The Fat 50s sound a little clearer, with slightly lower output. I've actually used both and like both a lot. I slightly preferred the Fat 50s, but the Toneriders were in my #1 guitar for years with no complaints.
Tonerider make great pickups across the board. I installed a pair of Tonerider Alnico II humbuckers in an LP guitar, they are fantastic lower output PAF type pups, and I absolutely love them! I am going to buy a set of these Vintage pups for one of my strats, based on your demo. They're Fender Custom Shop Fat 50 killers.
The Toneriders are enamel wire vs heavy formvar on the Fenders. So the Toneriders are late 60s fender design but with the other specs aiming for the eq of the 50s pickups. With the formvar having less overall reactance as the coating is thicker, they should have a slightly faster response as less energy is being temporarily stored as capacitance and inductance. And there will be subtle tonal difference too.
I recently did an A/B/C test with three strats, all with late 50s- style pickups in them, and I have to say that on the looper when I listened to the playback, it could have been one single guitar playing all three samples, they sounded so similar. All 3 were enamel-coated wire, Alnico 5, with enough turns for a late-50s sound (probably around 8,000 turns on the neck), and the makes were Tonerider (pure vintage), Entwistle AS57, and Alnicov (from amazon, very cheap pickup but with cloth wire and all vintage specs etc - except the wire which was enamel-coated). I think heavy Formvar wire is a bit different due to the thick coating and although you can adjust the number of windings (and thereby the total inductance) so that you get the same general EQ peak frequency that you would with enamel, other values necessarily end up different and there will be subtle tonal differences and response differences. Most of Fender's very expensive pickups are the ones that use Formvar and it would be interesting to identify brands that offer low-cost pickups which also use Formvar. It's more expensive wire but it still should be possible since it's the time rather than the parts you tend to pay for. There are a few sellers on AliExpress who offer them. But other than that difference (heavy Formvar vs non) I can't see anything which a 'high-end' pickup maker could add to their standard strat pickups (above a Tonerider formulation) that would justify a big price difference, if they are using enamel wire. And even then it's not a quality factor but just a sound/response preference.
I've had my Tonerider Pure Vintage for some years on my Japan strat. Recently I could compare it side by side with a Fender AV II with "Pure Vintage 57" pickups, both with new strings. IMHO the Toneriders sounded way better, they sound like a strat. In positions 2 and 4 they quack beautifully, the Fender pickups simply don't quack at all, they sound muddy.
These sound amazing for the price, for value for money I doubt you're gonna beat these. I'd be interested in how these fair against similar priced (or cheaper) Wilkinson pickups. These have a clarity to them the fat 50's don't seem to have, I guess due to the low end on the 50's.
Definitely not $150-$180 better. A bit different, but not even necessarily better. The toneriders proving to be a great value yet again. Now then, you need to stop this shite. You and your cursed videos on tonerider pickups have already caused me to buy 2 sets in the last 3 months. And it now looks like christmas is going to see another set for my strat. Lol Cheers and merry christmas.
j ai une squier CV 50 stratocaster , j y ais mis un vibrato vega trem , des mecaniques vintage autoblocante , une electronique mojotone USA , et il ne me reste plus qu a y mettre un ensemble de micros , car ceux que j ai dessus , et qui semblent etre des tonerider surfari non badgé , sonnent pas mal , mais trop carillonneux pour les positions 2 et 4 , le micro manche est mon prefferré , mais je voulais essayer qualque chose de plus qualitatif , et j etais pret a depenser beaucoup d argent ......quand je me suis dis , mais pourquoi ne pas regarder chez Tonerider , et a present j hesites entre les pure vintage ou les city limit , ou me faire un ensemble custom en prenant 3 micros , par exemple le micro bridge de l ensemble city limit et le milieu et manche de l ensemble pure vintage , ou alors le micros chevalet de l ensemble classic blues a la place du city limits ......ou carrement l ensemble city limits ......je suis perdu . quels ensemble avaient vous acheté et quel est votre prefferré ?
I own a Fender Road worn 60 , beautiful , 2 colors sunburst Strat, Brazilian Rosewood , no Pao Ferro, with Toneriders Pure Vintage pups and NYXL DÁddario 11 - 49 strings, Twin Reverb Amp, and I laugh when I see videos of Vintage Strats costing 50-60 thousands. Greetings from CHILE.
