TV Jones is a U.S. guitar pickup manufacturer in

Poulsbo, Washington Poulsbo ( ) is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the smallest of the four cities in Kitsap County. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census and an estimated 10,927 in 2018. The area was historically in ...

. Best known for manufacturing vintage-style Filter' Tron pickups, TV Jones pickups attempt to recreate the sound of vintage

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsc ...

guitars by using American-made materials and a manufacturing process similar to what was used in the late 1950s and 1960s by Gretsch. The company was founded in 1993 by guitarist and luthier Thomas V. Jones in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...

History

Prior to the focus on guitar pickups, TV Jones was mainly in the business of guitar repairs and custom guitar making. Jones had a long list of famous clients, from working several years at a repair shop in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

called the World of Strings. Clients included

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

, Michael Anthony and others. After his stint at World of Strings, Jones opened his own shop and launched the TV Jones Company, where he continued to attract star clients like

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr B ...

and

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

simply through word of mouth. In the early 1990s, interest turned to electronics and Jones began to examine pickups and the magnets used in various vintage models. Around this time he was asked to repair a number of guitars for

Stray Cats Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in t ...

/ BSO guitarist Brian Setzer, whose guitar sound relied heavily on vintage Gretsch guitars. When the Gretsch Guitar Company was in the process of creating a Brian Setzer signature model, Brian conducted a “blind sound test” of various pickup models that were to be considered for use in these guitars. Tom's Hotrod pickup design was chosen because of its sound being the most faithful to the original. (At this point, the pickups Gretsch was using in their guitars were made of overseas parts and ceramic magnets).

Notoriety

Word soon spread that TV Jones was making “true-to-the-original” Filter'Tron pickups and many famous players demanded their guitars be outfitted with TV Jones pickups. The guitarists (especially Gretsch aficionados) became aware of TV Jones pickups and its popularity grew as the company expanded its product line into the Magnetron, Power'Tron, Super’Tron and Thunder’Tron models. As of 2010, TV Jones offers eight different pickup models around the world.

Users

* Jim Heath (TV Classics) *

(TV Classics) *

Billy F. Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

(Power 'Tron Plus) *

Billy Duffy William Henry Duffy (born 12 May 1961) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of the band The Cult. Early life Duffy was born and grew up in Manchester. He has Irish and Jewish heritage and ancestry. He began playing the guit ...

- The Cult (TV Classic Plus) * G. Love & Special Sauce (Power 'Tron) *

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

(TV Classics in Fender La Cabronita Telecaster) *

Chris Cheney Christopher John Cheney (born 2 January 1975) is an Australian rock musician, record producer, and studio owner. He is the founding mainstay guitarist, songwriter, and lead vocalist of the rockabilly band The Living End, which was formed in 19 ...

(TV Classic Plus, Power 'Tron) * Johan Frandsen (TV Classics/TV Classic Plus/Power Tron) *

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...

(TV Classics) *

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

(TV Classics) *Sean Christopher - Villains Of Yesterday (TV Power 'Tron Plus)

Guitar Models

In 2008 TV Jones released the Spectra Sonic Supreme Guitar (which is an upgrade to the Spectra Sonic designed by TV Jones and manufactured & distributed by Gretsch in 2001–2007) and the smaller, lighter, solid-body Model 10. Both are designed by TV Jones and manufactured in Japan at the Terada factory where the most professional line Gretsch guitars are made.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.tvjones.com/ Guitar pickup manufacturers