Tonerider pickups review

[blind illusion]

Hey guys just wanna say i got the vintage plus tele pickups and they are amazing! The neck pickup is great! Lots of clarity in clean and very creamy, similar to a strat neck but with the tele vibe. The bridge is great too, very versitile. I can do country, blues, and rock no problem, and handle distortion just fine. The neck though, ive noticed its more picky when with overdrive, its not as clear on my champ600 overdriven as it is on my marshall, but it still works great. Overall i would really reccomend toneriders and just thought id spread the word! How do you other tonerider owners enjoy yours?

 

[ShadowChancer]

Tell you on sunday blind illusion

got a set of "Hot Classics" on order , del saturday , apparently the same (or near as damn it as the ones on my CV50s Squier) and they are killers , all reports I have read are 1st class and demos on You Tube bear this up , will let you know , not heard a bad word about them though so seems a fair bet to me

 

[blimpo]

At this time, we are blessed with bunches of quality pickups out there that are reasonable in price.
I have TRs in my Strat and like them.

 

[ShadowChancer]

Tonerider Hot Classics pickup review

in reply to blind illusion`s post re:Tonerider review , I got mine early ie this morning , they are in and I can report they have transformed my mim Tele standard totally , also fitted a 3 saddle bridge , bu the pups are the buisiness , awesome sound , really love the neck pos pup , it`s got to be the best rythm guitar sound I`ve heard in a while really full and rounded and plenty grunt , went for the Hot Classics , cool choice , blows the standards factory fitted junk into the weeds . Highly recomend them to anyone and they wont bust the budget either , I got mine for £60 from Pedals`n`Pickups in the UK free delivery to boot .

 

[hemingway]

I have the hot classics in a partscaster. It's hard to compare them with others as it's not as if I put them in a Fender to replace them.

They are recognisable tele pickups, though. The neck is sharp and harsh, the middle is twangy and spanky and the neck is thick and juicy.

Stick on some gain and they are a lot angrier than the pups on my Baja or Squier teles.

My main worry when I bought them is that they would be more like the Squier than the Baja - fortunately they're closer to the good ones.

I've also used Tonerider blues pups in a strat, and they sound absolutely brilliant, quack like mallards and sing like angels.

I just wish that:

a) tonerider would provide all the screws you need on the tele pups
b) they would provide longer screws on the strat pups

Apart from that they are beautifully made and sound like the real deal.

 

[Chautauqua]

Congrats, If I hadn't put new pups in my Strat a few days ago, I would be trying the TR's (or even the CV60's "clones") out myself. Gotta love when you take a guitar you're already in love with and make it even better aye

Cheers

Dave

 

[blind illusion]

They truly do amazing work. My BSB squier affinity tele i think sounds better than any mim tele. I got 500k stock pots in it but im gonna put some 250's to try and get rid of some of that icepick while retaining the tele sound. Also, they are very quiet for single coils!

 

[plymman]

I put some CV 60's in my MIM strat the other day and the difference over the stock pickups is amazing, they're fantastic pickups. It does make me wonder what you actually get for the price increase of a MIM over a CV. It can't be right that 'downgrading' pickups from a supposed budget guitar can actually make it sound better.

 

[ShadowChancer]

Aye its got me wondering

Firstly , I also noticed how quiet they are for single coils . And to the point plymman made , before I got the mim I had a number of Squiers the latest being a CV50s in AW , when I took it out the box I assumed I would need to go through the usual pantomime (set up) this and that , I tuned two strings and was recording twenty minutes later , couldnt beleive the tone and playability , I work with the worlds biggest guitar snob / bore and he looks at it like its a burnt out match , but its not just a good cheap guitar , its a GOOD GUITAR , end of . I am 51 and have played for many years and have had a myriad of guitars , I had a MIA tele when I was nineteen , had SGs , Vox , Gordon Smith (handmade) etc etc , but the CV is top of the pops , it really works . Anyway I digress , my mim was bought because it was a minter , it sounded like **** , so in my search for pickups that might get close to my CV , it was pointed out to me that the CVs pickups are basically Toneriders , so Toneriders bought , mim now a worthy guitar , my conclusion is . Its all smoke and mirrors with Fender , they sell the CV in the Squier bracket and it kills the Fender mim ??? , sound does not come from the headstock , its down to pickups and wood , use your ears and mind , lets not get into the pine debate

 

[jasyr]

to me they were generic... traded them out for Zhang Strat Set. Much better.

