Filtertron or TV Jones or similar parts

[Zhangliqun]

Anyone have a source for these? Been getting requests for them lately.

[soundmasterg]

TV Jones is the only source I know of...and he completely tooled up from old Gretsch stuff. His stuff is top notch too.

Greg

[Peter Naglitsch]

What parts and how accurate part do you need?

I have sold a few look-alike pickups using the same (but unbranded) H shaped covers that GFS uses and standard HB parts. Make the wind a bit low and you get a nice Gretschy sound too (not a Gretsch sound, Gretschy...)

[David King]

Tom is a great guy, I wouldn't hesitate to ask him.

[Possum]

....

You can get these parts from Korean distributors, NAMM is going on, go there and you'll find a source, there is usually something like a 300-500 part minimum for each part, plus shipping, customs etc. I doubt seriously if TV is going to sell you his proprietary parts anymore than Gibson or Fender would :-) Maybe check with Montreaux, I know the parts exist out there, do some digging....

[belwar]

I asked T.V. today at the show and he said 'no, unfortunately i can't sell those parts'. He's a really great guy and I understand why. If you knew how much his tooling cost him, you would understand why.

After walking through the whole show, I have found nobody that sells those covers.

b.

[David Schwab]

The easiest route might be to get unplated bucker covers and have them machined.

[Possum]

...

You may not SEE those parts AT the show, but if you look at the small Korean distributors and ask them or show them what you want they can source those parts for you. They may be making them in China now too. I contacted a Korean company a couple years ago and they do make those parts. Search some EU guitar parts places and you'll see those products there.....

[Mark Hammer]

If somebody can punch 6 holes into a cover blank, then they should be able to punch a single large H-shaped hole into that same blank, OR you should be able to purchase the blanks from a jobber and have a local machine-shop punch them for you. My dad was a tool and diemaker most of his life, and this was the sort of thing he and a zillion other little machine-shops in the region would take on for contracts.

[David King]

You wouldn't punch them in unless you were making hundreds at least. A CNC engraver or waterjet would cut them out in a small quantities for a lot less.
Also punches are messy unless everything is perfectly aligned and that's becoming a lost art.

[Possum]

...

The problem with that is I'm pretty sure filtertron covers are thicker than regular bucker covers. If you have the funds for a large buy you can find those parts, I did, but I don't have that info anymore....

[paulgarstki]

You can find Filtertron covers reasonably cheap on Ebay at Angela Instruments or Freedom Enterprises store.

Be careful about trademark/copyright laws when using brand-name parts on your own pickups.