[cayle_6]

hi. it's been a while since i last logged in.

i've been looking at the Tone Zone. and i'm really digging it a lot, especially since Paul Gilbert uses them.
what are the pros and cons of this pickup? and compared to the Air Zone, which is more versatile (from sparkly cleans, blues to heavy rock)?

[Frenetic Amnesic]

I just got a tone zone/air norton combo put in 3 days ago. The tone zone is quite amazing. The biggest pro for me, is the HUGE bass frequency in the pickup. As soon as I played through it, I could definitely tell its what paul gilbert uses in some of his guitars. I thought being that it was rather mid heavy might make it sound a little muddy, but I think the big bass + big mid works wonderfully. Of course this is in a basswood guitar. A 1570 prestige. Now perhaps in a mahogany guitar, the CON might be that it has such a huge bass frequency. I have a mahogany american strat (the only one in production last I read) and its a rather bassy guitar. I think by putting the tone zone in might make the guitar wayyy to bassy. I've read several times that this pickup is a "hit or miss" I can definitely see that. But this pickup I believe is the center point of my tone. What kind of guitar do you have? I have no experience with the air zone, so I cant comment on that.

[Xochitl]

Well... I bet you're talking about the TZ wired in series. But doesn't PG play it wired in parallel? 

[Frenetic Amnesic]

He might. Im not sure. I just instantly recognized that "bass" in it that i've heard in some older clips. I dont know how much different that aspect is in series or parallel.

[buddroyce]

I thought he stopped wiring his pickups in parallel when he moved on from the Super Distortion to the paf pro.

[mi2tom]

I played another tone zone in an alder bodied the other day, it certainly is a muddy pickup when pushed..... Sadly....

[Mail2JackButler]

Tone Zone in Honduran Mahogany sounds HUGE.. my newest  version of my sig model has a Tone Zone in the bridge.. the mids give you that vocal "ow" sound similar to a Michael Schenker record..

yes.. I said record.. so yes.. I'm showing my age.

[cayle_6]

i intend to put it the bridge position together with an Air Norton or Air Classic. for blues to shred, how is the Tone Zone compared to the D Sonic or Evolution?

[KH Guitar Freak]

I played another tone zone in an alder bodied the other day, it certainly is a muddy pickup when pushed..... Sadly....

Not really, something else might not be right then. For example, pickup heights...

There's a vid of in that thread of someone with a Hamer Diablo II USA that has a Tone Zone/HS2/Air Norton combo...

http://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=741.0

[mi2tom]

It was at the store and readjusted many times, I owned a tone zone before and sell it off.... Anyway it's love hate pickup some love it some hate it.

[wxs3]

I played another tone zone in an alder bodied the other day, it certainly is a muddy pickup when pushed..... Sadly....

Not really, something else might not be right then. For example, pickup heights...

There's a vid of in that thread of someone with a Hamer Diablo II USA that has a Tone Zone/HS2/Air Norton combo...

http://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=741.0

+++1

I have seen the ToneZone get the "muddy" rap before and I have to ask myself a couple of questions which are:

1.  Did the user adjust the height of the pickup
2.  Did the user adjust the screws on the pickup
3. and more importantly, did the user re-eq his amp? (ex. turned down the GAIN)

On another pickup forum the Tone Zone gets this very same bad rap only to find out that the person on the other forum  had a dual recto, with the gain on full and pushing it with a boss mega distortion pedal.  My response to that user was that I could get a 62 strat to sound like mud with those settings.  Too many folks believe that the tonal heavens will open and angels will sing by just swapping out pickups and not adjusting the amp and effects (if any).

[buddroyce]

I have seen the ToneZone get the "muddy" rap before and I have to ask myself a couple of questions which are:

1.  Did the user adjust the height of the pickup
2.  Did the user adjust the screws on the pickup
3. and more importantly, did the user re-eq his amp? (ex. turned down the GAIN)

On another pickup forum the Tone Zone gets this very same bad rap only to find out that the person on the other forum  had a dual recto, with the gain on full and pushing it with a boss mega distortion pedal.  My response to that user was that I could get a 62 strat to sound like mud with those settings.  Too many folks believe that the tonal heavens will open and angels will sing by just swapping out pickups and not adjusting the amp and effects (if any).

You know, you hit the nail right on the head with that. Although it's not for everyone, the Tone Zone is definitely a pickup that's requires quite a bit of work to really dial in at times but once you get it to sound good, it sounds great. That's why it's still my #1 goto pickup when I don't know what to stick in a guitar.

[DocNrock]

I played another tone zone in an alder bodied the other day, it certainly is a muddy pickup when pushed..... Sadly....

I've got mine in an alder bodied Strat and it is not muddy at all.  To be sure, it is a big fat wall of sound, with chordal definition, and great lead tones.  Perhaps you should look to the tone controls on your amp.

[mi2tom]

Definitely done a lot of eqing.... I've had much luck with evo2, paf pro D activator andevolution than tone zone, tone zone if pushed can get muddy. Whereas the pickup I mention can handle tons of gain without getting muddy at all. I worked part time in the guitar store defiinitely looks into pickup height and tons of amp comes in and I have to try and play and eqing all the amp to my liking when I tested it.

[CityofBlindingLights]

I have seen the ToneZone get the "muddy" rap before and I have to ask myself a couple of questions which are:

1.  Did the user adjust the height of the pickup
2.  Did the user adjust the screws on the pickup
3. and more importantly, did the user re-eq his amp? (ex. turned down the GAIN)

On another pickup forum the Tone Zone gets this very same bad rap only to find out that the person on the other forum  had a dual recto, with the gain on full and pushing it with a boss mega distortion pedal.  My response to that user was that I could get a 62 strat to sound like mud with those settings.  Too many folks believe that the tonal heavens will open and angels will sing by just swapping out pickups and not adjusting the amp and effects (if any).

You know, you hit the nail right on the head with that. Although it's not for everyone, the Tone Zone is definitely a pickup that's requires quite a bit of work to really dial in at times but once you get it to sound good, it sounds great. That's why it's still my #1 goto pickup when I don't know what to stick in a guitar.

Before I respond to this, let me iterate (as I always do before talking about the Tone Zone) that I am a player who likes his pickups BRIGHT. I'm a single coil guy, and strat sounds are where I live.

That being said, the Tone Zone is NOT muddy when readjusted correctly. The two posts above have, as bud said, hit the nail on the head. The Tone Zone is a VERY finicky pickup that you have to get *just* right. But, when you do get it right, you are in tonal bliss.

And I think the Tone Zone, although it may not be for everybody, can work for anybody. I'm living proof. That being said, it's definitely not my go-to pickup (that happens to be the Norton- but that's another post), but it's still great, and I'm definitely trying it out again in the future.