 

[Cat MacKinnon]

Firstly , I also noticed how quiet they are for single coils . And to the point plymman made , before I got the mim I had a number of Squiers the latest being a CV50s in AW , when I took it out the box I assumed I would need to go through the usual pantomime (set up) this and that , I tuned two strings and was recording twenty minutes later , couldnt beleive the tone and playability , I work with the worlds biggest guitar snob / bore and he looks at it like its a burnt out match , but its not just a good cheap guitar , its a GOOD GUITAR , end of . I am 51 and have played for many years and have had a myriad of guitars , I had a MIA tele when I was nineteen , had SGs , Vox , Gordon Smith (handmade) etc etc , but the CV is top of the pops , it really works . Anyway I digress , my mim was bought because it was a minter , it sounded like **** , so in my search for pickups that might get close to my CV , it was pointed out to me that the CVs pickups are basically Toneriders , so Toneriders bought , mim now a worthy guitar , my conclusion is . Its all smoke and mirrors with Fender , they sell the CV in the Squier bracket and it kills the Fender mim ??? , sound does not come from the headstock , its down to pickups and wood , use your ears and mind , lets not get into the pine debate

it wouldn't surprise me if they were made in the same factory. Toneriders are made by Artec, who's one of the largest Asian pickup manufacturers. Artec makes pickups for tons of different guitar manufacturers, mostly for their Asian import guitars (i think they also make the Duncan Designed pups, but i'm not 100% sure about that.) anyway, Artec will make pickups to whatever specs the "name brand" company wants them made to, and then stamps their name on them. they also make the GFS pickups GuitarFetish sells.

point being that Artec can make some very nice pickups for very low prices...it just depends on what they're contracted to do. but chances are, if the pickup came from Asia, it was probably made by Artec (regardless of the name-brand stamped on the cover.)

 

[AJBaker]

I put some artec p90s in my casino and they sound great!

 

[Duffy]

I am in total agreement with this statement from below, "the standards factory fitted junk".

I can't believe that Fender put those "junk" pickups in the MIM standard tele.

My Squier Standard tele has better pickups. My CV tele that I bought, BSB, not long after the MIM, has the nicest pickups in it that the MIM sounds terrible compared to the CV.

I was a little depressed about it and it got to the point that I never played the MIM because the stock pickups were so distinguishably unremarkable and super noisy, with "zero" noise cancelling option in the middle switch position.

I finally decided to put a set of Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro tele pickups in it and, wow, what a difference. It is now one of my favorite guitars and definitely hangs with the CV now.

Comparing the two brands of pickups during the swap, the Fender stock ones looked like complete junk, just plain cheap looking, based only on a visual observation.

I definitely want to buy a set of Toneriders. I called Fender to find out who makes the pickups in my BSB CV tele and the dude looked up the build sheet and said that they are, "Golden Age" pickups. Further checking into it I learned that Golden Age pickups are made in the Tonerider factory, supposedly.

Anyway, I would even consider a set of Golden Age pickups to replace the junk in the MIM standard.

Who in the World did Fender make those stock MIM tele pickups for? Who did they think would like those pickups?

 

[elelpe]

Golden Age? Like those sold by Stewmac?

 

[Shango66]

I dropped some stew mac golden age parson st humbuckers into an LP and wow.
Honestly, better than the Duncan and Gibson that were in it when I got it.
The stew mac site claims they are late 50's PAF spec, I never played old PAF pickups so I can't compare.
They sound good, nice and woody and balanced well.

