Anyone tried tone zone in Alder?

[-Rhaab]

How does it sound. Is it more tighter and less dark than... basswood? I see everyone seems to love it in basswood, but also a lot of mixed responses. I do like the mids, but I think it could use a liiiiittle bit less bass.
what wood do you think tone zone is best in of mahogany/basswood/alder?

Right now i have mine in my rg570, and I was thinking of trying in my fender standard (maple fretboard), but i'd have to find some money and order a h-s-s pickguard. I mainly want use it for a metal sound.

[Scali]

I had an RG570CT (alder with maple top) with a ToneZone in the bridge.
I didn't like the ToneZone much, wasn't hot enough, and too dark/muddy sounding. The stock pickup was a V8, which I liked better.
I'd go for a brighter and tighter pickup with a bit more 'oomph' if you want to play metal. Especially in a Fender... I found my RG to be louder and more punchy than a strat, even acoustically. Could be the maple top.
I think Evolutions may be a good way to go. They are very tight.

[Big Red]

My $.02:

You might want to try a Super or a Super 3. I've had both in my alder Jackson at one point or another, and they were both muscular AND clear. It was unreal really. I'm surprised that more people don't match alder with a Super/3. I guess it isn't generally recognized as "shred" set-up though.



Cheers

[rty13ibz98]

i actually run tone zones in 2 alder guitars. i frankenstrat/charvel/kramer mutt and my kramer baretta. i have had duncan customs and jb's in them before(both guitars...decided which to keep in what), but got some tone zones in trades and both of them have tone zones in them now. i love them. the tone is huge. the alder wood makes them sound different than in my mahogany guitars i have with tone zones, but sound equally phenomenal. the highs are more prevalent in alder and helps boost the ones lost in the TZ, the tamer mids and lows of the alder even out the bigger mids and lows of the TZ. really balances out. almost like dropping a paf pro into a basswood axe. fairly neutral on the eq side. the output is great, tho. i am not a huge fan of super high output pickups, but like them hotter than stock(altough i love the super in basswood, more for its tone...less for its output). so the TZ is my favorite pickup by far. i think you will really like the TZ in alder, but in my opinion the duncan distortion is one of the best humbuckers in an alder guitars. big and mean, with very focused upper mids. really good rhythm tones, that don't muddy up and leads cut without shrill. smoking is alder. if you want a little more tame, i would go for the duncan custom. but to answer you inquiry, the tone zone does sound very pleasant in alder.


rich

[Big Red]

I just put one in my alder Jackson, the one that I had mentioned above, and wow...it is just amazing. Although it is not a powerful as the Super that I had in there at one point, it is a completely different tone...very American (for want of a better description). My only complaint is that when I run it through an Boss SD-1 or an BD-2, the Tone Zone gives it's charactoristic growl even when the gain is turned down. But for metal, without reaching up to a Super or an X2N, it is excellent. Cleans are OK, but when I split it with the PAF-Joe (thanks to the 5-way I put in) in the neck, it sounds much better.


I intially had reservations about buying this pickup due to the mixed reviews, but after reading the complaints about it in mahogany and basswood, I figured its got to sound good in at LEAST one tonewood. But, there is going to be one joker out there that will say that it's too dark in a pure maple guitar.

I wanted something hotter than the Mo' Joe that I had in there until today, without completely sacrificing versitility..I think I found that balance. Give it a shot!

Of course YMMV.


Cheers

[scanlan75018]

I got one in my RT150 (bridge position), which has an alder body !
The guitar is naturally very bright (too bright for me). The TZ corrects this for me, and gives a very balanced heavy rock sound in this guitar !
On this one it's mounted on a pickguard. I think it changes also a little something...

I also have a TZ in my RG1880 (Mahogany JC with direct mounted PU's)
The tone has lots of low mids, which gives a darker distorsion tone ! Very intersting too.

On my RT, the TZ is combinez with a Virtual Vintage 2.1 on middle position ! It gives an interesting pos 2.