The Best Telecaster Pickups I've Ever Tried - Tone Rider Review

[@domformula1]

I bought a strat a few years ago, that already had a set of Tone Rider City Limits in, absolutely terrific sounding pickups you’d be hard pressed to beat for twice the price

[@tuentc4817]

He puesto unas city limits tonerider a una strato japonesa del 88. Suenan tremendas . La del puente , con saturación , es un cañón

[@paulmitchell5349]

I put some Toneriders on a cheapo Vintage brand guitar. Wonderful .

[@michaelsingley5641]

I believe the Toneriders came in the earlier Squier Classic Vibe Telecasters. I have one from 2013 and it sounds great. The Butterscotch Blonde version with the Alnico 5 pups.

[@kanjinha]

Why did they change them? Do you know? Thanks

[@HmmInteresting478]

@@kanjinha guess tonerider realised they could do better going alone, doubt squier were paying them what they make selling private.

[@Aaabii]

I ordered a tonerider pure vintage set for my strat. And your demos really helped my decision. And an idea : you should do tonerider camparison series. Just like you did for harley benton.

[@julesdiakogiannis]

I used those in my hand made T type and sound really good. Excellent video sir.

[@Magik1369]

Yep...totally agree. Best tele pickups I have ever played are Tonerider and they came stock on my Squier Classic Vibe 50's Telecaster. My pickups have Alnico 3 magnets and they sound fantastic. I love the Tonerider AC4 Classics humbuckers also. All the Tonerider stuff is excellent and sounds just as good if not better than Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, etc.

[@hobiecat901]

Tonerider neck pup that I installed in my Tele has a Muddy sound so I shelved them, and went with a set of Planet Tone pickups.

[@andreapasillas5803]

I put a set of Tonerider Alnico II Blues pickups in my old American Standard Stratocaster and they sound great. Now I'm waiting for my Tonerider Vintage 90 P 90 pickups for my Fender Modern Player Thinline with P 90s. I can also see These Tondrider Alnico II Blues pickups for my Telecaster in the near future.

[@maxwellbowden9961]

Sounds awesome John . I am going to buys some of these Alnico 2 toneriders. I have a new Artist tele on preorder . Nice playing there too sir. I could tell you were digging it. Cheers

[@221b-l3t]

I'm blown away by the AC2 in my Flying V, I think my Tele wants sone TRs too.

[@JAL-b4n]

Recently had a set of Tonerider Vintage Plus tele pickups put in a budget T style guitar and they sound great! I have Tonerider pickups in a number of my guitars and have been very impressed with them. Definitely on par with Seymour Duncans and the like for about half the cost.

[@rob8482]

The sweet setup there, John. Sounds awesome!

[@michaelbelliveau8755]

Beauty...I am about to install a set of fender Tex Mex into a guitar kit which has el cheapos in it..also changing the machine heads to a set of Klusons..lve been told that I made the right choice...in pickups by a FEW people...can't wait..

[@richarddibb9381]

I have Tonerider pups in several of my guitars and they are great. No problems whatsoever.

[@StevieZero]

Have you tried the Wilkinson premium vintage tele pickups? Around the same price for a set & incredible...I've just put a 60s neck pup and a 50s bridge one on my guitar in place of the fender stock...

[@Laionel76]

That videos changed my view on the set based on your prior video. I really like the bridge, it moves the guitar (eventhough slightly) away from the usual twang into a more Les Pau / PAF territory : I could see Slash solo on that set. The neck is a too dark/woody for my taste though. Fender vintera '50s set (affordable too) neck p'ups uses alnico II but it seems more lively to me. The middle sounds good too in the videos I watched. The bridge is good too though a more traditional tele sound (to my novice tele player ears at least). If I can budget it and I deem my next guitar worth of it, I may consider an alnico II blues in the bridge and a hot classic in the neck. The vintera 50s and to a lesser extend 60s have ma attention too. If not, I'm looking into wilkinson nashville/ceramic for the bridge and alnico V for the neck (or a full alnico V set).

[@redelk2974]

Such a sweet solo. Delightful. Really. Thank you. Honestly the sound did not come through well for me, but the pickups seem pretty sweet.

[@dennisdewinter1997]

A great video demonstration of the pickups!

[@rootsrock2394]

Great demo mate. My set arrived in the post today, excited to get my old bits guitar together again! Butchered jobs before so I'm getting a local tech to do a rewire for me. Going for a treble bleed mod and a 4 way switch. Can't bloody wait!😊

[@catmandoodoo7903]

I love Tonerider pickups. They’re my go to brand these days.