Reverse headstock on one vs conventional headstock makes for an unfair comparison. I have a couple of Tonerider sets and have been happy with them, P90's and humbucker's
Honestly I’m going to say the improvement of the fender pups is worth it for me - because I like the best of the best, and I can hear the low and high end clarity on the fender pups. The toneriders are great sounding don’t get me wrong, but the fenders have that sparkle of a really clear and frequency rich pickup. I think people get tied up with value and “what it’s worth” Like it’s not been long established that the diminishing return on investment has not been long established with guitars. Should you care about the difference? That’s up to you. If you want to write good music then no. You don’t even need a good tone for that. You certainly don’t need frequencies that nobody else will hear - half this comment section probably can’t hear what i can for three reasons: -slight deafness in upper registers is common and undiagnosed, alongside tinnitus which is common. -not listening through at least good quality headphones/audio processing- that really matters here! -i have 15 years of honing my blindfold skills and have had over 100 guitars come through. 25 in 2021 alone. So i can draw on this experience to recognise the difference i can hear and feel. To top that off youtube audio playback isn’t exceptional, so I’d wager the difference would be starker in real life. In the end of the day we KNOW it’s not worth the financial investment for 99% of players. It’s amusing if not slightly obnoxious that people are still being surprised or claiming that things are a waste of money when value is perspective based. If you can’t hear the difference then its okay, you may even prefer the toneriders.. But people basically ignore gear collecting and admiration as a hobby of it’s own. I value the highest quality, because guitar playing has and always will be my safe space and emotional outlet. Life sucks, and nothing can put a value on enjoying it if you have the means. I’ll step off me soap box now
There is no improvement with the Fender pickups. You're deceiving yourself. There are no differences in the materials or design, or manufacturing process that would cause the Fenders to be higher quality. You're just being deceived by the price.
Very interesting. Fender tone is well developed and full while the condtender is close overall it is still not a pro studio level. But that is just my snobish opinion lol
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The Fat 50s sound a little clearer, with slightly lower output. I've actually used both and like both a lot. I slightly preferred the Fat 50s, but the Toneriders were in my #1 guitar for years with no complaints.
To me they are so close it's silly, but the Fat 50s has a bit more low end and the Tonerider seems to have a bit more output
Both bloody good! Ok you could probably match them via changing height of the pickup themselves
Tonerider make great pickups across the board.
I installed a pair of Tonerider Alnico II humbuckers in an LP guitar, they are fantastic lower output PAF type pups, and I absolutely love them! I am going to buy a set of these Vintage pups for one of my strats, based on your demo. They're Fender Custom Shop Fat 50 killers.
The Toneriders are enamel wire vs heavy formvar on the Fenders. So the Toneriders are late 60s fender design but with the other specs aiming for the eq of the 50s pickups. With the formvar having less overall reactance as the coating is thicker, they should have a slightly faster response as less energy is being temporarily stored as capacitance and inductance. And there will be subtle tonal difference too.
Both sound amazing, the Fender pickups sound a little brighter but there is not alot in it!!
I recently did an A/B/C test with three strats, all with late 50s- style pickups in them, and I have to say that on the looper when I listened to the playback, it could have been one single guitar playing all three samples, they sounded so similar. All 3 were enamel-coated wire, Alnico 5, with enough turns for a late-50s sound (probably around 8,000 turns on the neck), and the makes were Tonerider (pure vintage), Entwistle AS57, and Alnicov (from amazon, very cheap pickup but with cloth wire and all vintage specs etc - except the wire which was enamel-coated). I think heavy Formvar wire is a bit different due to the thick coating and although you can adjust the number of windings (and thereby the total inductance) so that you get the same general EQ peak frequency that you would with enamel, other values necessarily end up different and there will be subtle tonal differences and response differences. Most of Fender's very expensive pickups are the ones that use Formvar and it would be interesting to identify brands that offer low-cost pickups which also use Formvar. It's more expensive wire but it still should be possible since it's the time rather than the parts you tend to pay for. There are a few sellers on AliExpress who offer them. But other than that difference (heavy Formvar vs non) I can't see anything which a 'high-end' pickup maker could add to their standard strat pickups (above a Tonerider formulation) that would justify a big price difference, if they are using enamel wire. And even then it's not a quality factor but just a sound/response preference.
I've had my Tonerider Pure Vintage for some years on my Japan strat. Recently I could compare it side by side with a Fender AV II with "Pure Vintage 57" pickups, both with new strings. IMHO the Toneriders sounded way better, they sound like a strat. In positions 2 and 4 they quack beautifully, the Fender pickups simply don't quack at all, they sound muddy.
