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I hear that GFS Surf 90's get good reviews from actual Gretsch folk who compare them to real Dynasonics/Dearmonds. Is anyone aware of a good pickup like that in a P90 shell?

Gear_Junky wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 10:40 pm I hear that GFS Surf 90's get good reviews from actual Gretsch folk who compare them to real Dynasonics/Dearmonds. Is anyone aware of a good pickup like that in a P90 shell?

T.V. Jones will make any of their pickups in a P-90 shell, all you have to do is ask when you place an order..
My Agile Harm1 has T.V. Jones Classic & Classic Plus pickups in it.
Have you still got that orange Douglas WNO???

Mickey

Hi, Mickey! Thank you for responding. Yes, I still have the orange Whino, have both my SCXD amps (and the Palomino V16 like the one in avatar) and just about all the same stuff. Nice to see your amp family is growing

A talented maker in Greece also builds what you're looking for -- https://www.gabojo.com/mr-2000p-in-a-p9 ... ather-top/ -- I've got his Dynas in humbucker-sized casings. Tool around the website, there are a couple different options in addition to this one.

You might also want to PM Tim [mention]Buddha Pickups[/mention] to see if he can do anything for you in that form factor...

That looks awesome, guys! How about closer to the GFS budget?

I had GFS Surf 90's in my WNO and really wanted to like them. I have had other GFS pups I liked but I found the Surf 90's thin and uninspiring but to be fair I don't think I played them through a bunch of different amps. I have found that amp pairing can make a big difference.

OMB wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 5:19 pm I had GFS Surf 90's in my WNO and really wanted to like them. I have had other GFS pups I liked but I found the Surf 90's thin and uninspiring but to be fair I don't think I played them through a bunch of different amps. I have found that amp pairing can make a big difference.

From that picture those don't look like the Surf 90's, more likely Dream 90's or Mean 90's. My guess will be Mean 90's based on your description

Here's what Surf 90's look like (meant to mimic Dearmond/Dynasonic in a PAF shell):

Gear_Junky wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 10:19 pm [
Here's what Surf 90's look like (meant to mimic Dearmond/Dynasonic in a PAF shell):

image.png

Yup, I've got them in a SX Liquid:

Had a pair of the GFS Surf 90's and took them out. I had the exact same impression as you. I told TJ that I found my Holy Grail of pickups by accident. I bought a Tokai that came with a set of Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Alnico IV pickups. I fell in love with those pickups and don't even think about playing any of my other guitars now.

doc-knapp wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 10:49 pm ... I told TJ that I found my Holy Grail of pickups by accident. I bought a Tokai that came with a set of Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special Alnico IV pickups. I fell in love with those pickups and don't even think about playing any of my other guitars now.

BTW, I finally found a set of reasonably priced SNSs on eBay ($150 shipped). They got here yesterday and will be going into an AD-3200MMC as soon as I can find some time...

I have to wonder if it's a matter of tastes and styles. Have you guys (y'all who didn't like the Surf 90's), have you tried actual Dynasonics and/or Dearmonds? I am kind of between a current modern Dynasonic that you can get for $90 (and I'll have to figure out how to mount them) or the possibly easier route of using GFS Surf 90's in a familiar mount. So far I liked all the clips of them I heard on YouTube. And I am even starting to think that I like Dynasonics more than I like Filtertrons (I'm keeping Filters in one of my SJM's).

Gear_Junky wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:34 pm I have to wonder if it's a matter of tastes and styles. Have you guys (y'all who didn't like the Surf 90's), have you tried actual Dynasonics and/or Dearmonds? I am kind of between a current modern Dynasonic that you can get for $90 (and I'll have to figure out how to mount them) or the possibly easier route of using GFS Surf 90's in a familiar mount. So far I liked all the clips of them I heard on YouTube. And I am even starting to think that I like Dynasonics more than I like Filtertrons (I'm keeping Filters in one of my SJM's).

Have you done any research on the GFS gold foils? There seem to be a number of options available in the P90 format. There's also the Nashville and Liverpool minis...

tobijohn wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:40 pm Have you done any research on the GFS gold foils? There seem to be a number of options available in the P90 format. There's also the Nashville and Liverpool minis...