[@davidrjbrown8808]

I bought a set for my no name wide neck (50mm nut!) tele, on the strength of this video. Excellent results.

[@paull8678]

I've got Toneriders in two of my strats and one of my LPs. They're fantastic pickups!

[@jimmyjames2022]

"This could easily be my main guitar... it isn't!" Good catch, Blondie might get jealous. Those Tone Riders sound awesome! I've been avoiding getting a Tele again but these demos remind me why I need one.

[@chrishowitt9654]

I chucked a set of Tonerider Generator pickups in an old Epiphone SG and man those things made that guitar sing. Another sold axe to make way for new gear.

[@VanjaSpirin]

Well, that is a great demo, superb playing. I specialy liked that "high gain" part, beacuse I was thinking: strat could never produce such a bold, juicy sound. Now, I am thinking about purchasing those pickups.

[@redelk2974]

wow John, really really sweet. very nice. have to think about a set, definitely re

[@mikehickey6256]

Nice demo, getting ready to buy new pickups. I think you've convinced me to get the tone riders. Thanks

[@martinlegg5808]

Got those on an old Fenix tele. The neck pu sound is really distinctive, great lead sound, sort of hollow lots of overtones, cant put into words really. Great pickups though.

[@wrentcht]

Great job AND great representation ! Cheers from USA brother ! 👊👍🤘

[@johnnybgoode1950]

In my experience, Toneriders are very responsive to just how you pick. Hit the string a little different and you will notice a real difference.

[@Adrian_V-s2y]

Well done, John. I certainly like these more than the hot Tele ones I bought from ToneRider. Maybe it's just me ears....

[@71bassg]

i bought a Farida tele which is made by the people who made the classic vibes squiers in china and make tonerider pickups,it was dirt cheap but it has the sound i owned a lite ash tele and a 1960s reissue mexican fender tele,the farida is my favourite i just put locking machineheads on it and its perfect for me.

[@davidmurphy4844]

I bought mine about ten years ago from Dawsons in Liverpool and it's one of my favourite guitars. £99 brand new with the lawsuit body, not the amended cutaway.

[@domformula1]

@@davidmurphy4844 Dawsons in Liverpool- a sad loss now to be sure!

[@canadianintheukbrian]

I have watched so many videos on budget guitars to me their pretty much projects, if you have a decent body, get a good set of pickups your off to the races, from listening to many reviews a good set of pickups is crucial to the guitar , this guitar sounds killer, those Toneriders pickups are brilliant

[@stephencowan139]

Tasty links John! Cheers Stephen

[@overcome8628]

They sound amazing, I am getting a pair!

[@rdrusty]

You've put me in quite a dilemma now! I was all set to buy the tonerider vintage plus set to put in my Mexican tele and then I happened across your video. Lovely tone and great playing. Now I need to decide!

[@kanjinha]

Which ones did you pick? Feedback? Thanks

[@rdrusty]

@@kanjinha VANSON 'Vintage 50' AlNiCo V Telecaster Pickups. Really happy with them and the price! Great vintage tones and loving the tele once again

[@kanjinha]

@@rdrusty will Google them. Thanks

[@timothy5974]

I enjoyed your solo very much. Great control, NICE vibrato and just perfect. I acquired a Harley Benton TE-30 and I’m quite impressed actually. I did fret ends and a high polish on the frets and I can’t believe how it feels. I have thought about Toneriders and I may do it. I’m also thinking new tuner and brass saddles. Thanx

[@jonthehermit8082]

I bought a p90 from them, very impressed. It was a bit cheaper than other options as well

[@michaelrandolph2493]

Great phrasing sir.

[@T1374]

I was thinking a Seymour Duncan set, but now this set is looking better considering the price.

[@ste5012]

Nice guitar John , And great playing

[@mikehurley5052]

Wow, you made that guitar a bit special, nice job. Excellent playing as always.

[@williamdon3442]

Got the hot classics. Absolutely love them.

[@Miss_Pixie]

Amazing play! Do they have a lot of hum? or just like normal tele pickups? Thanks

[@JRobsonGuitar]

They are no better or worse than regular tele pickups with regard to main hum.

[@zubeystinzen540]

I just love it when robbo let's it go,smokin👍

[@aahmed8239]

Hi John, love the channel. What pickups are best in your opinion, Vanson or Tonerider. Thanks 😊 🎸

[@JRobsonGuitar]

I'm a recent convert to Tone Riders 👍

[@mahsud196]

John, firstly I do value your opinions, however a question - money aside - how do these pickups compare to the Fender custom shop 51 Nocaster pickups

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Never played a guitar with those pickups in I'm afraid.

