REVIEWED
Tonerider Alnico II Classics TONERIDER
Alnico II Classics
Inject your tone with some vintage style Va Va Voom courtesy of Tonerider Pickups…
Tonerider pickups are a UK-based pickup brand that offers a range of high-quality yet very competitively priced Far Eastern manufactured pickups for electric guitar and bass. The Tonerider range includes passive humbuckers that are available in several different output ratings and a choice of covered and open-coil finishes, plus P-90 single coils, P and J-bass style pickups and conventional single coils for Strats and Telecasters. Tonerider is keen to point out that all of its pickups are manufactured in-house at its own Chinese manufacturing plant using high quality traditional materials. These are definitely not your typical generic low cost outsourced humbuckers that are routinely lobbed onto the majority of budget priced electric guitars emanating from the Far East; Tonerider is deadly serious about its craft. Everything from materials to tooling is meticulously researched, including the
TONERIDER Alnico II Classics
Pair Individual
All prices include VAT CONT
ACT
Tonerider Ltd T:
W: 01303 773804
www.tonerider.com 36 3pickup
£78.95 £38.95
development of the company’s own automated winding machines that accurately simulate the random winding patterns found on original hand wound vintage guitar pickups. The Tonerider Alnico II Classics reviewed here are based on a classic PAF humbucker from the late 1950s. The attention to detail is very impressive, the build quality is flawless and its interesting to see that the nickel-silver base plate legs are slightly shorter than an original Gibson PAF, fitting easily into the shallower pickup cavity on a modern guitar such as an Ibanez or Musicman. The scatterwound coils on these zebra coil Alnico II Classic neck and bridge pickups is done by a machine to maintain consistency and accuracy whilst also capturing the unique tonal essence of the ‘random’ scatterwound process. Four- conductor wiring is standard, providing added versatility for those who like the option to tap the coils for brighter faux-single coil tones. The pickups are also wax-potted as an extra protection against microphonic feedback.
Sounds With a claimed DC Resistance of 7.5k (neck) and 8.2k (bridge) our review set of Alnico II Classics are carefully balanced whilst still presenting what is a fairly modest output. The modern trend towards face melting firepower has tended to overshadow how great lower output humbucking pickups can sound but consider Slash, who prefers lower output Alnico II pickups
Words: Tim Slater
for their more ‘open’ sound and yet his tone could hardly be described as weedy! So what difference does the choice of magnets have on a pickup’s tones? Alnico II magnets deliver marginally less output than Alnico V and some parties believe that Alnico II’s lower magnetic ‘pull’ on the guitar strings also helps the guitar to generate more natural resonance. Whatever role physics may play, the final proof is in the tone. We fitted the Toneriders into a cheap and cheerful Epiphone Les Paul Junior II that we bought off EBay for fifty quid for the sole purpose of testing pickups and other accessories! The Toneriders come kitted out with their own pickup adjustment screws, springs and wiring diagrams (which is based on DiMarzio’s standard colour scheme) and despite being a tight fit due to being fractionally wider than the Epiphone’s OEM pickups they still slipped fairly smoothly into the guitar’s pickup routes.
I’m not exactly what one would describe as a dab hand with a soldering iron but the Tonerider’s were soon installed and we were in business. Their lower output and sparkly lively deliver contrasts with the majority of modern humbuckers that seem to place such a heavy emphasis on sheer power. The Tonerider Alnico II ‘buckers still sound very solid yet also very ‘breathy’, with a clarity that at times borders on an almost single coil spank but with the superior smoothness and presence that humbuckers are renowned for.
If you are more used to the
darker tone of modern Alnico V humbuckers, the Alnico II’s might take a bit of getting used to, your amp sounds fractionally cleaner and less pushed at the front end and even with a fair old bit of gain dolloped into the mix the Tonerider Alnico II’s retain excellent definition. The low end feels tight and focused whilst the sweet treble register really sings once the pickups lock onto your amp’s sweet spot. HM players might do better to check out Tonerider’s high output (Alnico V) Generator set but for belting classic rock and vintage blues tones these Alnico II Classics seem to tick all of the right boxes. PM
SHOULD I BUY SOME?
If you are not a fan of humbucking pickups, maybe finding them a bit too dark and ‘flabby’ compared to their single coil counterparts then you might find that these Tonerider Alnico II’s are a lot more forgiving. They still pack a decent punch, make no mistake about that, but their colourful and dynamic performance sounds unique and very convincing. Also bear in mind that a pair of these still costs significantly under £100.00, and you have a very tempting alternative to spending big bucks to find the tones that you want.
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