Hello everypersons!
I am supposed to be sleeping (it's 3:30 am) but the ladyfriend isn't here to drag me away from the bright, rectangular thing that tells me the internet ...
I thought I would share with you, fine people, my experience with a a set of pickups I took a little roll-of-the-dice on ...
I very good friend of mine moved to Canadia a few years back and he had a rather nice surprise for me as a parting gift. It was the old 335 copy we'd jam out to on bourbon-fueled nights and he swore I was the only person that got along with that guitar.
So I played her for a while and I soon noticed she needed a little love and attention in the parts department so I decided I would like to spend some money on her and give her a new set of pickups...
Well, at the time I was given the guitar, I was technically homeless and the months following were similarly lean. I needed to unlock her tone though - the cheap 'buckers just held her back.
Well, I found a potential solution in the form of the Tonerider Alinco IV classics. They cost me $150 for the set and, considering I was planning on getting DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups ($380 for a set), I was pretty happy with the price.
Fast forward several annoying issues later (mostly due to the original pickups being smaller than standard sized), the Toneriders are in with all new wiring and some neat features.
I decided to wire the Canora ES-335 copy with the following:
Tonerider Alnico IV Classic set
Seymour Duncan Triple-Shot set
CTS 500K pots (vol and tone)
Vitamin Q .1 uF paper-in-oil tone caps
50's style wiring using wax-impregnated-cloth insulated wire
D'addario Chrome flatwounds
This is the most amazing tone ...
I am very impressed with not only the tonal pallet (due, in part, to the triple-shots) but with the clarity of these pickups on full-noise.
I only have a Roland 408 amp (I very much like this amp, but I have no tube amps, unfortunately) to run her through but with a very heavy overdrive the bridge pickup (neck is too microphonic, it being a semi-hollow and all) you get all the appropriate growl and crumble but with a rich articulation and almost vocal quality.
I have made several other mods to this pretty lady ... but no pics until she's finished!
Extra points if someone can point me to a good custom-ish pickguard place in Brisbane
So, fine fellows, have any of you guys tried Toneriders? Different models?