Tonerider Pure Vintage

3 single coils, wax potted, vintage cloth wire

I have a 1962 Strat (real '62) that's getting too valuable to gig with.
I picked up a used Mexican Strat ($100 on craigslist) to customize.
Had the frets leveled and re-crowned, cleaned up the finish, got a new pickguard, switches, pots, wiring and the Tonerider Pure Vintage pups.

On my '62 I usually only use positions 2 & 4 for that pure, quiet, clean & glassy strat sound with that Fender quack when you dig in.
I love it. It's my sound. Around the house and for recording I use a Fender Super Champ XD, great little amp.
After reading Tonerider reviews here I had to try them.
At first I thought: "A little harsh" but the pickups were high.
So I lowered them all the way down and started bringing them up
bit by bit until I found that sweet spot. Bingo.
And the tone knobs actually work! (on the '62 they're always full up)
No ice pick highs even on the bridge. I can dial in all sorts of tone
Neck and Mid settings are pure Fender, full rich and chiming.
A bit noisier than 2 & 4, but I have yet to shield the body cavity (next string change).

I spent weeks researching pickups, the Lindy Fralins sounded great,
but my budget did not allow it. The Toneriders exceeded my expectations.
I've been playing since the 60's. I have Strats, a Les Paul, '66 Epi hollowbody, a Schecter, '70 Martin D-18, Yamaha 12 string, a Harmony set up for slide w/ a vintage DeArmond pickup, etc, etc.
Now I want to customize more craigslist finds and try the other
Tonerider pups. (Don't tell my wife)

"Clear bright and warm, Tonerider Pure Vintage scatterwound single coils offer a classic, vintage-infused tone. Made with aged Alnico III and V magnets" - That's what it says on the pack!

Specs are stamped on the Pups which (I think) are: Neck 5.6, 5.8 Mid and 6.2k Bridge (but I forgot to note them down and I'm not taking the s/plate off again to check!)

I've installed the pups on a 1989 Squier Strat which I've owned from new. The originals were "nice" enough, and I've managed for 20 years with them, but I always felt they were a one-trick-pony - there was very little variation in tone and they lacked the warmth that you associate with vintage Strats.

After a frustrating evening of struggling to keep the guitar in tune, I decided it was time for some upgrades, so invested in some new locking tuners and, while I was at it (as you do), some new pups!

Output is slightly (but not greatly) higher than the originals. It is, however, perfectly adequate for my use (mainly studio recording). I mostly record through a pre-amp to computer modeling software, but also use a baby Vox (Pathfinder) and Line 6 Spider.

I play a mix of stuff, from funk to rock, and use a combination of settings. Much of my stuff is clean with chorus or flange, but I also like to get the overdrive out!

Regardless of style, the tone of these babies is nothing short of fantastic! I think Bloozer (who reviewed these 18 months ago) summed them up perfectly - "The clean tones are beautiful. I can get lost in the clean tones for hours. I can honestly state I have yet to hear a better clean tone from any strat pickups I've used".

I agree 100%!!!

Would I buy again - definitely! These pups were only ??60 - they sound as though they could have been so much more!

How long playing - 10 years on and off (but have been a semi-pro violinist and bassist for 20 years, so I know "good tone").

What do I love? - the variety of tones. Each setting on my Strat (5-way switch) sounds very different and very cool. Watch your amp settings when using the bridge pickup though - the frequencies really cut through (but in a good way).

Did I compare ith other products? - I've played dozens of Strats over the years and no other pups have impressed me this much. Bought them on the strength of reviews on this site, so thanks everyone.....they were as good as you said they were!

Rating - anything less than 10 would be churlish. These pups are sooo good for the money. i'd highly recommend them.

single coil,3 pickup matched set,passive.

