It was a challenge to convince Tone Specific's founder to approve a webpage focused on him. He didn't give us much to work with, but keep reading if you are interested in the man behind the tone.
Randall Van Dyke is a lifelong tone chaser. Much like some of his most important mentors, he has always strived to maintain a low public profile. Mr. Van Dyke is the founder of Tone Specific, with the exception of a private Linkedin account, he has been totally absent from social media.
We finally convinced Mr. Van Dyke to open his Linkedin page to the public, he also agreed to be interviewed for the video below. Take a look if you are interested in what other professionals have to say about his work. Click the link below to visit his Linkedin Page, then watch the video:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/randall-van-dyke-tone-specific-guitar-pickups/
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Click the link below, to view Randall Dyke's discussion page, over on tsGuitarForum.com
http://tsguitarforum.com/randall-van-dyke-founder-of-tone-specific-guitar-forum-post/
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Other links featuring the work of Randall Van Dyke, founder of Tone Specific:
https://virtualstagger.com/randall-van-dyke-bio/
https://thenorthamericanguitar.com/products/marchione-59-burst-orange-burst
https://ne-np.facebook.com/TheNorthAmericanGuitar/videos/presents-episode-51-marchione-59-burst-semi-hollow/765178807549870/
https://www.facebook.com/leonardo.amuedo.1/videos/2774193736138281/
Pro Testimonials about Randall's work
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“Randall Van Dyke is the genius behind Tone Specific pickups. My good friend, Leo Amuedo, told me about him. Once I heard what he did for Leo's guitar, I just had to get in touch with him. I’ve tried every important pickup upgrade since 1983 & these pickups are the best by far. I want these in all of my guitars.”
-Mark Whitfield, Jazz Guitarist
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"Randall is an artist and a craftsman. The first time I played a set of his pickups I couldn't believe what I was hearing. In 40+ years of playing nothing has caught my attention like the Tone Specific pickups. I now have them in most of my guitars. I don't know how he does it, but these are the finest, most articulate, touch sensitive and dynamic pickups I have played."
-Mark Malin, Malin Amplification
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"Randall is very professional, articulate and a great guy to work with. Tone Specific is it for me. I do not own a guitar that is not loaded with these tone machines. Thanks for the outstanding work Randall!"
-Breck Philip, Guitarist
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“Randall Van Dyke's pickups sound like they have Tubes in them...almost three dimensional. They just sound really sweet. I don’t how he did it but they even feel sweet. Just like vintage pickups but with more sustain and less noise. They are just amazing”
-Mike Gallaher, Legendary Guitarist - Joe Cocker, Leon Russell
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"Honor, quality, craftsmanship, dedication to creating superior products that have changed the music world. Randall is one of the very very few people with whom I have done business that I can say is truly an artisan entrepreneur. I value my relationship with him and hope that we will continue to be valuable to each other for many years to come."
Victor Ratz, Red Circle Guitars
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"Randall made these pickups for me, this is a 66 Strat, I don't if the magnets got weak, but these Tone Specific Strat pickups were a huge improvement. They have that old vintage sound and agree very well with my vintage 59 Princeton amp".
-Ford Thurston, Guitarist for Randy Houser
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"Thanks so much Randall, for making the best pickups. I feel like they take my guitars to another level. My customers absolutely love them."
-Josh Williams, Luthier
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"It's like plugging into a nice Studio Tube Compressor...you hear every nuance of every note. Randall Van Dyke's pickups are more dynamic sounding, I'd say they're organic sounding. With other pickups you don’t get that. They sound very fat but very clear. When you hit it harder you hear the dynamics you want to hear. I’ve been trying for years and with other pickups you don’t get that. They sound like vintage pickups”
-Leo Amuedo, Virtuoso Guitarist
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"You owe it to yourself to check out Randall’s tele pickups. I threw out a $1000 set of Abby hand wounds in favor of Randall’s Tone Specific Tele pickups. They’re everything you could ever want from a Tele set- punch, articulation, richness, honesty… truly inspiring. I know that trying to describe tone second hand is like trying to describe the way your favorite meal ever tasted to someone else… so I won’t even try. Ok… maybe I will: Randall’s pickups are to other pickups what Tera Patrick in her prime is to your high school girlfriend. Man up, give him a try… and be CHANGED. Love and Hits to All!"
-Gunnar Nelson, Guitarist
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"Randall is the best thing to happen to guitar tone since Leo Fender. I learned more in talking to him about guitar tone in 30 minutes than I learned in the previous 30 years. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention he makes the best pickups on the planet. I consider it an honor to be one of his customers."
-Bill Weatherford, Guitarist
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“Randall Van Dyke makes the best pickups. The sustain and warmth is incredible. They are very dynamic, very tubey. They destroy all other pickups. They go in all of my guitars.”
-Mike Severson, Guitarist for Robert Glasper, Phillip Bailey
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"Installing Randall's Tone Specific Pickups in my guitar was the best thing I've ever done. He's really taken my tone to the next level! Amazing tone that somehow makes it easier to play. It's genius level stuff to be sure and it was a real honor to talk with him. I know he must be busy but he made me feel like the most important guitarist in the world, which I know isn't the case. Thanks to Randall, I now have the best tone in world."
-Wallace Decker, Musician
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“Randall, you guys are geniuses. I can’t put my guitar down...the response is very Tube like..very 3-D sounding. I just played a gig with the Tone Specific’s and I got so many compliments. It’s really amazing what you guys are doing over there. You've made all other pickups obsolete."
-Cali Freeman, Guitarist
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"Randall makes amazing pickups. They really capture the harmonics of each instrument. I use them in as many of my builds as possible.”
-Stephen Marchione, Legendary Luthier
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“Randall Van Dyke always delivers a masterpiece. These responsive pickups catch the essence of my guitars & enables the musician to create the sounds he wants”
-Vincent Cleroux, Luthier
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I’m the luthier/owner of Stonetree Custom Guitars for over 20 years now. My goal is to craft a “brand new old guitar”. I have relied on a couple of the biggest boutique pickup makers for the most part, but your pickups are a game changer. I have built guitars for many pros including Eric ‘Roscoe’ Ambel & Joe Bonamassa."