They could be tonerider under a different name if they are all artec made.
Either way, a lot of bang for the buck.

 

[Cat MacKinnon]

i think the biggest problem with the stock MIM Strat and Tele pups is that they use ceramic magnets, instead of AlNiCo. it never made sense to me, considering AlNiCo magnets aren't expensive at all and it would only cost a buck or two more to use AlNiCo rods. a cheap (and relatively quick) upgrade would be to remove the ceramic bar from the bottom of the pup, and replace the pole pieces with AlNiCo rods. MojoTone sells the replacement polepieces, as well as the rare earth magnets to charge them with, and total cost is under about $15. they even have a YouTube video that shows how to do the swap, on an MIM Strat no less.

I dropped some stew mac golden age parson st humbuckers into an LP and wow.
Honestly, better than the Duncan and Gibson that were in it when I got it.
The stew mac site claims they are late 50's PAF spec, I never played old PAF pickups so I can't compare.
They sound good, nice and woody and balanced well.

They could be tonerider under a different name if they are all artec made.
Either way, a lot of bang for the buck.

i've only heard the Golden Age P-90's, but i thought they sounded really good. i'm curious to know who's making the Golden Age pups for Stew-Mac, but it wouldn't surprise me of they were Artecs. i just wish Golden Age or Tonerider was making Jazzmaster pickups (GFS has them, but for some stupid reason he spec'd them as non-RWRP. also, that would require me ordering from GuitarFetish, which i'd prefer not to do.)

 

[AJBaker]

i think the biggest problem with the stock MIM Strat and Tele pups is that they use ceramic magnets, instead of AlNiCo. it never made sense to me, considering AlNiCo magnets aren't expensive at all and it would only cost a buck or two more to use AlNiCo rods. a cheap (and relatively quick) upgrade would be to remove the ceramic bar from the bottom of the pup, and replace the pole pieces with AlNiCo rods. MojoTone sells the replacement polepieces, as well as the rare earth magnets to charge them with, and total cost is under about $15. they even have a YouTube video that shows how to do the swap, on an MIM Strat no less.

i've only heard the Golden Age P-90's, but i thought they sounded really good. i'm curious to know who's making the Golden Age pups for Stew-Mac, but it wouldn't surprise me of they were Artecs. i just wish Golden Age or Tonerider was making Jazzmaster pickups (GFS has them, but for some stupid reason he spec'd them as non-RWRP. also, that would require me ordering from GuitarFetish, which i'd prefer not to do.)

Cool about their p90s, I'm thinking of getting one for my casino bridge. With the jazzmaster pups, you can make it RWRP if you want; with some neodymium magnets you change the polarity, and then you swap the leads.

 

[Old Bill]

Tonerider telecaster bridge p/u's are superb IMHO.

 

[mattl]

I put the Surfari's in a strat build. they sound fantastic, and not just for the money (the set was around a hundred bucks). A guitar student of mine used that instrument for a lesson a couple of weeks ago. A few days later, his wife called, and now she's buying it for him for Christmas! He had told her that it was the best playing and sounding guitar he'd ever experienced, and that he couldn't imagine better. I've got three more strat builds to do. One's getting GFS Boston Blues, one's getting Fender Texas Specials, and the other the G&L Alnicos, like on the legacy. Haven't heard the GFS except for a decent Earl Slick demo, but everybody's heard Texas Specials, and the G&L's are great. Still, I'll miss the Toneriders, and hope for an opportunity to use them again!

 

[mattl]

I also heard a YouTube comparison between some modern but vintage wound Fenders, and they were real close; so close in fact, that the difference could have been between two same model instruments. No two sound identical. Of course, people had to try to create the illusion that they had golden ears, and say the Fender's were fuller. Had the shootout not revealed which was which, I'll bet the opinions would have been less biased. The way pickups are made isn't that mystical. There's absolutely no reason why an import using the same materials, and assembled and wound competently, shouldn't be able to sound like a boutique pickup.