'97 mij strat,well gigged(before I bought it)but sweet(my reason for buying it)I found whilst playing it unplugged that it sounded even sweeter acoustically than plugged in,this got me thinking that maybe the good sound was in spite of,rather than because of the stock pups.looking around for pups to test my theory without risking to much cash I decided on tonerider vintage,and what a difference!these pups have released all the subtle tonal interplay of the guitars natural resonance.absolutely superb.

sound level about the same as the standards,laney la15,blackstar. ht dual pedal.

if it was stolen I would definately buy it again.

By now you have probably have seen the specs. Single coil with a mix of Alinco 5 and 3's from what I gather. Scattered wound and uses vintage cloth wiring.

Replaced the pups in my Strat Highway One, all three of them.
The stock pups were Fender 'Hot Alinco 3's", really very nice sounding units, they are Fender's most overlooked and underated.
I wanted that "vintage sound" you know all the buzz words, glassy, bell-like, shimmering old school Fender style. I am old school, I learned to play back in the late 60's, I know exactly what I want.

The output is slightly lower than the stockers, but not by much.
I use a Fender Super Champ XD for practice, and a Super Reverb to play on stage.
Very well balanced set, but lets get to the point, these
pups gave me everything I was looking for and then some. I play mostly Blues and Gospel and these are perfect. They sound so good clean that I go into a trance and dont even think about using my pedals, however they respond to high gain and distortion if you want to go there, but it's almost sacriligous to play them "unclean" Their is the most complex richly textured pup's I have ever heard.

If these were stolen I would order more in a heartbeat and get a pitbull and train him to kill any unauthorized humans trying to touch them.
I have been playing off and on for 40 years. I have 3 Strats, one has Tonerider's "City Limits" which are also on the same level, and worth a seperate review. I'm going to get the "Classic Blues" next. It's Tonerider for life now. I read all the reviews and was very skeptical. I read John McLaughlin's review on the TR web page and it sounded to good to be true. But it is true, its the price that's unbelievable.

Passive single coils. Vintage specs.

I installed those pups on ma great Fender MIJ 57 reissue. I replaced Fender Vintage Usa set. It was quite good, but Toneriders are significantly better. I tried to find some really top class strat sound.

Output of those pups is typical vintage Strat output, but their main force is extremely clear, warm and complex sound. Neck and middle pickups are Alnico III, and bridge is Alnico V. Perfect match, used by Eric Johnson. I play mostly metal, and i own several great guitars, all of them carefully modded. I have Holly Grall mod on this guitar, which switches pickups in serial mode, so they can, besides clean vintage sound, when they are in serial, sound like good humbuckers. So, those pups and this mod make Strat the most versatile guitar of them all. I had SD SSH-3, and tryed how does it fit with tonerider pickup. No match. Toneriders (they are scatterwound) have much more noble and compex sound than Duncans. and they are more than twice cheaper.

I play music about 30 years, and my main drug is modding. Those are the best single coils i have heard. Now, I am curious how good are their humbuckers. They are better than big names and boutique overpriced pups. I thought that GFS has the best price/quality ratio, but toneriders (singlecoils) are better. GFS humbuckers are really great.

Calibrated set of Pure Vintage for Fender Stratocaster,Left Handed staggered pole.

Believe it or these are in my original lefty 60 Stratocaster, which is a awesome sounding Fender to begin with, it's all original, but not anymore. Put there entire set in the guitar.

I'm just going to make this simple and sweet, These are without a doubt the most musical Stratocaster pickups I have ever used, simply magic. I use all tube amps under 25 watts 1-12 , 2-12. Just because a guitar is old does not mean it's going to be the holy grail in tone, I've had many that never lasted more than a week and they were off to someone elses house. This set has floored me. There is no reason what so ever to look or buy from the others. Along with the Telecaster Hot Classics that has the same effect on me. The price is real world , the materials, quality, does not get any better. They come with the real good pickup covers, the correct mounting screws and even the correct color surgical tubing. Cost $99.99 that included postage. All I can say is thanks Tonerider for bringing these to market. I buy these even if they were made on Saturn. The product name surely speaks the truth here, I can see why it's the first part of the name and in this case it's true. All you other $200 and more guys I'd be very nervous in the next few years cause your prices don't back up you tone. Awesome pickups Tonerider !!!!

