Tonerider versus Seymour Duncan

fireaxe · 2010-08-09T13:18:02+00:00

I just want to share some great discovery here with all you guitar nuts. I have been looking at buying a set of Seymour Duncan SSL single coil pickups for my US Strat for a few months now but it's just the price that's been the debilitating factor, what with all the regular monthly expenses to consider and the ever-present recession still in full swing. So I turned my gaze towards the Tonerider website because of the "unbeatable" prices of their sets and ordered the City Limits bridge and the Classic Blues middle and neck pickups. The pickups arrived 3 days later at my post office (R60.00 - not bad at all!), very securely packaged in a box that came in a courier bag. Well done Tonerider - excellent service! I installed them myself the same night (30 minutes work) and almost dropped the guitar (straplock wasn't properly hooked in) in my excitement to start playing. Wow Wow Wow! - What an incredible surprise! The City Limits bridge and the Classic Blues middle and neck is such a great combo! I love the bridge pickup, it's got balls deluxe and clean at the same time, not thin and metallic like the standard Fender pickups. It also blends exceptionally well with the other two Toneriders. And then there's the build quality - awesome! I expected cheap looking and feeling pickups and hoped that the might sound OK, and instead I got amazing quality and incredible tone! What a fantastic combination - all for a thousand bucks! I'm so chuffed I thought I'd share with you oke's Peace! ?

fireaxe

Just for the record guys - I replaced a set of Fender single coils that have always sounded seriously stressed out and overly microphonic when used with any kind of gain. I don't know whether they have a model name but are really cheap and nasty. The round pole pieces are just normal metal and there are 2 large ceramic magnets glued to the bottom of the pickups, around the metal pole pieces.

They're just not good enough for me! It's not the placebo effect - my ears tell me that by fitting the Toneriders I have made a MAJOR improvement. I know that Seymour Duncans will sound equally good, yet at a much higher price.

I was just trying to make others aware of something that I've found to be fantastic value at an extremely competitive price.

MikeM

Aubs1 wroteI don't understand that statement. Is experience a prerequisite for buying anything???

It's a prerequisite for comparing things.

Bob-Dubery

Ray wrote Lots of people saying good things about Toneriders. I am thinking I want to slap some into an Ibanez hollowbody - P90's is what I am thinking. Would P90's and a hollowbody jive?

I don't see why not, though of course one player's meat is always apt to be another's poison. It's certainly not an unreasonble proposition. Gibson made several arch-tops and semi-acoustics with P90s in them. The Switchmaster for example. Epiphone had a Casino model (or relative thereof) with P90s.

aubs1

MikeM wrote
Aubs1 wroteI don't understand that statement. Is experience a prerequisite for buying anything???
It's a prerequisite for comparing things.

That I'll agree with you. But you did say "gunning BRANDS ......etc." which to me meant something else......

MikeM

But people on this forum have a nasty habit of gunning "expensive" brands without actually having experience with them.

Ok I'm not following you well here, but what I meant was:

Alot of people pass judgement and do "comparisons" without having used them - without actually comparing them first hand.

I don't think it's fair for me to say that Seymours are AS good as Lollars etc as 1. I have not ever actually owned Lollars, 2. It's just not true. It's like the how every second person says "MY MIM Strat plays like a MIA and sounds even better" etc.

aubs1

MikeM wrote ....... but what I meant was:

Alot of people pass judgement and do "comparisons" without having used them - without actually comparing them first hand.

I don't think it's fair for me to say that Seymours are AS good as Lollars etc as 1. I have not ever actually owned Lollars, 2. It's just not true. It's like the how every second person says "MY MIM Strat plays like a MIA and sounds even better" etc.

Point taken.

MikeM

I'm not taking anything away from Tonerider. Like I've said a few times, they're really good pickups for the money.

aubs1

I know. Stratisfear came round a few times and he had them fitted in his MIJ Strats (both), and I was quite amazed. They are impressive, played through my JVM and AVT Marshalls.

I also think that it all depends on the whole package, guitar, amp etc. Played through a crappy amp, you will never get the full benefit of what the pups really are like.

MikeM

Agreed. I hear their single coils are better than their buckers.

Another thing is - boutique pups aren't necessarily better, but they can be made for more specific applications. For example I'm looking for a set that can be tapped from hot / vintage with 5/3 mags. Not many places offer that ? And my latest handwounds, I'm sending the neck back to be tweaked because it's a touch dark for my liking.

Wizard

My sister decided to go on a wine course.
She learned all about it & got exposed to all sorts of wonderful new wines.
She now has to spend a lot of money to enjoy her wine.
There are drawbacks to acquiring "experience".
?

AlanRatcliffe

I own Lollars, DiMarzios, Kinmans, Vintage Vibes & Toneriders and love 'em all (no Seymour Duncans or Fralins ATM - no reflection on them, I've owned both too). Regardless of brand, the right pickup (for your taste and the specific guitar) is the right pickup.

The important thing is that almost all replacement pickups are a huge step up from most stock pickups - which is intentional. The guitar manufacturers know that many guys are going to upgrade regardless of what they put in the guitar as stock, so they don't bother bumping up the prices to put in better models.

However, there is a quality difference between the mass market and the boutique stuff - especially if you compare physical build quality. Compare a DiMarzio or SD against a Lollar or a Kinman against a DiMarzio Area and you can see immediately the boutique models are better built from higher quality, lower tolerance parts. The sound is more subjective, but there are no real shortcuts to certain tones (like real vintage-style PAFs) - you will even notice that even with SD and DM, the pickups which are closer to those "ideals" are a lot more expensive than the standard ranges.

Toneriders are wonderful because they hit far above their price class - they are serious competition for both DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan in both the quality and tone stakes (particularly as the build quality of certain bigger manufacturers has dropped in recent years - IMO). Where Tonerider lose out against those two "big boys" is in range - they have only a few models which are designed to appeal to as broad a group of players as possible. So if you have a very specific taste in what you want and it doesn't fall in their range, you are SOL, while SD and DM have a big enough range to cater for most anybody and the boutique guys will make almost anything to your exact specifications.

Of course, more often than not, the small, but well chosen range from Tonerider will suit a player's tastes and have the added advantage of being easier to choose...

Cannon

You hit it right on the head there Alan!

Anyway I'll just stick to bringin in Custom Shop Pups from Guitar Centre....actually works out pretty cheap & I can assure u there are few substitutes for strat pup replacements!!!
....sorry to mention Fender pups in this thread.....thought someone should!
?

AlanRatcliffe

Cannon wrote Anyway I'll just stick to bringin in Custom Shop Pups from Guitar Centre....actually works out pretty cheap & I can assure u there are few substitutes for strat pup replacements!!!

I love some Fender pickup models. If you want the authentic greybottom, snappy Hendrixy thing and max quack (and authentic, but "icepicky" bridge pickup), the CS69's are the best out there IMO. The Fat '50s are another firm favourite of mine. Plus, for many, fitting Fender pickups in a Fender guitar retains the value better.

Tokai-SA

Gearhead wrote The title of this thread seems to suggest a comparison between pups A and pups B whereas it merely states that pups B are better than stock pups of product C ☹

I was about to ask the same thing. ?

It appears pups A are better than stock pups, but are pups A better than pups B?

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