correct?

I'm ready to purchase and I thought I would post here and ask what is the best to do so these days, since you know the workload at the shop - especially that of Rach. Should I call the shop or just e-mail as usual?

Thanks,
Ray K.

[tom]

email me and we'll get the tuners out to you.
the tf3 is pretty similar in beef to the tv3, maybe just a bit fuller in the middle. have you ever heard a tm2? it m ight be what you're after.

[Ray K.]

Tom, you have a PM!

No, I haven't tried any of the "M" series pickups yet, but have been curious. I'm willing to try a TM2 for the bridge. Will it balance well with a TF1 in the neck?

Thanks,
Ray K.

[tom]

yes, bud and guitarzan here on the forum have that exact setup.

[Suriel Zayas]

i have an m1- in the neck and a tm2 in the bridge and i love that combination, especially the tm2.

[Ray K.]

i have an m1- in the neck and a tm2 in the bridge and i love that combination, especially the tm2.
Well then...if brother Suriel says they're good, then who can argue with that!! :D

Count me in!

Thanks,
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

Tom, I sent you an email about this Friday evening, 10:00PM CST.

Thanks!
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

Tom,

The more I play my HTC, the more I notice what I thought was first a minor annoyance which is now turning into a big deal. :rolleyes:

I'm talking about the pickguard. It's cut like most vintage style "T" guards where the edges are beveled nice and smooth except at the bridge pickup cutout. I've never had a problem with other "T" type guitars because they had the pickup tray style bridge taking up most of that space.

I definitely prefer your style bridge, but that leaves extra clearance. Guess where my palm happens to rest? Yep, right at the sharp corner. My pinky finger also hits the one on the bottom side.

I could take files, sandpaper, dremel, router, etc. to this pickguard, but I don't what to muck up the good looks of it either.

Am I really the first one to make a fuss about this? :)

What do you suggest? Do you want me to try knocking down the sharp edges and if I mess it up get another one from you? Can you cut one with beveled edges where I'm talking about? Or...?

If at all possible, I'd really like to get this taken care of while I'm installing the new pickups that you will be sending to me soon.

Thanks!
Ray

[guitarzan]

the tf1 in the neck matches extremely well with the tm2 in the bridge. My guitar is a hollow swamp ash short scale T and that pickup combination is absolutely wonderful. When I was ordering, Tom called it "one of the greatest all-time classic rock tones" and boy was he right. The bridge on full gives plenty og gain and grit and it rolls off nicely to clean up. And then the middle and neck positions sound like they match perfectly. I am in the process of selling just about every piece of gear that I don't need to do a gig (1 guitar + 1 amp) and this is the one guitar I kept since it sounds so good and covers so much ground with these two pickups. I can't recommend them highly enough.

[Ray K.]

Cory, thanks so much for giving me the run down. :)

Man am I ever excited about getting this combination of pickups, especially now - can't wait!

I'll certainly post a mini review once I get them installed and light 'em up live. :D

Thanks,
Ray K.

[tom]

you are the first to mention the edge of the pg. if the pg were off the guitar it would be easy to put a slight bevel on the square edge with a razor blade or scissors.

[Ray K.]

you are the first to mention the edge of the pg.
Yay, me!!! Do I win a prize or sumpin'? :D


if the pg were off the guitar it would be easy to put a slight bevel on the square edge with a razor blade or scissors.
Man, I can't handle the sharp edges of a pickguard, and you want to turn me loose to run amuck with sharp scissors and razor blades!!!!! :eek: :rolleyes:

Okay, seriously now, I'll take care of as soon as I get the new pickups and start the install.

Thanks,
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

The pickups and tuners for my HTC (and switch for my HDT) arrived yesterday - thanks again Tom & Rach! :)

I didn't have enough time to do the swaps so I could take it to rehearsal so I took care of it when I got home. I'll report back when I have a chance to fly this Hollow T Classic live, probably within the next week sometime.

Okay, let me get right to it. At least what I heard in my music room - WOW!! :) And I do mean that in a good way! Both the TF1 neck and the TM2 bridge sound sweet, articulate, well balanced, etc. I had to make myself stop playing about midnight to get some sleep. I'm paying for it today...but can't wait to play it some more!