I'm stocked up on a few sets of these. Been playing for over 25 yrs and never heard a more musical set of Stratocaster pickups. Hidden magic in these. Like I said , no need to even look or buy any other make, I read so many great reviews on these and talked to others that are using them, so I had to try them, I think you should also. They have made my Fender guitars a go to guitar now for everything, which for me is very scarey.

Left Handed Pure Vintage Single coil Strat set Neck 5.7k mid 6.1 bridge 6.4

Fender Hendrix Tribute Strat 1997 USA (left handed) Fitted in all positions replacing Fender Custom shop 69s, reason for change "no way these ??45 pickups will be any good".....lol

output is about the same as stock Fender 69s ,in to verious amps.I play blues/mellow rock ....In 20 years I have had many of the best pickups ever made,in the last 3 years I have had Fender,Fralin,Bareknuckle,Duncan Antiquitys,wizard,Van Zanbt...and all vintage output,...these pickups are truly unmatched in any department,..if you had a tone in your head of a vintage 50s Strat,these are the best things on earth,loads of position 2/4 quack and the neck pickup to die for pure "woody tone"

For ??50 UK pounds...steal of the year!!.... all you jumping on the bandwagon ??150-200 pickups can ram it right up your rusty sheriffs badge!!

Single Coil,Passive,- Calibrated for Neck, Middle and Bridge.

Specs Neck 5.8k, Middle 6.2k, Bridge 6.4k.

Installed in a Tokai Silver Series Strat. All Positions. Replacing the stock Tokais which were pretty good sounding until the gain went in, then they howled like a wolf. Could have got them wax potted but seen these, read reviews and took a chance....

Output is typical vintage strat, not hot or muddy but nice, clear with all the chimes, bass etc in the right places. Not as piercing as some strat pickups I have tried.
I am using these through a Flextone 3 XL with 4x12 extension cab and yes you can believe all the other reviews, these can rock with the best of them plus the clean tones are sublime. All the sounds are there. Will fade into harmonic feedback at the drop of a hat.... very desirable. Lovely strat tones in all positions definitely up there with the Fender custom shop 69's I have in another Strat, only way less than half the price ....a bargain.

If they were stolen yep I would buy another set, in fact, I am going to order another set for another Fender Strat I have.
I have been playing for approx 23/24 years on and off, more seriously for the last 8 years, so I reckon I have a fair idea of sound.
Gear includes 3 x Fender Strats, 1 x Tokai Silver Series Strat and 1 x Washburn A20v Stage Series Guitar.
My amp is a Flextone 3 XL with 4 x 12 ext cab. and FBV Shortboard. This setup will get you through any gig.

I was going to buy another Fender Custom Shop '69' set but came across these completely by accident and decided after much deliberation to take a chance .....not half glad I did.
A full set of scatterwound, wax potted, with alnico 5 and 3 magnets, vintage spec wiring and taped as well to protect the coils for ??50 seemed too good to be true and to be honest I was expecting some trade off, but as yet can't find a single bad thing to say.

If you are a guitar snob then the fact that these are made in China will probably put you off ...well, more fool you. To everyone else take a chance, you will be surprised.

Single coil passive. They spec out at 5.6, 5.9, 6.1. The spacing is slightly different than stock pickups because my covers off the Squier pickups do not quite work. I have been assured there is a reason for the slighty altered spacing.

I put these into a left-handed Fender of Japan 50's Re-Issue. Why they go through all the trouble of building a beautiful body and neck with a perfect finish only to dump in a set of crappy pickups and pots is just beyond me but there you have it! I pulled out the glued on magnet set because the stock ones were just so devoid of any tone whatsoever! I installed some Texas Specials but they were too overbearing for my liking...but a very good SRV/Hendrix pickup. Instead of trying out everything under the sun I decided I would give these a try. Boy was I shocked! I didnt expect a great deal of difference since they were inexpensive compared to Duncans and the likes. Goes to show you that more money doesnt always equate better sound and vice versa. You just cannot buy a better quality and sounding pickup for the price you pay for these. Gotta a crappy Jap, Korean or Mexi strat...well heres your prescription to total tonalgasm! Get you some of these before they decide to charge more! You wont be sorry.

