tonezone: nice, but...

[orpheo]

its a tad too warm for my taste. Swapping mags is useless because the a5 is the one with least mids and most highs.

Cutting the polepieces, swapping to a ceramic, hex polepieces. Those are the ideas i came up with. Other suggestions?

[LonePhantom]

Try a capacitor inline with the hot wire and the pickup selector. Start with 0.047uf, work up to 0.01uf and see what makes you happiest. I've got sound samples of a number of TZ mods in my series called Taming the Tone Zone. Link to my blog below.

[crguti]

Try to air the Tone Zone, then it becomes an Air Zone which is less compressed, lower output and a bit less low end.

[dominus]

Keep it for a bright guitar.

I've had two guitars that only the Tone Zone could tame.

[ErikH]

Get the Air Zone. 'Nuff said.

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Get the Air Zone. 'Nuff said.

Exactly, my brother! I swear by that pickup...not AT it! LOL

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

I think the Air Zone Destroys the Tone Zone. To my ears, the TZ is pure sludge with a crappy dynamic range. If I had to use one, I'd wire it up in parallel. (Have ya tried that yet? Who knows, it might be cool!)

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Also, the Air Zone has SUPER LOW magnetic pull i.e. much better sustain.
PS: Bro, I got an Ibanez Artist that's BETTER than the black one I had.

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Try a capacitor inline with the hot wire and the pickup selector. Start with 0.047uf, work up to 0.01uf and see what makes you happiest. I've got sound samples of a number of TZ mods in my series called Taming the Tone Zone. Link to my blog below.

I'm intrigued by your articles on the TZ. I'll try your suggestions! Thanks much!

[ErikH]

Also, the Air Zone has SUPER LOW magnetic pull i.e. much better sustain.

I agree 100%.

PS: Bro, I got an Ibanez Artist that's BETTER than the black one I had.

Not possible.

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

I agree 100%.



No possible.

It truly IS possible...in fact, this guitar beats the old one hands down!
It's a '77 Ibanez Artist model 2618. Genuine Floyd was installed in 1985. Of course, I scored another vintage 80's Gibby Dirty Fingers to install in it. It has RIDICULOUS sustain! PM your email addy to me and I'll send you pics.

[Rand-O-Monium]

Somebody say pics?

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Somebody say pics?

I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO POST PICS HERE. :-(

[crguti]

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Not cool. Out of place in this forum.

[orpheo]

I believe I can only half air it because of those polepiece issue. Or slugs. Whatever. But it's a neat idea. I don't have a bright guitar to stick it into.

[GuitarStv]

I took the tone control out of the circuit for the Tone Zone . . . it brightens the pickup nicely.

[zenmindbeginner]

I believe I can only half air it because of those polepiece issue. Or slugs. Whatever. But it's a neat idea. I don't have a bright guitar to stick it into.

Absolutely, half air it and try to EQ out everything below 80Hz (if you have an EQ). The slugs DiMarzio uses for their air'd pups are tapered towards the bottom.

I'd just get a JB myself since the Tone Zone is like a sludgy JB with tons of extra low end.

[lazyfinger]

Exchange for a Norton. It has one Tone Zone coil and one from Fred.

[IanBallard]

Try to air the Tone Zone, then it becomes an Air Zone which is less compressed, lower output and a bit less low end.

One way or the other, without major mods, the TZ/AZ will be middy. I personally LOVE the Air Zone in my single-bucker Strat copy. Great, powerful leads and rhythm tones when YOU play aggressively, or a much more "PAF" like response when playing lightly.

The OP presents a very typical misconception of magnets. The magnet, itself, has no EQ, but it accentuates certain things related to the wind and the baseplate. Obviously the TZ is about as middy and warm as a pickup can get that still produces smooth, usable tones in non-metal situations and has an A5. A5 magnets are not "scooped", so much as they accentuate bass and treble response in typical PAF-style and symmetrically-wound humbuckers. Play a hybrid and the mids pop right out. The wind doesn't "add" mids, but the combination of those two coils (which, by themselves as matched humbuckers do tend to be "scooped" sounding) accentuate the mids that were already there and relaxes the bass and treble a bit. Same basic idea with the TZ only more extreme.

I'm almost certain the EVH would have loved the Air Zone, had it been available in the late 70's. In bright, ash guitars with maple boards, I can't imagine a better rock pickup.