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Post subject: Fender pickups vs Tonerider pickups
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:17 am
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Hi,

I'm modding my Squier Bullet Stratocaster, it's a gift, so I'm getting all the best ou of this guitar, and replacing tuners, trem and pickups.

I want to give the Bullet ringing 'surf' tone, and I'm chosing between Alnico 3 Pure Vintage Fender 56 set (http://www.fender.com/parts/pickups-pre ... er&start=1) and Alnico 3 Tonerider Surfari set (http://tonerider.com/surfari).

Has anyone compared these two sets, is there any sence to pay more for Fender, will Fender be way more better than Tonerider?

Thanks.


Last edited by Peter Krasov on Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Pure Vintage '56 vs Surfari Tonerider
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 7:28 am
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:11 pm
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I have not used nor compared the two...just wanna give a little advice whatever you choose.

I am in the process of modifying my Bullet as well. My suggestion to you on the electronics would be to get an entire "Loaded Pickgaurd" (cost around $200.00).
The reason is...if you pull the current pickgaurd off, you will see the Pot's, and Switch are of the cheapest of cheap. They are tiny, and will not move the sound correctly for any decent Pickup's.

I put a loaded pickgaurd with American made parts and Custom Shop Texas Specials in my 06' Highway One Strat...and put the original HSS loaded pickgaurd (out of the Highway One) into the Bullet.
The cavity in the Bullet will accommodate ANY pickup configuration (atleast mine would---a 2009 model)...but you WILL have to carve out a little space for the bottom tone pot (atleast I had to) when you put the pickaurd in.

Also; on mine, I had only about half of the pickgaurd mounting holes that lined up (I suppose the difference between single ply cheapo vs. 3 ply American pickgaurd)...so I filled all of them with toothpicks and glue, and re-drilled the correct positions (to be sure the strings line up over the magnetic poles).

I paid $98.00 for a pink (yes, I said pink) Bullet.
I paid $200.00 for the loaded pickgaurd I swapped out for.
I paid $50.00 for supplies to strip and paint it Seafoam Green (gray/green).
So not including my time, I will have $348.00 invested, and it will blow away any stock Squire product out there.

If you wanna do it right...this is NOT a one day "git-er-done" project.

I got my loaded pickgaurd from these guys: http://www.twilightguitars.com/ but you can find them at Amazon and other places. Twilight was FAST, and accurate for me. And when they send the assembled pickgaurd, they also send the packaging that the Genuine Fender parts came out of...and pictorial/written instructions on wire placement to solder the input jack and ground.
My only complaint with them is they sent a white tip switch instead of aged cream...but I found out Fender does not offer an aged cream switch tip...and since the parts are guaranteed Genuine Fender, they could not send a different brand. So I took the white tip, and soaked it in black coffee for 3 days, and it matched the aged cream knobs and pickup covers beautifully. And if I didn't want to do that, I could have put a DiMarzio tip on (they offer aged cream)...but I wanted to keep it all Fender.

I plan on putting pictures up in a Squire forum as soon as I finish the project.

What ever you decide, have fun with the project. That will be a one of a kind guitar.
Mine has an amazing neck with an absolutely beautiful Rosewood fretboard with some blood-line and grain characteristics I have never seen on any other guitar---that alone is why I bought this Bullet.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Pure Vintage '56 vs Surfari Tonerider
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 10:05 am
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Hi, White Dog, and thank you for such detailed reply.

My Bullet is sunburst, and I don't want to refinish it :)

I've spent 40 bucks for GFS tremolo and 30 for Wilkinson tuners. I have some pots, so I don't need to buy one. The current question is about pickups.

I've just put the Tonerider Surfari set, which I took off my Squier Classic Vibe 50. These pickups improved the sound of Bullet drastically. It's absolutely clear, that (to my ears) A3 pickups are the best for this guitar.

But - what do you think - is there any sense to buy Fender pickups, will they give better results, than Toneriders?


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