mij strat

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Re: mij strat

Postby RUSSET » Fri May 31, 2019 8:52 pm

I can't fault my 'Squier Biffy Clyro' Strat, which I've had since they first came out. I did one upgrade only to it, & that was to change the cheap thin Trem block that all the Chinese Squiers seem to come with, to a nice full thickness steel one & dropped a small spring into the arm hole like you get on USA Strats. Everything else was fine after the usual initial set-up. The pickups, which I believe are made by 'Tonerider' are great vintage style pickups & do the job. If I remember correctly, it was only around £260 when I bought it (new). All of those Classic Vibe guitars & basses are great instruments.

Tony.
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Re: mij strat

Postby Stu's Dad » Fri May 31, 2019 9:22 pm

I can't speak for the Biffy Clyro Strat but I saw a post on another forum some time back that said the pickups in the Classic vibe were Tonerider. I've got a Classic Vibe 50s and I removed the pickguard to check the insulation - the pickups are Fender vintage. I've got a more than a few guitarist friends who can't believe the build quality and playability for a Squier. They don't do the Fiesta Red model any more, I wish I'd bought a spare.

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Re: mij strat

Postby Uncle Fiesta » Sat Jun 01, 2019 2:45 pm

I bought a Classic Vibe Strat a couple of years back which was claimed to be fitted with Tonerider City Limits. I felt it lacked a certain something though so removed them.

The guitar now contains a set from a ten year old US Standard and as a result sounds much better.
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Re: mij strat

Postby Stu's Dad » Sat Jun 01, 2019 3:30 pm

The Tonerider tale seems to be one of those myths that take hold, I've heard it several times. Classic Vibe Strats do not have Tonerider pickups, and never have.
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Re: mij strat

Postby bor64 » Sun Jun 02, 2019 1:38 pm

No Tonerider's indeed...but if you surge the net deep enough....you can find the origin of that story.
One of the ceo's of the factory who makes the Tonerider's for Tonerider ....wrote, they make also the very same kind of pickups on the same "assembly line" as a OEM for multiple brands. Coincidently they make also the pickups for Squier!
So when you lay a genuine Tonerider pu next to a Squier Classic Vibe(I did), you can see the same kind of characteristics, same font printed sticker on bottom...magnet bevel, connection wire, soldering points etc.
So nitpicking it's not literally a Tonerider...but kinda twin-sister with a different name on the sticker and box.

Cheers Rob
"afterwards everyone is clairvoyant"
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Re: mij strat

Postby dave robinson » Sun Jun 02, 2019 2:45 pm

bor64 wrote:No Tonerider's indeed...but if you surge the net deep enough....you can find the origin of that story.
One of the ceo's of the factory who makes the Tonerider's for Tonerider ....wrote, they make also the very same kind of pickups on the same "assembly line" as a OEM for multiple brands. Coincidently they make also the pickups for Squier!
So when you lay a genuine Tonerider pu next to a Squier Classic Vibe(I did), you can see the same kind of characteristics, same font printed sticker on bottom...magnet bevel, connection wire, soldering points etc.
So nitpicking it's not literally a Tonerider...but kinda twin-sister with a different name on the sticker and box.

Cheers Rob


So it’s a Tonerider with a different name, exactly what I found. :)
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Re: mij strat

Postby Stu's Dad » Sun Jun 02, 2019 9:43 pm

I'll stand corrected on this, I've never looked further than seeing Fender on the bottom of them, but after seeing Rob's post I looked into it and it appears that they are Tonerider Surfaris. It makes the guitar a great bargain because they're selling at around £100 a set, and I paid less than £300 for the guitar in the first place. I've heard of people replacing the pickups in Classic Vibes, and I think it's totally unnecessary, they're great pickups for the vintage sound. In fact the guitar itself has got to be the bargain of the century, the only thing I've changed is the bridge, with its thin alloy tremolo block, for a Wilkinson WV6.

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Re: mij strat

Postby bor64 » Sun Jun 02, 2019 10:38 pm

Len,

It's the other way around!
Instead of a good priced guitar with "expensive" 100 GBP pu's for the total sum of let say 300 GBP.
The good price guitar has normal priced pu's build in and this same normal priced pickups are 100GBP in a box with a different name on the sticker and box.
In other words the Toneriders are just as "cheap" as the Squier , but overpriced as sold in a box as Toneriders....

Same as printer cartridges--- as a A brand the ink is dearer then gold and as a brandless cheap as chips.
Most pickups are lesser money to make/produce.... as the packaging and overhead en advertising cost for the set.


Cheers Rob
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Re: mij strat

Postby RUSSET » Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:36 am

The Squier 'Biffy Clyro' Strat does not have regular Squier CV Strat pickups, it has a version special to the model. The bottom three strings have Alnico V magnets, & the top three are Alnico III. Whether they are available from Tonerider as a named set, I have no idea. They sound fine to me, & would not bother to change them for anything else. It's a great guitar at the price it was & does the job. Shame they have stopped making it. :(

Tony.
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Re: mij strat

Postby anniv 63 » Mon Jun 10, 2019 4:44 pm

Certainly agree that the pickups on the Simon Neil/ Biffy Clyro have an excellent vintage type
sound about them.
Think Simon Neil himself was consulted at the development stage requesting something like what he
had on his Fender Strat 60s time machine model so probably the Biffy model has a customised or modelled on a
62vintage quality pickup as standard?

Mike
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