HELP!!! tone zone t vs. a hot rails!

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mikeanniston

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hey everyone i need your help! i play a fender tele and about a year ago i put a dimarzio tone zone t in it. ive never really been totally happy with it. :( it just doesnt sound that good in my opinion. its kinda muddy and isnt very thick sounding, i dont know im just not very happy with it. now im thinking about switching to a seymour duncan hot rails. ive never played one. all the reviews ive read are like half and half. some people say the tone zone t is better, others say the hot rails is better. can anyone help me out? i play through a jcm 800 and a jcm 900. any input would be great. thanks guys.
 
do yourself a favor and go emg, you will be glad you did
 
First of all, don't get EMG's. If you want EMGs to sound good, you need a ton of rack gear to do it.

Hot Rails are great, but they still sound like a small pickup. If you want it to sound like a humbucker guitar, you need to get a full-sized humbucker. The amount of string the pickup "sees" is a HUGE part of the sound of the pickup. A humbucker sees more than twice what a Tele neck pickup sees. That adds a whole other group of phase cancelations, which is (as much as anything) the signature sound of a humbucker.

That being said, the Hot Rails are great pickups, and are well worth a try. Also check out Joe Barden's pickups. They sound more like a traditional Tele (in fact, they sound EXACTLY like a traditional tele, but without the noise), but they are some of the best pickups made.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
First of all, don't get EMG's. If you want EMGs to sound good, you need a ton of rack gear to do it.

Hot Rails are great, but they still sound like a small pickup. If you want it to sound like a humbucker guitar, you need to get a full-sized humbucker. The amount of string the pickup "sees" is a HUGE part of the sound of the pickup. A humbucker sees more than twice what a Tele neck pickup sees. That adds a whole other group of phase cancelations, which is (as much as anything) the signature sound of a humbucker.

That being said, the Hot Rails are great pickups, and are well worth a try. Also check out Joe Barden's pickups. They sound more like a traditional Tele (in fact, they sound EXACTLY like a traditional tele, but without the noise), but they are some of the best pickups made.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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not sure what ems you have tried and with what set up, but emg's are hard to beat, i would put up emgs against about any, as far as non active i am partial to duncans (specially the pearly gates)
 
skyguitarworks said:
not sure what ems you have tried and with what set up, but emg's are hard to beat, i would put up emgs against about any, as far as non active i am partial to duncans (specially the pearly gates)
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Gods, I've tried just about every pickup on the market at one time or another. I HATE EMGs. They don't have anything to them. Sure, they are very hi-fi, but that is all they are - they don't have any personality. Check out the racks of all the big name guys who use them, and you will ALWAYS see one or two big graphic EQs, because that's what it takes to make them sound good. All that said, the shop manager in our shop uses EMGs on his main guitar, and is quite fond of them.

I do have to agree on the Pearly Gates, though, at least for a bridge pickup. In the neck, I like the Alnico II. But of course, none of this is about what I like, just what I think Mike would want. From his question, I don't think EMGs would be right for him (and, as much as I dislike them, I have recommended them to a lot of people who would).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
yeah, thanks alot guys for all your input. im really thinkin though that a hot rails wouldnt really be much different from the tone zone. to really get the sound i am after, id have to cut it up a little and put a full size humbucker in it. thanks everyone!
 
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