[@formattmusic1359]

Is that a roasted maple neck? I hear the type of neck you have change change the brightness of the guitar. I wonder what it would sound like with an Ebony or mahogany fretboard.

[@AdamHT]

Another great video, John, thanks! How do you think the Toneriders compare to the Vansons you used for your Glarry T-style upgrade?

[@robinbow7493]

I've heard tell that the Classic Vibe Teles were equipped with Toneriders.

[@Tsudkyk]

I’ve heard this too but could never verify.

[@tonystovell9688]

I’m going to get me some of those pickups wow sounds as sweet as the72 thin line wide range pickups. What do you think John?

[@jimjamarch]

On the brink of buying this set for bullet tele that my son bought me for my birthday. (Finally a reason to have kids!). Am between these and the iron gear ones. I think these will suit me better to get true tele tones and still feed the fuzz etc. are these still your preferred range? So many to choose from. And happy new year by the way.

[@jimjamarch]

I went for it in the end. Bought from the same shop as you too, so I made them aware of how I had seen their shop. Now installed and oh my god, what a difference. The neck on my bullet is pretty good, but the pickups were muddy at one end and shrill at the other. These new ones make for a fantastic playing experience, so thank you for the recommnedation John.

[@gittarpikk]

BTW.. which TR rele pickups did you use. I have a stock ash affinity tele like the pic you showed

[@deepsouthinception]

How much of a difference do the pots make? I have a Harley Benton tele that I added Tonerider Hot Classics to leaving the stock small pots in place, not much of a difference that the stock TBH.

[@JRobsonGuitar]

The difference upgrading the pots make, in my experience, is that you get a better taper on the volume less "crackle" 👍

[@calbrockocat8728]

The better the speaker, the better the amp. The better the amp, the better the pickups. The better the pickups, the better the guitar. Your speaker in your glorious Marshall starts this chain, which you've augmented with those tasty ToneRiders. It makes that Fazley- already good- into a Harley Benton Fusion Pro Series killer.

[@domformula1]

I have to say I owned the DSL1 combo and in my own personal experience it did my head in trying to get it to sound like I wanted - obviously a man of John’s skill and experience is able to get a lot more from it, I also couldn’t shift the thing for love nor money and ended up letting it go for less than half what I paid for it.

[@SelfSufficientZ]

Those sound great!

[@adamwatts4937]

Good playing

[@Baci302]

Thanks for the demo. I thought that you played with an excellent tone. My question is what amp, amp settings (gain?), and foot pedals (if any) you played through. Or was that just you plugged in directly into your amp with flat control settings?

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Straight into a Marshall DSL1 on the classic gain channel with the volume flat out. EQ controls pretty much at 12 o'clock 👍

[@gittarpikk]

So what would be wrong with using the SD pickups.. is it price or availability?

[@Larrymutz]

Awesome sound! Enjoyed the playing. What cap are you using?

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Not certain, mate. I'm using this prewired loom: www.axesrus.co.uk/TELEWIRING-p/arutelass.htm Thanks for the kind words 👍

[@aliengrey6052]

Could you tell me what the string sizes are on your Fazley tele? I have the tone riders ready to go in my cv tele. I believe my Indonesia cv is Alnico 111.

[@JRobsonGuitar]

I use 10-46 on that guitar 👍

[@johnmac8084]

Great sounding pups & great playing John. Fazley is looking like a Harley Benton killer right now!

[@Arcade1959]

Can these pickups be suitable for Jazz or is it better to choose the Tonerider Vintage Plus ?

[@JRobsonGuitar]

I'd go with these 👍

[@Arcade1959]

@@JRobsonGuitar Tonerider Vintage Plus ?

[@jimmy5634]

Bridge pup cranked sounds like a P90 a bit.

[@HektorBandimar]

It seems almost impossible to buy Tonerider pickups in the U.K. now.

[@LeeKirkman88]

How do you rate these against the Tone rider pure vintage plus ?

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Never tried those, mate 👍

[@mototakahe836]

Your Fazely or Jet JT350? Please?

[@JRobsonGuitar]

I have no experience of the Jet, sorry.

[@nancydavis6750]

Sounds good not to sure that it sounds like a Tele. Lacking that Twang.

[@jimmyjames2022]

Yah I was also thinking the Al2s tame the twang, but still sounds good. Tonerider has Al2, Al3 (!) and Al5 Tele sets so there's a tone for everyone.