These have more volume than the stock junk but more importantly they are so "musical" to the ear. This beautiful piece of wood now sounds just as good as it looks! I am running my Strat through an Ibanez delay and an old Dallas Arbiter Fuzz box into a 66 Deluxe Reverb. These are not for SRV/Hendrix type drive but having said that I can attain a very close facsimile with just a little tweaking of my fuzz box. The tone is much closer to Knofler/Cray/Johnson than anything else. Even with the guitar volume wide open the tone is just so awesome with clarity to boot! All 5 positions are fully usable with the 2-4 having tremendous quack appeal and the bridge actually having tone! Even though I reside in the blues neighborhood 80% of the time I feel good about doing other stuff with this guitar. I have a hard time not smiling when I play this baby now. Right amount of bass, treble and no mud whatsoever. I play this guitar more often than I play my 75 Fender hardtail....thats how good these pickups sound!

I have been playing guitar for ought near 30 years and though I was never into chasing tone by trying every pickup under the sun, my FOJ sounded so dead I had to try something and I am happy I wasnt chasing tone forever! I have a 75 hardtail, a 77 hardtail and a 97 G&L George Fullerton Signature Legacy and this Jap strat now can give any of my MIA's a serious run for the money! After six months of using these pickups they still excite me! Buy you some of these!

single coil

Fender american series stratocaster - replaced the stock pickups - i changed the pickup as I was looking for a richer sound, hopefully something to inspire me to play the strat more often.

Sound is truely full of tone (as the name suggests) - a clear rich sound that is more responsive to the fingers - pull offs and hammers are very clear. I like to play blues but also jazzy type chordal progressions - the tonerider fits the bill really well. The other benefit is that the typical strat 'hum' is reduced and I can play in all 5 pickup positions now and get a great sound. I'm using a fender blues junior as an amp as well as a roland mini-cube for practising.

I'm not a pup dog who switches from pick-up to pick-up - but I did spend alot of time playing various strat's in guitar shops with noiseless pups, texas specials, lace sensors etc. While they sounded o.k. i never walked out thinking I had found the right sound for me. I took a gamble and bought the tonerider vintage pickups online and I must say they fit my style to a tee and I'm a contented man now as I reckon I've found 'that' sound for me. Oh and the other thing - they are alot cheaper that the others.

These pickups are outstanding. No other way to put it. I'm old. I've played guitar for nearly 40 years. I have some cool old guitars and some not so cool guitars.

One of my favorites is an old partscaster strat. In the past 27 years, I've tried perhaps ten to twelve different sets of pickups. From botique custom handwounds to off the shelf, music store offerings. Most of them were very good.

One I wired up a Pure Vintage set though, I was home. They sound like they were custom voiced for this guitar. For $100, it's an amazing bargain. Why these are not more popular is way beyond me.

Seriously, if you are looking for a 'vintage' style set of strat pickups, look no further. I'm sure the website can give you all the details on magnets, output, materials, etc. What I'm concerned about is tone and feel. These pickups seem to have that elusive 'it' factor.

The clean tones are beautiful. I can get lost in the clean tones for hours. I can honestly state I have yet to hear a better clean tone from any strat pickups I've used. They shine with a tube screamer type overdrive also. Wonderful pickups for blues.

For my needs, they get a big fat 10. They are really everything I want in a strat pickup. The fact they are inexpensive makes it all the better!

Yes, I would purchase them again. I've been singing their praises to anyone who will listen.

As others have stated, tone is a very subjective matter. I've been happy with expensive pickups and I've been happy with lower cost pickups. But never have I been so darn pleased with the price vs performance ratio the Tonerider pickups offer.

If you're in the market for a vintage style strat set, look no further! You can thank me later.

