Tonezone in Ibanez S520EX

[ShredCow]

GUYS!!!
My tonezone FINALLY came in and its FINALLY installed on my Ibanez S520EX!

Bridge position of course... heh... so now its Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell in the neck and Tonezone in the bridge...

I really like the Tonezone's tone... I love the overly boosted low mids that give that vowel like sound esp on distortion... its thick, thicker than the X2N, not as much crunch of course! Great note defination too, even on high gain, chords are clear...

One thing though, ppl say the TZ is just way too bassy and muddy... well, I never experienced that... it does have good bass but it ain't overwhelming! I guess its a pup you will have to work with instead of just jamming it as close as possible to the strings.

Anyway, I just had to record a clip... no cleans yet folks! Only distortion...
Rhythm and lead guitars are done with Tonezone bridge... midi drums for backing and some compression added during mixdown, thats all. Enjoy!


Tonezone Clip

 

[subversion]

the Tone Zone remains bass inclined in other guitars, from your experience it looks like you matched it to a sensible wood- mahogany. a formula that works. i'm saying this because the TZ simply sings in the PGM 10th Ann(dual TZ- neck + bridge, JEM single- mid, all in a mahogany body)

not with me. i had the TZ in my Ibanez RG which sports a basswood body. basswood is a neutral wood to work with, pickup-wise, but my RG is the '80s make & has an arguably heavy body, which accentuates the TZ's lower midrange. i had it removed & it now resides in my Ibanez RX-40 which sounds impressive.

 

[wangdexian]

So I'm guessing that the TZ works better in light-bodied guitars?

 

[siva]

i cant dl leh .. error ..

 

[ShredCow]

So I'm guessing that the TZ works better in light-bodied guitars?

Well, the TZ is bass heavy and has a huge emphasis on the low mids so it would fatten up your tone... so yeah, if you are looking for a fatter tone, then a TZ in a light body (which usually sounds thin) would be cool.

If you were to plonk it into say something like a Les Paul? Then there would be the danger of becoming muddy or too bassy...

But of course, as what ppl say abt the TZ... its a pup that usually needs some work put in. Like adjusting the amp and eq to favour it and not jamming it close to the strings.

I think its under-rated and overlooked too often because of misconceptions about it.

 

[ShredCow]

the Tone Zone remains bass inclined in other guitars, from your experience it looks like you matched it to a sensible wood- mahogany. a formula that works. i'm saying this because the TZ simply sings in the PGM 10th Ann(dual TZ- neck + bridge, JEM single- mid, all in a mahogany body)

Yeah man... thats true... the S series isn't fat sounding like a Les Paul, its just fatter sounding for such a thin body guitar. So in that sense, I gambled on the TZ to fatten up my rhythm tone...

Anyway, I gotta work on changing some of my EQ and setup... no need for mids at 4 oclock anymore!

 

[Vaiyen]

hmm Dan, quite dark-sounding. Also lacks a little character IMO, probably bcos it sounds so smooth. Still, your perceptions might differ entirely!

 

[popeye]

the Tone Zone remains bass inclined in other guitars, from your experience it looks like you matched it to a sensible wood- mahogany. a formula that works. i'm saying this because the TZ simply sings in the PGM 10th Ann(dual TZ- neck + bridge, JEM single- mid, all in a mahogany body)

Bro, does it mean tonezone-S will work on mid position of SA or S series too ?

 

[ShredCow]

the Tone Zone remains bass inclined in other guitars, from your experience it looks like you matched it to a sensible wood- mahogany. a formula that works. i'm saying this because the TZ simply sings in the PGM 10th Ann(dual TZ- neck + bridge, JEM single- mid, all in a mahogany body)

Bro, does it mean tonezone-S will work on mid position of SA or S series too ?

It would if you wanted a high output middle pup.. but why would you want that? Most ppl want something lower output so they can do nice cleans or get that single coil sound.

 

[subversion]

Anyway, I gotta work on changing some of my EQ and setup... no need for mids at 4 oclock anymore!

i have the Duncan Invader in my S-series to fatten things up as well. i would have gone with the TZ, but it's just not my cup of tea.

the Ibanez S-model isn't about no-bass actually, we'd do well to remember that Frank Gambale had a Duncan JB in his signature Ibanez, which was based on the s-series.

 

[subversion]

Bro, does it mean tonezone-S will work on mid position of SA or S series too ?

i don't quite understand you there. my reply here is based on the assumption that you want the TZ in the middle position of your guitar, yes?

for that, you'd have to get the single coil version of the TZ, which is available (see pic below). it's all about what the TZ have in store for you/ what you like about it. it can very well work in any guitar but it'll sound more favourable in some.

 

[stillwater]

talking about it being good on mahogany and erm "bad" on basswood, i've experienced TZ humbucker installed on alder bodies too... on 2 different guitars... both kinda yucky too...

oh shredcow, nice clip BTW... i was more impressed with your skills than tone actually...hehe...
nice tone nevertheless...

 

[ShredCow]

Hmmm... actually, really, as we all know, tone is subjective. Gilbert used to be going TZ in neck and bridge of his Basswood PGM models. One man's treasure is another man's poison....

And hey stillwater... hehe... I'll be resetting my TRI AC to suit the TZ's... heh.. that above clip was played with mids at 3 oclock! :lol: Then the lead had the demeter mid boost kicked in for good measure! Haha... a tad too much mids there!

 

[subversion]

1996 was the last year a production, basswood PGM, features a TZ as a default humbucker. subsequently, they were either PAF Pro/ INF pickups.

 

[ShredCow]

HAHAHA!

I re-eq-ed all my settings on my TRI AC... and redid the track! No compression was added this time round... I prefer this tone a lot.

NEW Tonezone clip!