Pickups and pots for a Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean?

[dehughes]

Hey all,

I just had the pleasure of receiving a Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean and am very pleased with it. However, I do want to do my typical Gibson thing...that is, I want to replace the pots and the pickups.

For pickups, I'm leaning towards a set of low-wind Lollar Imperials. Recommendations are welcome, though, as I want to make this guitar "be all it can be".

As for pots...my inclination is to go for 500k, but I'm stuck as to which model of pots. I have a bunch of "amp pots", but I wager they'd be too tall for use in a semi-hollow guitar. PLUS, this guitar has a "master" volume pot in addition to the other two individual volumes for the pickups, so I'm wondering if I should go for 1meg pots being as, when in parallel with the "master" volume, the pickups would then be seeing 500k. I'm reading about 130-140k on the pots now, which would make sense if the volume pots are currently 300k (which is typical, yes?). Hence my thought about 1meg pots, but perhaps that'd be too bright(?). Again, the goal is to make this guitar fully what it has the designed potential to be.

[62Tele]

I have an Epi Elitist Chet Atkins (very similar vibe) and I loaded it with what I consider to be the perfect match to the guitar - TV Jones Powertrons. The pickups are a blend of Gretch and Gibson tones, and the guitar sounds very 335 at the neck, jangle and clarity in the middle, Brain Setzer at the bridge. They come in a bucker size so no mods, or you can use the English mount and give the guitar some additional Gretsch vibe. I'm comfortable with this guitar for anything from straight up jazz to country to blues. Stupid versatile.

Pots - 500K.

[dehughes]

Power Trons, eh? What made you choose those over the other TV Jones options?

[dehughes]

I found out this guitar has a 490T in the bridge position, and a 492R (rare/odd?) in the neck position. I really like the vibe of the neck/middle positions, but the bridge is a bit harsh...

[dcmak5]

I found both the 490r and 490t to be slightly more muddy than I like. (nothing that can't be eq'd) they're in my Gibson Country Gentleman

[62Tele]

Power Trons, eh? What made you choose those over the other TV Jones options?

I called Tom and told him the tone I was after. I wanted to be able to get Johnny A's type of clean tones and Tom listened to some clips and recommended the Powertrons. Turned out to be spot on. They are truly a blend of Gibson and Gretsch tones. I have Classics on a tele and they are great - interesting thing is that in the semi, the Powertrons don't have quite the output of the classics in the solid body. I thin the classics might be a little too thin in the semi for what I was after.

[dehughes]

I called Tom and told him the tone I was after. I wanted to be able to get Johnny A's type of clean tones and Tom listened to some clips and recommended the Powertrons. Turned out to be spot on. They are truly a blend of Gibson and Gretsch tones. I have Classics on a tele and they are great - interesting thing is that in the semi, the Powertrons don't have quite the output of the classics in the solid body. I thin the classics might be a little too thin in the semi for what I was after.

Very cool. That's good to know.....that the same pickups in a semi-hollow would be "weaker" than in a solidbody.

In reality, I'm a huge fan of Malcolm Young's tone...so I'm considering putting a TV Jones of some sort in the bridge BUT keeping a humbucker in the neck...maybe a Lollar low-wind in the neck and a TV Jones Classic in the bridge? I'm curious, though, as to which pickup Malcolm uses, and which TV Jones would be similar, AND if such a pickup would even work well in my Tennessean.

Thoughts?