well, what you asked is subjective. i've owned a few tesla pickups and is quite pleased with their performance. I've also had pickups from other brands too. since u asked for comparison, maybe i'll share some experience with u.
Here's the list of pickups I have on my guitars now,
1. Tesla RS1 (Rails Single Coil)
2. Tesla Nitro (Neck and Bridge)
3. Tesla VR-Extreme (Bridge)
4. Tesla Plasma 3 (Neck and Bridge)
For me, I prefer my pickups to have slightly more mid range to get that buttery feel when doing solos (be it neck or bridge).
The Tesla VR Nitro and VR-Extreme are good in this field. I had them on my bridge. It resembles something like the Dimarzio Tone Zone IMO. Not exactly same, but it somewhat gives me a similar feel. Nitro has slightly lower output compared to the VR-Extreme. Due to this, I often need to crank up my gain more as compared to the VR-Extreme to get a similar sound/tone. I won't compare this to the EMG Actives as they are completely in different league (passives vs actives) and they sounded quite different too. Also, the ToneZone has more depth to it as compared to these Teslas. Distortion wise, the teslas fared very well. great low end for the chug sounds, and clarity when u shred. I seldom use my bridge for cleans, so I can't comment much. However, I had a Nitro on a guitar's neck. It sounded great on clean and buttery on distortion/OD.
The Tesla Plasma 3 (bridge) is a very high output pickup that is great for crunch and distortion. Personally, I don't quite like this pickup. When compared, I would put this closely with the EMG H4 (Passive), Dimarzio Evo and Duncan JB. I feel that they sounded quite similar to a certain extend, with the EMG H4 and Dimarzio Evo on the higher output end. If you're playing metal kinda stuff, you will love the Tesla Plasma 3. Cleans wise, the plasma 3 neck is bright and nt really muddy despite the high output rating. Great pickup for heavy stuffs, but I feel that they lack the "depth" that the Dimarzio Tonezone/ Tesla Nitro/ VR-Extreme has.
For my HSS guitar, I had a Tesla RS1 on it. I'm not a fan of traditional single coil due to it's hums. Thus I had this on. Slightly similar to a Seymour Duncan Cool rails, but this sounds fatter. cleans are great too, especially when coil tapped. Maybe something like the Seymour Duncan Jazz or Dimarzio Air Norton S feel.
Do note that although I compare the Teslas closely with the other brands of similar quality, they do not sound exactly the same. Just that it's similar to my ears. I hope this helps when deciding on what pickups to buy. For the price I'm paying for a pair of Teslas compared to Duncans, I may end up taking the Duncans as price wise is around $10-30 different (if you're buying in a set). If compared to Dimarizos, I will take the Teslas without hesistation unless I have the extra money as the price difference is about $30-50.
$0.02