Single coils set
5.6, 5.8 and 6.2k

60th Anniversary USA Strat in all positions.
Replacing the original Vintage 57's.
Originals were nice and vintage sounding but a bit thinner than Id like and not a great deal of definition between notes, particularly when playing rhythm and quite noisy.

Output level seems a little higher than the originals. My setup is usually Keely DS1, 81 TS9, Keely Rat into either a 69 Fender Bandmaster Revrb, JTM45 or Egmater TOL50 depending on my mood always running through 2x12 cabs loaded with Celestion G12H's. The tone of these is so much warmer and articulate than the originals with much greater string and note definition. Sounds great through all r of my rigs. Another thing is they are MUCH quieter than the stockers. Not quite as much quack in position 2 & 4 on the strat but Im not sure if the middle coil is reverse wound or not, so maybe that why.

Overall, Im impressed and a great improvement over stock, so far, after trying so many pickups, these are definately up there with the best. These are a bargain, they are quality pickups and regardless of price they are a great investment if your priority is to sound goooooood (and isnt that the point) and not concerned about brand name. Grab them before the masses discover how good these are and the prices go up.
I dont care where something is made as long as its quality, everywhere makes crap and everywhere makes first class stuff as well, you just have to find the good stuff and these definately rate very highly and as good as any. Looking forward to trying some of theyre buckers next :-)

Single coil strat pickups with output from 6.2k to 6.4k Alnico 3 and 5 magnets

Fitted to Fender Robert Cray Stratocaster in all positions. Replacing original Fender RC pickups. No idea who is using these pickups. Installed them as the Mexican RC's were too hot for my taste. All mid tone

The output of these pickups is vintage strat. I use a Keeley Compressor, Hermida Zendrive, through a Musicman 65 2X10 combo. I have used every pickup out there, Kinman, Fralin, Lollar, Fender, Di Marzio, SD. I even had a set of the Fender Limited edition Custom Shop Abigail Ybarra pups (which now command ??300 to ??400 if you can find them. Some of these pickups sounded good, but none nailed the sweet, plummy, chimey vintage tone for me. Then along come these Chinese made pickups, manufactured with what looks like the finest materials, but at less than half the cost of the leading boutique makers and they absolutely blew me away. These pickups HAVE vintage tone, I kid you not. They are warm, sweet, chimey. My searchi is over. I am not going to wax lyrical and go over the top like many reviews. I just want to say, that right here is the classic vintage fender tone that we all wish to replicate.

I would buy these pickups again in a heartbeat. I just wish I had other strats to try their other models. I have been playing 25 years now and paid high premium for looking for the best strat pickups, and I eventually find them and they are the lowest cost ones I have ever bought.

I put these in a beautiful 1978 Tokai strat. I've been through a buttload of pickups in this baby in the last 25 years or so but I do believe my search has ended with the Tonerider Pure Vintage set.

The tone is very well balanced. Lush, chimey, fat, glassy....whatever hip words used to describe killer tone apply to these pickups. Very sensitive to height adjustments. A few turns of the screws and you cna fine tune them to your needs.

What really sold me on these pickups though is how well they respond to my touch. Amazing. Played clean through a Fender tube amp, they do the classic strat thing very well. What has really pleased me though is doing the 'on the edge' blues things with the amp cranked and a low gain overdrive/boost. Just killer.

I play quite a few styles of music, but everything I play comes from a blues base. It's just who I am. The tones I dig range from Ronnie Earl to Robert Cray to finger style Knopfler to the more singing, high gain Eric Johnson stuff. Again, the Tonerider pickups excel with each style I've tried.

I did some recording with a good friend recently and the studio owner was knocked out at the tones. I passed it around to several other players to get there take and so far, everyone has been very impressed with the tone and feel.

I usually stick to the neck, neck/bridge, neck/middle combos. Using the middle pickup alone has really been a revelation for me. I've never really found a useable tone from the middle pickup. I must be alone in this since many other strat players I've spoken with love using the middle position alone, but again, this is really the first set I've used where I actually like the tone of the middle pickup alone.