[@markpurves8133]

I agree, a bit weak I thought.

[@Xcorgi]

Squier Classic Vibe used to put Tone Riders in all their Telecasters and Stratocasters back when they still made them in China. Ever since they switched manufacturing to Indonesia, and changed over to Fender (designed) Almico’s, they don’t sound nearly as good. But i have to agree. They are very inexpensive and sound better than anything Fender or any other company has produced at any price point. Also, ever since i started playing Telecasters, i have zero interest in Stratocasters.

[@aperezdeal]

They were made in the same factory but they were not actually tone riders and at present classic vibes still come out of both China and Indonesia. Being said the old no name pickups for the tele any way sounded much better.

[@baulder3055]

Beer is in the Fridge John. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock ...

[@daviddalziel884]

The Fazley sounds great with the mods . I’ve played both the Lite Ash Tele and the Lite Ash Strat which had the Duncan “ designed” pickups . The 60 cycle hum on the Strat was the worst ever but the Tele sounded great with no hum . I never bought the Tele as it needed a set up and not a big Tele fan I guess . Shame about the one that got away !! 😞

[@mrbesserwisser7447]

Yes Toneriders are good pups

[@markgordoncreamer7279]

Sounds like .009s maybe even .008s. I like .010s

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Thanks for telling us your preferred string gauge. Not entirely sure what that's got to do with a pickup review though. Also, there's numerous blind tests out there on YT where people are unable to hear the difference when being played recordings of different string gauges, so I'm not sure what is meant by "sounds like .009s"

[@johnnyrandom100]

Sounds very slick to me John. I have a little touch of jealousy.

[@markpurves8133]

Sorry to say, but the pups sound weak, is it the guitar? I don't know. I would rather go for bare Knuckle pick ups, that is what I have in my tele's, even in my '77, which I thought the original pups were too clean.

[@jonmatthews4254]

Are you being paid or receiving benefits in kind to do this promotional video?

[@PaulCooksStuff]

Explained at 0:30 and explained in pretty much every Fazely vid he's done. For those who weren't paying attention the guitars were on loan for review, to be returned on completion. No payment or benefit in kind in the arrangement. John liked this one, decided after the review to buy it, asked for a bill, they told him to keep it. From your tone you haven't watched this vid, or formed a judgement on his impartial integrity from countless other vids, so why are you even here?

[@jonmatthews4254]

@@PaulCooksStuff I have watched the video, there is no "tone" intended, it is a straight question, albeit not precise enough as I was wondering more about the ToneRider pickups, rather than FazlEy. Whether watch the channel is none of your concern, did you get out of bed the wrong side?

[@Glicksman1]

The best Tele pickups I ever heard are in my '52. All else is imitation.

[@kanjinha]

Can you share a video?

[@Glicksman1]

@@kanjinha I've been asked to supply photos before on YT. I'd' be glad to, but I'm not a computer tech guy, and I don't know how to upload photos to YT, or much of anything ese regarding computers and such. I just got my first IPhone (an Apple 13, I think) and I can only do he most basic things with it.

[@kanjinha]

@@Glicksman1 I think uploading a video or photos on KZbin should be straight forward. There are videos explaining how hehe never did that but should be a matter of 2 to 3 clicks if. If you decide otherwise thanks for the answer

[@Glicksman1]

@@kanjinha I may try it, or not. BTW, what's in it to you, haven't you seen a '52 Tele before? Why mine? Oh yeah, I get it. Maybe you don't think that I have one. Well, whether I do or not (and I do, as it happens, and it looks like all the others) you'll just have to stew in it, won't you.

[@kanjinha]

@@Glicksman1 what? are you ok mate? Again, I am a newbie, I dont even know how to play. But hearing your comment it seemed you were a very expert in this world and you were so confident in your play that I actually wanted to hear you play for your music. I care less if you have 1 or 1000 guitars etc. I'm chilled man, I am not here to doubt/bsh/waste my time with that non-sense. I was actually here for the music. Nevermind then. Just don't say you don't know how to upload a video as if you have youtube installed its ceratinly a 2 3 click job. Still, dont do anything you dont want to. All good things! Cheers

[@jcathell100]

John I’ve been a tele man my whole life I’ve decided I want to try a strat so I bought a cheap squire knowing I’m going to be building it into something great I’m finding it hard to find a hot pick ups for it what would recommend if u was building one

[@JRobsonGuitar]

Hot strat pickups? Try Artec blade style humbuckers 👍