Hugh set a high standard for the pickups for the Classic TC. As he does on all of his instruments he designed and voiced the pickups for this specific instrument. He demanded that the pickups go beyond just being the expected classic sonic profile. At the Manson Guitar Works UK headquarters where the Classic TC was designed and came to life, the team wanted to rise to the challenge of creating a pickup set that could both cover the classic vintage tones you might expect adding a nod to modernity.
Every test sample required a design brief to be vintage in style yet also satisfy the Manson criteria of not being shy to deliver a more modern sound. Like the British classic car race workshops of the 1960s, mild tuning was the order of the day rather than full, extreme hot-rodding. After numerous tests the team selected an Alnico V bridge pickup for a sweet vintage tone, combined with a fuller sounding neck pickup to cover a bold sounding classic twang with added bite from the bridge. The final pickup set delivers the classic Manson sound - the mid position setting, making it a highly usable sound with full bite and a depth not normally found in this style of instrument.