I never felt that they're that close ngl
Other people said that the Tone Zone is really close, as in a winder told me the Tone Zone is a Dual Resonance version, and the Axis was 2x of the Tone Zone's hotter coil
But idk I found the Axis to sound less muffled and boxy
There are so many variations I have read on the ToneZone/Axis/AT-1/AirZone pickups and what the differences are. I have tried pretty much all of them at this point.
Thoughts on the different theories...
- AirZone is basically the ToneZone with an air gap between slugs and magnets on both sides. Too soft and a little thin sounding.
- AT-1 is a great pickup, but not all that close to the Axis. Sounds GREAT in my PRS Starla bridge.
- Two of the ToneZone weaker coil with an air gap on one side. This sounds SUSPICIOUSLY like the AT-1.
- Two of the ToneZone hotter coils with an air gap on one side. Sounded good but was really bassy. Kind of reminded me of a Steve's Special that I had that I had stuffed an Alnico 5. It did not do the volume rolloff stuff as well as I would have hoped.
- ToneZone with air gap on one side with standard A5 mag. This sounded great and lived in my Wolfgang for years.
The closest I have gotten to the mythical Axis pup was a half-aired ToneZone with an Alnico II magnet. The A2 magnet softened the upper mids and cut some of the super low bass.
The only theory I have heard that I have yet to try is the standard Norton with an Alnico II and maybe an air gap. I will get to it eventually.
Lately I have been using Suhr humbuckers in nearly everything. The Woodbucker and Thornbucker II are great!
