TV Jones has two new models. No, not pickup models, but guitars. As it turns out, guitar-making is Tom (TV) Jones’ passion. He became famous for his pickups, but is now in a position to get back to his first love, which is guitar making. TV Jones Interview
TV Jones has two new models. No, not pickup models, but guitars. As it turns out, guitar-making is Tom (TV) Jones’ passion. He became famous for his pickups, but is now in a position to get back to his first love, which is guitar making.
Q: Why guitars? Why now?
TVJ: I’ve wanted to do this for the past 5 years but it just hasn’t been possible. For the past 10 years I’ve been consumed with pickups. Now the time is right to get back to guitar making.
Q: Tell us a bit about your guitar-making history.
TVJ: I made a bunch of 7-string thin-line arch top guitars. A whole bunch. That’s mainly what I made back in the ‘90’s. A few six-strings in that version. Mainly 17 and 16” bodies. Arch backs & tops, y’know the whole thing with F-holes, one pickup in the neck. Every once in awhile I’d get a request for two pickups with a Bigsby vibrato. I really enjoyed making those ‘cause I like to plug in a guitar and turn it up loud. I like the rock n’ roll thing. These 7-string guitars were jazz guitars. I also experimented a bunch with baritones and mandocellos, in a bunch of different scale lengths. I just had a lot of fun with anything with frets and strings. Even electric harp guitars. I had a lot of fun back in the 90’s experimenting.
I took a big detour in about 1999. Pickups just took over my life. I had to put the guitars away for awhile. I’ve only made about four or five guitars in the past seven or eight years. So now I’m back at it again. Getting all the unfinished instruments out from the old shop in Whittier, California. There must be about 20 unfinished pieces and I’m just having fun putting them all together. I’m teaching some of the people on our pickup-making staff how to work on these guitars and it’s a fun learning experience for them.
Q: Tell us about the very beautiful Spectra Sonic Supreme.
TVJ: Gretsch distributed the Spectra Sonic for almost 6 years and I thought now was the perfect time to offer the deluxe version through the TV Jones brand name. It is our first factory made production guitar.
Q: How does the new version of the Spectra Sonic differ from what Gretsch offered?
TVJ: Gretsch offered what I originally made in the 1990’s and that was pretty much the same body style, alder body, chambered, with the top laminated. It featured a Padauk fingerboard with no binding on the fingerboard or headstock and simple inlay dots.
I thought it would be a great idea just to step it up a little bit. I went with a new design which features an ebony fingerboard, custom shoestring potato inlays which are similar to what I used to use back in the ‘90’s on a lot of my custom guitars. I thought it would just set it off if the whole instrument was bound… the headstock, fingerboard and the body. Then I thought it would be really cool to give it a figured maple top. To give it a striking look. Those are the major parts of the change in design.
I also really like the TV Classic pickups. They give great clarity in the low-end. I thought it would be a great idea to use the Classics instead of the Power’Trons which were used in the Gretsch models. So I stepped this instrument up. Also, the finish is lacquered, which was really important to me.
Q: What were you striving for as far as “playability” goes?
TVJ: A lot of times I notice guitars are set up pretty well from a factory, but when you play them, they’re just not quite there yet. There’s something missing. So I take every guitar that’s delivered here to our shop and go through it personally. Match the fingerboard and bridge radius, I cut the nut slots so that they’re the proper height. I make sure the first fret isn’t too high. Having everything, every minute detail done properly, is really important to me. Just the feel… When you bend the string it’s got to feel like butter. So your finger doesn’t slide over the top of the string. It’s got to play very naturally.
Q: Why non-locking tuners?
TVJ: First of all the Sperzel tuners I think are the best around. They’re made in U.S.A. Cleveland, Ohio.
I feel that the locking tuner isn’t really necessary because we use a really slippery material for the nut. It’s called Delrin. It’s really not necessary to put the extra cost or the extra weight of the locking tuners into the headstock. I just prefer the non-locking tuners. With the delrin nut and the proper bridge they hold the tuning just fine.
Q: When was the first Spectra Sonic designed?
TVJ: Back in about 1994 my friend Paul Ackling, who works for producer T Bone Burnett, brought me an old K guitar to repair. It had a similar look, a very large body with a flat top and I was intrigued by the way it felt and looked. I wanted to design a guitar that was similar to that, one that was lighter with large chambers. Something with a classic quality to it, not a retro look, but just a classic look. I started drawing a big boxy body and I wanted it to have good access in the upper register. I thought it would be cool to have a large stylish pick guard with a finishing touch, sort of a tuxedo look. I think the pick guard shape kind of resembles the shape of the state of Texas. Paul Ackling owns the first original Spectra-Sonic. He was working for John Fogerty in the 1990s and Johnny Cash was at one of the shows. He noticed Paul’s Spectra-Sonic and he loved it. He thought it had a great look. Paul had Johnny sign the pick guard. So Johnny Cash’s signature is on the very first Spectra-Sonic!
Q: Explain the knobs and components of the guitar.
TVJ: I thought aluminum knobs would be a good idea. We designed aluminum knobs to keep the weight down. I didn’t want them too tall so I made them short and wide. The switch tip is also made of aluminum. Just for originality I came up with my own knob and switch tip design rather than use something off the shelf. The pickups are TV Classics. Switchcraft American-made toggle switch (the old long style). Two 500k CTS Pots, Sprague Orange Drop .022 Capacitor wired with Belden wire.
Q: What about the frets?
TVJ: I love this fret wire. It’s not too wide, not too tall. It’s about 95 thousandths wide which is a little bit under the Gibson fret wire in width. It’s about 45 thousandths high.
That enables you to get your finger under the string when you’re bending up, and playing off of the finger board. I’ve used this fret wire a lot in the past.
Q: I recall seeing a few photos of Brian Setzer with a Spectra Sonic.
TVJ: Brian played the first Spectra-Sonic Baritone that I made for his technician Rich Modica. Rich brought it over to Brian’s house one day and Brian flipped. He asked to borrow it for a tour. I believe that was back in 2000. He used it the whole tour. Fred Gretsch was in the audience one night in Atlanta, Georgia. He saw Brian play it. Right after that I talked to Fred about Gretsch Guitars producing the Spectra-Sonic.
Q: Any plans to incorporate the C-Melody into the new Spectra Sonic Supreme?
TVJ: Absolutely. That’s definitely in the works. I think that will be the next thing to do before a Spectra Sonic bass . There’s just so much to do, my plates so full, but that’s definitely a plan.
Q: What about the green Spectra-Sonic you made for Brian Setzer?
TVJ: Oh yeah! He has a TV Jones lime-green metallic Spectra Sonic that I made back in 1999. There are a few other famous guys playing Spectra Sonics, John Fogerty, Johnny Lee Shell, The Arctic Monkeys, and we're sending one to Daryl Hall.
NEXT UP: The Model 10
