Tone Zone on alder body

[rayz]

Been looking for a good bridge pickup for an alder body Ibanez. I was thinking of the Tone Zone since my guitar sounded thin weak and trebly shallow with the stock Ibanez pickups which also used linear taper pots to suck signal. Would you rate alder as a bright tone wood for the Zone to compliment, and also will new 500k audio taper pots make up a little for the somewhat missing highs harmonics and clarity of the Zone.
The thing that gets me on the Zone's side is it could improve the bass that the Floyd bridge bleeds off though so i would definitely want to try it if it would work out right with an alder body.

[alessandro78]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

mmmmmmmmm i donīt like tone zone. Iīve tried on a moghany ibanez and itīs too treble and undefined. I think that you could try an air zone if you like di marzio tone or breed is a good.
but i just have installed duncan custom in my guitar and iīm very happy. it has more tone than tone zone

[ranalli]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

I don't think you could ever get a tone zone to sound to trebly IMO.

Don't go right for the Tone Zone, try something a little more moderate like a Super 3 or Super Distortion first, those pickups have a good amount of mids and bottom end but not quite as crazy as the tone zone.

I've beefed up an alder body super-strat with a Super3 and it sounds great.

[I_M_Ken]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

i would say tonezone would help make ur guitar sound fatter and thicker and more powerful. but as the rest said dont jump into the Tonezone yet coz its a pup that ppl usually love or hate. hmmm
well as ranalli said, try out the super distortion or maybe even a duncan distortion. these pups would help thicken ur tone.

by the way what kinda music do u play?

[rayz]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

Thanks ranalli ken allessandro for clearing things out a little. I was impressed by the tone i heard off a friends setup with the Zone but he had wired it series/parallel with parallel delivering a very crisp and clear sound as opposed to its dramatic low middy tone curve. You're all right perhaps about trying the Distortions to get a simillar result, but i heard that the early EVh sound that i really dig is something the Zone can come close to though needing alternate wiring.
I still dont understand the pickup/wood combination with the Zone in my alder guitar or does it really make a difference.

[rayz]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

Hey Ken! i try to play prog rock/instrumental music, lot of influences for playing that kind of music comes from funk and power blues, but i've never minded playing 80's rock and grunge!

[rayz]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

I've heard of some say that using the Zone in Parallel wiring to reduce its overall power delivers a sound simillar to the Air Zone which is much more versatile pickup, i could try this if you think it is indeed something but then again i've never managed to get a schematic for a 5 way switch as in my guitar with the series/paralle wiring.l

[rayz]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

hehe, apoplogies for the single track on the tone zone, this things got me fixated to it, it just shouldn't have had traces of the divine EVH sound!!!

[RG 2570]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

get a PA-TB1 set trust me these will make the ibanez sound it's absolute best!

Original Parallel Axis Trembucker™
see | hear | specs | dimensions
PA-TB1 -- This humbucker is specially calibrated for either the neck or bridge position. Its spacing is also adjusted to allow for precise string alignment. Its tone is sweet and bluesy. The more gain you add, the more it sings. Available in black only.
Four conductor cable

[RG 2570]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

The thing about the tone zone is that at first you will be impressed but then after playing it for say a week or so you will come to hate it as many others including myself have
in the long run i would go with duncans in any guitar.

[ishmun]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

i dont kno why so many ppl diss the tonezone

i have one on my mahogany ibanez 3120
ir ur playin heavy ass stuff, the palm muting tone is awesome - very vowel like and solos really cut thru
but if ur looking to play alot of clean in the bridge, dont use the TZ - its not made for that - u gotta rock out

if u wanna hear what one sounds like, check out Dream Theater's Images and Words album - all Ibanez guitars, TZ bridges and Mesa boogie gear

if u like an agressive vowel sounding palm mute, check it out - its an animal

[RG 2570]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

i dont kno why so many ppl diss the tonezone

i have one on my mahogany ibanez 3120
ir ur playin heavy ass stuff, the palm muting tone is awesome - very vowel like and solos really cut thru
but if ur looking to play alot of clean in the bridge, dont use the TZ - its not made for that - u gotta rock out

if u wanna hear what one sounds like, check out Dream Theater's Images and Words album - all Ibanez guitars, TZ bridges and Mesa boogie gear

if u like an agressive vowel sounding palm mute, check it out - its an animal

I will never argue that for as many that hate the tone zone there are also that many that love it!
it is one of those either hate it or love it pups

[Hunter1974]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

I tried three different bridge pickups in my rg520.An emg81,a tone zone and a custom 5.The tone zone was the best.

[StrykeBack]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

Maybe this would be a good place to ask the question since I've got an Ibanez SZ520 that I'm looking at getting some new pups. It's mahogony and string through so I'm not sure if I should be looking for a brighter pup or darker? Right now I'm really likeing the tone from Pillar . He has the mesa boogie setup that I wish I had and uses air zones, but i can't find an audio clip of them anywhere to compare the sounds of them to another pup.

Some have said the Jazz/custom combo would work well in mine but i'm not sure. What do you guys think. I want something that can be thick and tight for palm muting and chunking but maybe switch to a different pickup for some nice warm leads

[Majestic]

Re: Tone Zone on alder body

hehe, apoplogies for the single track on the tone zone, this things got me fixated to it, it just shouldn't have had traces of the divine EVH sound!!!

I don't think it sounds like EVH at ALL, unless you're attracted to his garbage-tone from 1991-1995......and even to present.

His tone before 1991 had ZERO mud, even when it was extremely "warm". A pickup with zero treble, and a measurement of 16k+ is exactly what you're NOT looking for.

Ed's rolled-off treble, in my opinion, comes from his cranked vintage amp, and specifically NOT using any pickup with an upper midrange spike, like a JB, Custom, or Pearly Gates. So long as that particular frequency isn't there, you can get in the ballpark of his whale-song like tone.