To my ears, I can get as much "T" type spank and sparkle as I would ever want or need. But I can also use the controls to get other nice sounds as well.

Of course, pickup height has everything to do with it also. I'm running these about 2/32" +/- off the bottom of the strings measured at the last fret. They sound great where they are, but I'll play around with different heights to see what I can get.

The TM2 baseplate is slightly different than a standard "T" type plate, so I had to drill a couple of extra holes. No biggie, just a heads up that it's not a direct drop in.

I like the looks of the TM2 better than I thought I would. I'm not a purist, so the uncovered mini bucker looks right nice.

I left my switching 3-way, but having discovered that the guitar is routed for a neck humbucker and a middle single coil, I have some options for the future. I plan to leave it as is for the time being. The middle route also looks like it would accept an M series pickup.

So, now I know what the fuss is over the M series pickups and I'm glad I took Tom's advice. They are hard to describe in words, but they do sound oh so sweet!

Feel free to fire away with any questions.

Thanks,
Ray K.

[stevem7]

I'm curious what a TM2 or TM3 would sound like in parallel, or split?

Thanks for the initial review. Now you've got me wondering whether to get the TF3 or the TM2 in my Hollow T???

[tom]

the m's don't respond well to parallel. they get dull. i think the close proximity of the coils and the vertical style soft magnetic field get "confused" and start canceling too much stuff.

[Ray K.]

Steve,

If you really want or need to stay mostly with the "T" vibe, then the TF3 would probably be the way to go. If not, then I would recommend trying the TM2. It'll give you all that, and then some. To my ears it's more versatile, which is where I need to be, as I've said many times here.

The nice thing is either will fit in the same route, so if one doesn't work well, you have the optional to go with another one.

Good luck,
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

I finally got around to shooting a few pics today of my Hollow T Classic. This is after the tuners and pickups swap.

Silly me got so busy photographing other gear that I forgot to do a full length shot...oh well.

The photo of the neck joint is the closest to what the actual color is. It's not "Canary Yellow" as it appears in some.

Enjoy!

Ray K.

New/Better photos posted down a few post!

[dannopelli]

Why do all the pics look like the finish is removed?

Also, you might want to go back to your photo hosting site and reduce the size of the pics. They are REALLY big.

[Ray K.]

Why, it's a relic of course...:D

I'm lucky I had the time to get these shot and uploaded. I'll do some thumbnails when I have the time. Until then, most browsers have zoom in/out capability. In FireFox press the Ctrl and "-" key simultaneously.

Thanks for your critique of my photos. I'm sorry they're all in high resolution.

This Trans Yellow seems to be beyond my skills, at least outside on a clear day. Any suggestions?

[dannopelli]

I went an looked at the photos on the original hositing site. It was just my browser blowing them up. It just looks weird on my machine on the TAG site.

That is a BEAUTIFUL guitar. WHEW! I really like the grain pattern. The PUPS with that pickguard look very nice too. I am sure you are very happy with it! I have M's in two of my guitars and love them too!

[stevem7]

Nice axe there, Ray, I'm impressed. And I don't mind high res photos myself! Looks like some beautifully low TA string action too. Now that colour combination would probably be in my top 5 choices if I went with a T Classic. I can't wait to hear your review on the TM2 pickup. She's a beaut. Congrats.

[Ray K.]

Take two! ;)

I took some more quick photos inside with direct flash fully expecting the colors to be washed out and having flash "pop." But, these turned out much better and are much more accurate on my monitor. At least of the body and neck woods and finishes. And they are high resolution until I have time to create some thumbnails.

Steve and Dan I appreciate both of your kind comments!

Dan, yeah that grain really catches my eye every time I open the case. I'm really liking the TM2 here at home. I plan to use it live later this week which will be the true test.

Steve, I have the action at 2/32" off the last fret. Of course, this is dependent on other factors such as fret height, etc. This is one fast playing neck though - I can't help but go over the speed limit at times! :rolleyes:

Ray K.

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