Tonerider Pure Vintage, Analysis and Review

[antigua]

www.tonerider.com/pure-vintage



After realizing that the Tonerider AlNiCo II Blues were just as hot as the previous pickups I was trying to replace, because despite the lower DC resistance, the AlNiCo 2 rods cranked the inductance up higher than I had imagined it would, I bought Tonerider's no BS vintage Strat set.

The set features a modern stagger, a nice touch that a lot of the bigger pickup making companies are still not fully willing to embrace.

I haven't heard them in a guitar yet, so this is just a spec analysis, and they look very promising.


Specs:

Tonerider Pure Vintage Strat Set - Bridge
DC Resistance: 6.62K
Inductance: 2.597H
Calculated C: 96pF (106-10)
Coil width: 0.5475" (with tape)

Resonant Peak: dV: 15.9dB f: 9.59kHz (black)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.5dB f: 3.94kHz (red)



Tonerider Pure Vintage Strat Set - Middle
DC Resistance: 6.55K
Inductance: 2.431H
Calculated C: 103pF (113-10)
Coil width: 0.5310" (with tape)

Resonant Peak: dV: 14.8dB f: 9.59kHz (green)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.5dB f: 4.03kHz (gray)



Tonerider Pure Vintage Strat Set - Neck
DC Resistance: 6.12K
Inductance: 2.285H
Calculated C: 91pF (101-10)
Coil width: 0.5370" (with tape)

Resonant Peak: dV: 15.0dB f: 10.5kHz (pink)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.5dB f: 4.27kHz (black)


Pole piece strength: 750G- 950G, Bridge G-B-E: 700G-900G


Bode plot:



The loaded peaks right around 4kHz, and 4.27kHz makes these genuine "vintage output" pickups. Seymour Duncan SSL-1, by contrast, measured loaded peaks of 3.81kHz.

A remarkable thing about these pickups is the low capacitance, with two of the pickups coming in under 100pF. In general, only the boutique winders tend show such low capacitances. Most of Fender's Strat pickup measure between 120 and 140pF.

Tonerider's twist is that they use AlNiCo 3 for the three higher pitched strings on the bridge pickup. This is the same scheme Seymour Duncan uses for their "Five-Two" set, though there's are with AlNiCo 2.

Even though most all of the other pole pieces are supposed to be AlNiCo 5, I measured only 750 to 950 gauss on all the pole pieces, instead of the usual 1050G. I recharged a few of them with a neodymium, then waited fifteen minutes, after which point the three measured 1020G, 950G and 1050G. There must be something a little off about this AlNiCo 5, it's very unusual to see such random deficits in flux density with AlNiCo 5 pole pieces. Personally, I'm all for something different, though. A lot of boutique pickup makers boast that they "hand calibrate" their magnets to faux-age the magnets, and though I've never seen this actual bear out in measurement, what I'm seeing here does correspond to AlNiCo 5 that has become weaker with age. The only downside to unstable AlNiCo 5 is that it will lose charge more rapidly over time, eventually becoming so weak that it's detrimental to the tone, as though you set the pickups very far away from the strings.

Tonerider says:

"A 999-step CNC programmable coil-winding machine and custom wire tensioning system are used to create looser, more random coil structures. Even the magnets are custom made, hand-bevelled and then charged and de-charged in a special sequence."

It seems to me that the low capacitance and the interesting AlNiCo 5 observed might be proof of these claims. I must say... it's nice a surprise to see such promises delivered upon. It seems that they really have programmed a CNC machine that makes a coil with a lower capacitance.

[ms]

Do you think the low field readings you got are the result of the "de-charge" mentioned the material you quoted?

[antigua]

Dec 19, 2016 12:09:11 GMT -5 ms said:

Do you think the low field readings you got are the result of the "de-charge" mentioned the material you quoted?

I have a dilemma, I can recharge all of them with a neo, and see if they all conform to the expected ~1050G (a little less for the shorter ones), but then I'll ruin whatever they did on purpose, and I actually plan to load these into a Strat and enjoy them, so I wanted to hear them as is. So I just charged the bridge's A5 poles with a stack of pellet neo's that are small enough to do one pole piece at a time. Two of them charged up to 1050G, which is about normal, they usually read closer to 1150G, and then drop to 1050G after some time has passed, close enough though. The third pole stubbornly reads 900G, so there's something strange going on there. 

I know that AlNiCo requires a specific series of steps in it's creation in order to get it to behave in an ideal way. It sounds like the kind of thing that a foundry can mess up easily if they aren't paying close attention, or if they skimp on materials or steps for the sake of cost. These pickups are made in China, and while I'm not sure where the magnets are sourced from, China is well known for skimping on details in order to deliver a product for a low cost. 

If the AlNiCo is imperfect, as at least one pole piece seems to be, it might also be the case that the others de-charged in transit, and because of any process carried out by the manufacturer. If they botched the AlNiCo, it might have resulted in a lower coercive force, causing it to demagnetize more readily. I know from having tried it myself that partially demagnetizing AlNiCo is not easy, because you have to arrange for a very specific H field to get it to demagnetize a specific amount, without going too far. It would take some trial and error, and the invention of a process to ensure that you could repeat the process for hundreds of pickups.

So all in all, it's inconclusive, but they did deliver a pickup with lower flux density, all said and done. The inductance measures are consistent with AlNiCo 5 poles, as well. If they were AlNiCo 2, 3 or 4, I would have expected around 500mH higher inductance for the given DC resistances, as seen here guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/7831/tonerider-alnico-blues-analysis-review and other AlNiCo 2 and 3 Strat sets. 

[foxmilder]

This is a question I could have posted in various places, so it’s not exactly specific to this set, but I’ve been meaning to ask: given most people set strat pickups higher on the treble side, why do “five-two” style strat pickups put the stronger alnico 5 magnets under the bass strings?

[antigua]

Dec 18, 2023 23:12:26 GMT -5 foxmilder said:

This is a question I could have posted in various places, so it’s not exactly specific to this set, but I’ve been meaning to ask: given most people set strat pickups higher on the treble side, why do “five-two” style strat pickups put the stronger alnico 5 magnets under the bass strings?

According to their marketing, in order to soften the shrillness of the treble strings and increase the treble harmonics of the bass strings. IME most people set the pickups rather flat, Strats come that way from the factory most of the time. I think there's merit to it, the stronger magnetic pull induces more harmonics, and vice versa, in a way that's more interesting than what can be done with EQ alone. It's a pretty subtle difference though.