Virgil Arlo/Tone Specific//who’s really makin them??

[Rockin J]

“Virtual” Arlo
The Tone Specific guy has already stated that there is no one that is actually named Virgil Arlo at either of these strange and unusual businesses.
He stated this on the MLP forum.
He said there is a winder that uses this name so he can’t be identified.
Just more weird, wacky, top secret crap to take your money.
Maybe this dude thinks he’s gonna be attacked or something if identified.
I guess it worked. TS is selling strat pickups for $400
They can bury the Virgil Arlo myth now.
They don’t need him anymore.

 

[Mpcoluv]

The Tone Specific guy has said that there is no guy named “Virgil Arlo “ but it’s a pseudonym for the guy who is the winder.
Just speculation on my part but if he has wound pickups for decades, I imagine some of us would recognize the name if it ever becomes known.
At the price point that they want, I’m not sure I care.....

 

[Benz2112]

 

[sockeye]

Tony Pacific from Tone Specific is a truly amazing fellow and really makes some great pickups too. Sorry for the misunderstanding on my part.

Tony Pacific!! OMG, this just keeps getting better.

 

[IanRubbish]

Every product being sold has some wildly priced luxury version. These pickups are like a 12 dollar bottle of water, most people don't get it, but it's worth it to someone. I am way more impressed by cheap pickups that sound good then super expensive pickups that sound great.

 

[johnh]

If this secrecy rubbish works for the winder, then it’s not doing me any harm. So good luck to him. But there’s no way I’m going to pay money for some mythical, unnamed, secret winder when there are so many open, honest, superb quality builders out there already.

That applies to both cheap and expensive products. I would have no problem paying for Tom Holmes pickups - everything is open and transparent. You pay if you want to, and no one is forcing you to break open your wallet. But to pay for some guy , when no one knows who he is and if he’s even real? Give me a break!

But I absolutely, genuinely mean this - of course YMMV.

 

[Aardvark]

I heard that "Virgil Arlo" is in the witness protection program, had something to do with a wire and magnet atrocity.

 

[jiml]

Tone Specific dude is a member here, but I'm sure he will do nothing to provide any significant proof that these pickups are not really worth what they charge, or who this mystery winder is.

Other threads about this have been locked, for reasons that were never explained.

 

[Muttlyboy]

If this secrecy rubbish works for the winder, then it’s not doing me any harm. So good luck to him. But there’s no way I’m going to pay money for some mythical, unnamed, secret winder when there are so many open, honest, superb quality builders out there already.

That applies to both cheap and expensive products. I would have no problem paying for Tom Holmes pickups - everything is open and transparent. You pay if you want to, and no one is forcing you to break open your wallet. But to pay for some guy , when no one knows who he is and if he’s even real? Give me a break!

But I absolutely, genuinely mean this - of course YMMV.

That's also what I think.

Mystery made up name guy saying "trust me" versus all of the winders that share their names, addresses, theories, and much of their methods.

Even if I could directly compare "Virgil Arlo" to something like Throbaks and found them to be equal, I'd rather give my money to Throbaks, and help them pay for the vintage winding machines.

 

[Muttlyboy]

I was just looking at the Tone Specific site where they explain the story of their very experienced founder who is also a very private person. (He shall not be named)

In order to advertise the high value of their products, They Drop all kinds of names...guitar builders, amp builders, pro players, other pickup builders, etc.

It seems hypocritical..." Hey guys, I'm going to mention all you guys on my website hoping that customers will be impressed with my pickups because they can be associated with you"...But I don't want anyone to know my name"

 

[cugel]

In before the lock

 

[Vic Wilder]

If this secrecy rubbish works for the winder, then it’s not doing me any harm. So good luck to him. But there’s no way I’m going to pay money for some mythical, unnamed, secret winder when there are so many open, honest, superb quality builders out there already.

That applies to both cheap and expensive products. I would have no problem paying for Tom Holmes pickups - everything is open and transparent. You pay if you want to, and no one is forcing you to break open your wallet. But to pay for some guy , when no one knows who he is and if he’s even real? Give me a break!

But I absolutely, genuinely mean this - of course YMMV.

Don’t buy them if you think they are what you think they are. Funny how jealous people get when people become successful. Haters gonna hate.

 

[Vic Wilder]

I was just looking at the Tone Specific site where they explain the story of their very experienced founder who is also a very private person. (He shall not be named)

In order to advertise the high value of their products, They Drop all kinds of names...guitar builders, amp builders, pro players, other pickup builders, etc.

It seems hypocritical..." Hey guys, I'm going to mention all you guys on my website hoping that customers will be impressed with my pickups because they can be associated with you"...But I don't want anyone to know my name"

Haters gonna hate. Trolls who have nothing better to do then to knock others and do nothing themselves. Speaks more about you than the maker.

 

[Muttlyboy]

Haters gonna hate. Trolls who have nothing better to do then to knock others and do nothing themselves. Speaks more about you than the maker.

It's not really like that.

I brought up a fair point.
If I understand correctly, you actually sell the product, so you might not be completely impartial

 

[Steadfastly]

I'll go with Chipss36. Who cares? We don't look at the name of the guitar or stamp the parent company on the back of the headstock. What matters is how it plays and sounds. <<That's a period.

 

[Mark Robinson]

Ridiculous pricing, sketch marketing, hard pass.

 

[COYS]

These pickups are mostly marketed by shill marketing. Beware any company that needs to market this way.

They will get TGP to lock this thread so I will just say search here and read up on Tone Specific and “Virgil Arlo”.

 

[cugel]

Someone with 41 messages calling out trolls? Puhlease. Straw man argument. The op ain't trolling, wanting to know who makes a product isn't trolling.

 

[COYS]

Here are some references, but you can google up more.

Who knows Virgil Arlo?

The p'up's sold with this name are targeted to the high-paying segment of the demographic. Even though there's social media footprint about the products, I can't find a single picture of him to save my life, which I find it strange. So I ask: have anybody personally met him? Does he even...

www.lespaulforum.com

Surprised there isn’t more discussion about Virgil Arlo pickups on TGP.

As mentioned in my original post, I really don’t want this to turn into another Virgil Arlo vs. Tone Specific thread. Please- let’s try to keep it on-subject and polite, and refrain from another mess which will get shut down like the other long VA thread, can we...?

www.thegearpage.net

Tone Specific Experience

Hi all, i'm a newbie on tdpri, though I've watched from the sidelines for a long time and found this forum to be a great source of knowledge and...

www.tdpri.com

 

[babbyb]

We should've at least graduated to FieldTurf by now, jeez.