The notch positions are just beautiful. Everything I want to hear. Classic. The neck pickups alone excels for Mayfield like 6ths and double stops. Reggie Young all the way!

The bridge pickup is also very good with little of the icepick treble I've found in others.

I would highly recommend these pickups. The other reveiws have nailed things fairly well. Not much I can add without being redundant. There is really no BS or downside I can find. Superior quality pickups. I'm sold.

These are the Single coil Strat upgrade pickups.
TRS1- Pure Vintage set.
5.75k neck, 6.1k mid, 6.4k bridge (tested)
They look fantastic!! The build quality and packaging is amazing.
Covers are perfect, vintage cloth wiring, and labelling on the back is beautiful. The bevelle pickup poles are just as smooth as!!

I installed these in a US made 50th Anniversary Strat.
All three pickups went in, replacing the Fender Custom 54's that it came with.
I don't know of anyone using this pickup besides me, and to be honest I don't know why not. Once wor gets out, these will go up in price.
The Fender pickups are very thin and unuseable in the bridge. The price was so good I thought I can't lose.

These sound fantastic - A rich clear chimey tone, without the harshness of the fender pickups. The bridge pickup has a much more useable, full sound.
I use this through A Vox AC30TBX (Clean) and also through the Behringer Vamp2. But since getting these pickups, I prefer the tone straight out of the guitar and amp.
I play all styles of music an these are very versatile. I'm going to get a few of their other sets and experiment a bit more. The price is so good, I can afford the lot. I find I am now using all 5 positions on my strat.

I have been playing for over 20 years (strats, teles, rics, gretsch) and have to say I will be using more of these.
I'm curious about some of the custom stuff. I wonder if I can get lipstick covers for strat pickups etc?
I think SD,Dimarzio, EMG etc now have sum serious competion at a fraction of the price!!

Pickup features: Single Coil Set
Impedence or other specs: 5.67K, 5.79K, 5.59K (written on the back)

Model of guitar or bass:
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock Mex Fender Pickups - Not bad, but not good
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup: Not sure
You musical style(s): Rock, blues, anything goes
Reason for pickup change: The Mexican pickups were pretty flat and just didn't have any top end chime - I was lusting after some high-end strats (we get a lot over here at Tom Lee Music), and wanted to get closer to that tone from my Mex.

Perceived output level: Suprisingly full for a "vintage" set
Tone: Bright, shiny, rich, full
Sonic evaluation: Nothing too fancy, I use a Roland Cube 30 - which is easily enough to wake up the neighbours. A JCM in our band practice room is where I really gave this pickups a good test though. I just bought a Big Muff as well, and gave that a good stomping on.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great match for anything strat related!

Comments: In Hong Kong we get all kinds of nice guitars - Fender's, G&L's, Gibsons, you name it, but pickups are pretty thin on the ground, only the standard Duncan, Dimarzio and EMG triumvirate are available. I heard about Tonerider pickups from the guy who runs a local studio and rehearsal room, and thought I'd give them a try. Andrew send me a couple of mp3s of the Pure Vintage set, and they sounded like exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a strat that can sound great with just a little distortion on them.
Deliver was quick, and installation trouble free. Very nice vintage wire was used and each pickup was individually marked with the position and the resistance of each pickup. Overall these must be the "cleanest" set of pickups I have ever seen. Hardly a trace of wax potting and very shiny solder joints, even the magnets are shiny and bright with no trace of pockmarking.
And the tone? Well, just awesome. Can something be too stratty? Amazing chime, great string balance and amazing playability in all five positions. I put the bridge up pretty high with the Roland, but soon dropped it down with the trusty swiss army knife when I started with the Marshall. I have now decided to keep the Mex as it is, althouth they have Japanese-made Titanium saddles in stock in a local store, and they might just complete the job.
In short, an amazing find - Hong Kong gets all the great import stuff of course, but to find something locally made than can perform this well, and at this price, is pretty wild really.