Interesting Pickup Tidbit...

[Bloozcat]

I just read an interesting tidbit about the pickups that are in the Squier Classic Vibe Strats and Tele that everyone has been raving about. It appears that they all come stock with Tonerider pickups.

The CV 50's Strat has Tonerider Surfari's, The CV 60's Start has Tonerider Classic Blues, and the CV Tele has Tonerider Hot Classics.

I guess this is why so many have commented on how great the pickups sound in these guitars.

Anybody else heard about this?

[markb]

This rumour is all over the web, so it must be true

Squiers sound pretty good for their price point generally IMO and I'd have thought Fender had enough buying clout to specify nice pickups for this range. Squier JVs used the same pickups as the US reissues back in the day.

I don't know why Fender pickups are held in such low regard. If it wasn't for their pickups in the first place there wouldn't be a "vintage" tone to emulate. While the pickups in my tele' are a Custom Shop creation and quite amazing, the ones in my strat' are just bog standard mid 90s A5 magnet Fender factory issue. And do you know what? It sounds mighty like a strat

[sumitomo]

No wonder I like 'em I have a loaded pickguard with the vintage in a strat and their great,even better now that the cavity is shielded.Sumi

[Spudman***]

My Classic Vibe Strat pickups say Fender on them. Has anyone else looked under the hood and seen what theirs say? I've heard the Tonerider thing as well.

[Bloozcat]

To add fuel to the fire. From Strat-Talk:

"I guess the markings on the bottom of the CVs now make sense. It isn't a factory mislabeling.

Sufaris are
TRS5
Classic blues are
TRS3
and the Tele set is:
TRT2

CV50s-STA5
CV60s-STA3
CV50s Tele-TCA2"

Another "coincidence". The manager of the CV plant in China was purported to have said when directly asked if they were using Tonerider pickups in their CV Guitars: No, our pickups are made "in house" for our guitars. What is a fact, is that the factory that makes the guitars and pickups for Fender is the same factory where the Tonerider pickups are made. There is also a Fender Squier CV model made in this factory that's sold only in Europe. It uses pickups that have a hybrid A-2/A-5 magnet set up in them. "Coincidentally", that's the same magnet formula found in the Tonerider Pure Vintage set. I've yet to see any other Asian import pickups made this way.

It shouldn't be so surprising that a factory in China is turning out pickups as OEM for two different manufacturers. Tonerider is just a brand name, a marketing name. They don't own a factory, nor do they "build" pickups. What is subject to question is the price Tonerider charges for their pickups. If Fender can put the same pickups in a $349.99 guitar including" the pickups, then why are the Toneriders $100.00 a set? Hmmmmm....

[Duffy]

Mine say fender on the bottom.

[msteeln]

Another "coincidence". The manager of the CV plant in China was purported to have said when directly asked if they were using Tonerider pickups in their CV Guitars: No, our pickups are made "in house" for our guitars.

What is a fact, is that the factory that makes the guitars and pickups for Fender is the same factory where the Tonerider pickups are made...

Good post, I remember that statement when researching to get the CV Strat, but that second part is great. Sounds like a whole lotta fudging goin on. I wonder how this will play out...

[Tig***]

All very interesting. I have no problem with my CV 50's pickups being the same as a Tonerider set. Toneriders are pretty good and a real bargain when they come in a Squier, apparently!

None of this surprises me. For instance, many different bicycle brands and designs are made in Giant's factory in Taiwan.

While I hate supporting the ever growing Chinese manufacturing boom that moves jobs out of country, I have very little disposable income these days, and simply cannot always afford American made products that cost 3-4 times more, with only a minor difference in quality. Sad but true.

The average American middle class family's income over the past 20 years has risen an average of 20%, while medical costs have risen 145%, college 48%, automobiles around 35%, and housing between 30-45% depending on location.

[Bloozcat]

All very interesting. I have no problem with my CV 50's pickups being the same as a Tonerider set. Toneriders are pretty good and a real bargain when they come in a Squier, apparently!

None of this surprises me. For instance, many different bicycle brands and designs are made in Giant's factory in Taiwan.

While I hate supporting the ever growing Chinese manufacturing boom that moves jobs out of country, I have very little disposable income these days, and simply cannot always afford American made products that cost 3-4 times more, with only a minor difference in quality. Sad but true.

The average American middle class family's income over the past 20 years has risen an average of 20%, while medical costs have risen 145%, college 48%, automobiles around 35%, and housing between 30-45% depending on location.

Knowing how good the Tonerider pickups sound, I thought it was a real PLUS that the Squier CV's came with them!

All I can say about the economic statistics you quoted is, buckle up, because it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. Sad to say, wish it wasn't true...

[ZMAN]

There was a discussion on the TDPRI, and one of the guys actually asked the question. As Bloozcat mentioned he kind of danced around the subject that they are tonerider pickups by saying they were made in the same factory though.
I have worked in a manufacturing environment where today we make Frigidaire, and tomorrow we make GE fridges. The same fridge, the same materials, just a different label, and packaging. They all do it. In fact some of the Asian guitar makers make several different brand guitars in the same factory.
The pickups might say Fender, but later that day the same ones will say tonerider.
The funny thing is that people will swap the "cheap Fender Asian" pickups for
a set of tonerider pickups. It is all marketing.

I

[Tibernius]

Doesn't really surprise me. This kind of thing seems to be pretty common with guitars at the moment.

I'd heard recently (old news probably, but the first time I'd heard it) that Burny guitars are made by Tokai Japan. About 40% less to buy than an MIJ Tokai though.

Does make me reconsider buying a set of Toneriders for my Tele though. I had discounted them as not being that different from the Squier Affinity stock ones, seems I was wrong.

[markb]

In the late 70s and early 80s most Japanese guitars came from two factories, Fujigen or Matsumoku. It didn't matter if it said Ibanez, Antoria, Kasuga, Columbus, CSL, Yamaha, Arbiter, Jedson or several others I don't even remember now, there were just basically two makes of Japanese guitars in the UK (but several levels of finish and quality).