Very little difference the Fenders do sound to be smoother and a trade deeper! But very close
How did you manage to deal with the hum? They sound dead quiet even though they're not supposed to
These sound amazing for the price, for value for money I doubt you're gonna beat these. I'd be interested in how these fair against similar priced (or cheaper) Wilkinson pickups. These have a clarity to them the fat 50's don't seem to have, I guess due to the low end on the 50's.
Fat 50s sound great on that HB 62, not 3 times more....
The difference is very small to me. I'm not sure if I like the fenders better, and I certainly couldn't justify the price difference.
The Toneriders are brighter. The fat 50s are a bit round for my tastes.
The only difference is the tone of the guitar. Both sets sound great!
Definitely not $150-$180 better. A bit different, but not even necessarily better. The toneriders proving to be a great value yet again. Now then, you need to stop this shite. You and your cursed videos on tonerider pickups have already caused me to buy 2 sets in the last 3 months. And it now looks like christmas is going to see another set for my strat. Lol
Cheers and merry christmas.
j ai une squier CV 50 stratocaster , j y ais mis un vibrato vega trem , des mecaniques vintage autoblocante , une electronique mojotone USA , et il ne me reste plus qu a y mettre un ensemble de micros , car ceux que j ai dessus , et qui semblent etre des tonerider surfari non badgé , sonnent pas mal , mais trop carillonneux pour les positions 2 et 4 , le micro manche est mon prefferré , mais je voulais essayer qualque chose de plus qualitatif , et j etais pret a depenser beaucoup d argent ......quand je me suis dis , mais pourquoi ne pas regarder chez Tonerider , et a present j hesites entre les pure vintage ou les city limit , ou me faire un ensemble custom en prenant 3 micros , par exemple le micro bridge de l ensemble city limit et le milieu et manche de l ensemble pure vintage , ou alors le micros chevalet de l ensemble classic blues a la place du city limits ......ou carrement l ensemble city limits ......je suis perdu . quels ensemble avaient vous acheté et quel est votre prefferré ?
seymour does reverse in middle ,all do ,only the hindrix s d is nonreverse.
I own a Fender Road worn 60 , beautiful , 2 colors sunburst Strat, Brazilian Rosewood , no Pao Ferro, with Toneriders Pure Vintage pups and NYXL DÁddario 11 - 49 strings, Twin Reverb Amp, and I laugh when I see videos of Vintage Strats costing 50-60 thousands. Greetings from CHILE.
Fat 50s are vastly superior. Not near as pokey as tone rider. They are perfect
Reverse headstock on one vs conventional headstock makes for an unfair comparison. I have a couple of Tonerider sets and have been happy with them, P90's and humbucker's
Honestly I’m going to say the improvement of the fender pups is worth it for me - because I like the best of the best, and I can hear the low and high end clarity on the fender pups.
The toneriders are great sounding don’t get me wrong, but the fenders have that sparkle of a really clear and frequency rich pickup.
I think people get tied up with value and “what it’s worth”
Like it’s not been long established that the diminishing return on investment has not been long established with guitars.
Should you care about the difference? That’s up to you. If you want to write good music then no.
You don’t even need a good tone for that. You certainly don’t need frequencies that nobody else will hear - half this comment section probably can’t hear what i can for three reasons:
-slight deafness in upper registers is common and undiagnosed, alongside tinnitus which is common.
-not listening through at least good quality headphones/audio processing- that really matters here!
-i have 15 years of honing my blindfold skills and have had over 100 guitars come through. 25 in 2021 alone. So i can draw on this experience to recognise the difference i can hear and feel.
To top that off youtube audio playback isn’t exceptional, so I’d wager the difference would be starker in real life.
In the end of the day we KNOW it’s not worth the financial investment for 99% of players. It’s amusing if not slightly obnoxious that people are still being surprised or claiming that things are a waste of money when value is perspective based. If you can’t hear the difference then its okay, you may even prefer the toneriders..
But people basically ignore gear collecting and admiration as a hobby of it’s own. I value the highest quality, because guitar playing has and always will be my safe space and emotional outlet.
Life sucks, and nothing can put a value on enjoying it if you have the means.
I’ll step off me soap box now
Yes, please do.
@@jonda2282 👏👏👏
There is no improvement with the Fender pickups. You're deceiving yourself. There are no differences in the materials or design, or manufacturing process that would cause the Fenders to be higher quality. You're just being deceived by the price.
Very interesting. Fender tone is well developed and full while the condtender is close overall it is still not a pro studio level. But that is just my snobish opinion lol
Sound very very close