Yes, I've been keeping my eyes open over the years and mini-humbuckers of any type is just not the way I want to go for this guitar. And what few reviews of the foils I've seen say they're not that interesting (one epithet I heard was "anemic"). I'm really digging real Dynasonic tone that I've seen/heard and if I can approximate that with Surf 90's, which appear close from what I watched/heard, all the better.

My experience with GFS pickups has been good - I still have Dream 180's in a guitar and they're great. And I used Memphis Retrotrons in my WNO until I replaced with Filters, and they were good, too. In fact, I actually HAVE some of the old GFS "New York" mini humbuckers in my "trunk of junk", it's just not what I want to go with. Years ago I was of "humbuckers or die" persuasion, only to discover the magic of P90's in my SJM's and then to develop new appreciation of single coil pickups.

My opinion is that GFS is a far cry from the pickups they imitate. True dynas are much more single coil sound (closer to Tele) than GFS which are more Humbucker. Even their filter tron analogs are more Gibson Humbucker than Gretsch filter sounding.

Go with TV jones and you will never look back.

Dynas are great for a certain sound but not as versatile as filters. Make sure it’s what you want.

Longblacktie wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 10:55 pm My opinion is that GFS is a far cry from the pickups they imitate. True dynas are much more single coil sound (closer to Tele) than GFS which are more Humbucker. Even their filter tron analogs are more Gibson Humbucker than Gretsch filter sounding.

Go with TV jones and you will never look back.

Dynas are great for a certain sound but not as versatile as filters. Make sure it’s what you want.

Thank you. I already have Filtertrons in 2 guitars (a hollowbody and a solidbody). And P90's in another. So you could say I'm exploring and broadening.

Now, are you sure you are not generalizing about GFS pickups? I have their Dream 180's and they are far cleaner and chimy-er than a PAF (I've had Gibson Classic '57's in an Epi LP back in the 90's, also had Seymour Duncan Custom Customs). And they sound good when tapped/split. And before I got HS Filtertrons, I had GFS Memphis Retrotrons and I'd say they are also very much in the ballpark, I just really wanted "the gretsch look". I've listened to some samples (not from the company, whose demos are only marginal at best) and seems like these are also in the ballpark of Dynas:
Granted, with the bobbin dimensions there's bound to be some differences, but these are true single coil.
I have zero doubts that TV Jones pickups are awesome. It's just most of my guitars cost me less than a single pickup

I also just listened to some video demos of their "GF'Trons" (in proper filter shell) and they seem like a decent value as well, not at all like a gibby paf. Might not be TV quality, but not every guitar (and player) necessarily deserves a TV pickup, I know I don't.

Let me clarify - When I tried GFS trons / dynas they were pale imitations of Gretsch trons / dynas. I thought they were closer to Gibson humbuckers than Gretsch trons / dynas.

I only tried one version of each and it was a decade ago (ish), maybe more. So admittedly I am generalizing

TV Jones is the real deal. I know they are expensive but I think the value is also that much greater than GFS. I’d rather have less pickups/guitars that sound awesome than many that sound ok.

Longblacktie wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 10:55 pm My opinion is that GFS is a far cry from the pickups they imitate. True dynas are much more single coil sound (closer to Tele) than GFS which are more Humbucker. Even their filter tron analogs are more Gibson Humbucker than Gretsch filter sounding.

Go with TV jones and you will never look back.

Dynas are great for a certain sound but not as versatile as filters. Make sure it’s what you want.

I agree, and I agree.

I bought a p90 sized set of TV Jones T-Armonds at my brothers recommendation. They are sitting on a shelf as they didnt sound interesting to me in two guitars. Not versatile in my range of desired tones. Maybe I should check into the GFS versions. I'll hang onto them and try again in something else.

I don't have a set plan yet, but was thinking of putting them in one of the 3 SJM's. One already has Filtertrons. The other one is dedicated to have P90's. The third one has Gretsch lapsteel pickups (which sound good, they're single coil) but I just keep wondering... and I like the look. And the tone.
Of course, I also wouldn't mind if I could have an SJM set up as a Jazzmaster and another one set up as a Jaguar. I even have a set of Fender Jaguar USA pickups, just never got around to that. It's a disease

Unfortunately I've never seen the parts for sale for those