TESLA- VR Extreme
List: $220 (Neck/ bridge set)
DiMarzio & Seymour Duncan are arguably the popular names in passive replacement pickups. These are tried & tested products with a backing of countless professional players & endorsers alike. The mere mention of them would be enough to invoke pleasant tonal accounts which we would not hesitate to sample ourselves. Would you risk embracing a lesser-known manufacture, knowing the obscurity factor alone is liable for an indeterminate outcome? Have you ever heard of TESLA pickups?
Features/ build
The TESLA brand name is a proud
Korean tonal confection. The VR tag here indicates the manufacturer’s Vintage Reflection series which the Extreme is a member of. The ‘Extreme’ consignment is quite a parody to the vintage moniker but you can quite picture what the humbucker offers; high output & forcefulness.
The Extreme is a
ceramic magnet humbucker with
excessive winding which makes it
unsuitable for many direct-mount installations,
so you have been warned. Its thicker physique
isn’t a problem if your guitar employs a pickup bracket mount (Ibanez RG/ Fender pickguard compliant as well). The outer facing slit-head pole-pieces mean that if you wish to tinker with pole-pieces height, you can only do so for only one coil.
The brigde/ neck set comes packed in a black box supplemented with pickup height adjustment screws & springs. The pickups are neatly manufactured & the presentable packaging speaks volume of the manufacturer’s good intent; that’s before you hear what the Extreme has to offer.
Rating: 95%
Tone
The Extreme pair here is resident in an Ibanez S-series guitar for the tone check, both units are suitably height adjusted to give off a volume balance upon activation.
Clean, the Extreme
sounds fat both in the bridge & neck positions. There is a certain
treble bump (more marked in the bridge position) here that would relegate this pickup to be less musical than the typical lure of a vintage-voiced pickup. Nevertheless, this presence isn’t one to render excessive shrillness; the neck would still entice players who are particular with a certain strumming jangle. Paired with a suitable 12” amp driver, it makes a good jazz comper.
Moving on to the driven tones; this is really the Extreme’s staple. It is perhaps due to the extra winding which makes it more
menacing with loads of drive pumped up. What you hear is
single note clarity & impressive poke to supplement heavy distortion if that’s your thing. All metal proponents & players in need of a non-muffled output would love what the Extreme has in store, especially if you solo in the neck. The Extreme also
cleans up well with the guitar volume knob backed off but it somehow couldn’t capture a blues crunch sizzle quite aptly; we’d leave that to the other, lesser output VR family members to manifest.
Tone test equipment:
• Amp: Sound Drive SG-612R/ Marshall JVM 410H
• Guitar: Ibanez S1620
Rating: 90%
Conclusion
Despite this appraisal, there would still be cynics out there who would deem the impressive/ Asian pairing to be somewhat personal & not representative of the legitimate bigger picture. Many of us wouldn’t come close to even consider a TESLA when there are other more renowned brand names with competitive prices to choose from. This is all understood as the cost of replacement units & its entailed service charges require us to tread the heedful path (better safe than sorry) because doing away with an unsatisfactory replacement is sheer loss in every way. The Extreme is recommended for players who are high gain/ drive mongers & insist on clarity to cut through the mix. Despite its slightly scooped & treble-enhanced inherent voicing, there is potent punch to be had from the Extreme. One would wish that a pickup this good could do better than be a one-trick pony but when was a specialist ever a jack of all trades?
Overall rating: 90%
Likes:
• Accepts high gain/ drive very well
• Clarity
Dislikes:
• Pickup’s physical depth is adverse to direct-mount guitars
• Cleans could have been more alluring in the bridge
Worthy competitors:
*Seymour Duncan Distortion
*DiMarzio Super Distortion
Product available at:
*Standard Value
PS: Thanks Mike @ SV for enduring my extensive testing...
TESLA: VR Extreme
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