Caps for Antiquity 2 - Firebird V

[bluezguy]

It's been said that Johnny Winter used (or uses) SD Antiquity 2 pups in his main Firebird. Well; when Gibson released their JW tribute Firebird V, it came with the nonsense ceramic pickups of today ... not yesteryear as well as the current ceramic disk .022 caps that are in most current Gibsons from the factory.

Anyways, does anyone at SD (or out there) know what capacitors were installed with the Antiquities in JW's Firebird? I'll bet the stock .022s are intact!

I'm using the Antiquity 2s with load blowing results My Jensen oil & paper caps are not giving me the results I wanna hear nor are Sprague Vitamin Ds, Bumblebee, or Russian military stuff. It DOES all sound much the same when tones are used and NOT worth the expense.
I've juggled everything around & tried almost every combination making me think that a lot of this cap stuff is a bunch of horse**** like lightweight aluminum bridges.

[Gypsyblue]

Re: Caps for Antiquity 2 - Firebird V

Lightweight aluminum stop tailpieces do make a guitar sound different than heavier zinc or pot metal ones do.

Just like lightweight Kluson tuners make a guitar sound different than heavier Grovers. But I agree with you on the cap thing.

I use Orange Drops and some of my guitars have paper & foil caps like Hovlands. None have ceramic disc caps. But it's because I want to make sure my guitars are sounding their best: even if I can't hear the difference between Hovlands and Orange Drops. Which I can't.

I do hear (or perhaps "sense") a difference when it comes to aluminum vs. zinc tailpieces and Kluson style vs. big Grover style tuners.

Johnny Winter is not an internet driven tone snob. He's a player. A real player.

[bluezguy]

Re: Caps for Antiquity 2 - Firebird V

Lightweight aluminum stop tailpieces do make a guitar sound different than heavier zinc or pot metal ones do.

Johnny Winter is not an internet driven tone snob. He's a player. A real player.

I wholeheartedly disagree with you on the aluminum tailpieces. If they are working for you - excellent!

To my 40 years + in the performance end of the music business, they don't. I won't mention brand names but two different sets ... one for LP Standard and one for SG Standard .. both, expensive and total waste of money & time.

JW is a real player - however, his tones are derived from his fingers and feel, as his MusicMan amps are usually set wide open with bass rolled off.
My original post was not to 'copy his tone' as I hope I have had my own for a few decades now.
It was merely a curiousity since, I lost my 1976 Firebird to crime and have been unhappy with my replacement new one from 2004 until I recently discovered Antiquities.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Caps for Antiquity 2 - Firebird V

Johnnys old Bird has a heavy zinc tailpiece so that issue is really moot...however it they do make a difference.

If you can't hear a difference between zinc and aluminum that's fine but just because you can't hear it doesn't mean that it's not there.

As for the pickups I have never heard that he uses Antiquities...Johnny is not much of a gear head really, if it works he plays it.

If you want Johnnys tone you need to use 65 watt Music Man amps, the RD series with the 12AX7 driver tube and a Boss CE-2 chours which he never turns off these days and never, ever use the bridge pickup.

As for the tone caps I'd say it's of little consequence as Johnny rarely uses the tone controls these days...he only plays on the neck pickup, sets his amps the same no matter what the venue or situation and just turns down to play clean(er).

[ItsaBass]

Re: Caps for Antiquity 2 - Firebird V

It's the value that matters more than anything with caps. If you don't like what you hear from .022uF, the next step would be to try .01 or .0047 uF. (Yes, those are two zeroes before the 47.) That's if the tone is too muddy when you roll down. If your complaint is that it is not muddy enough, go the other direction, to .047 uF (one zero).

IME, bridge material makes a difference in how the strings vibrate. But believing that stop tailpiece material makes a difference is one hell of a stretch for me.