What is meant by Vintage and Modern?

[papersoul]

Hi all,

Maybe I am missing something but I hear these terms thrown around quite a bit when describing pickups. Could someone explain this? I only notice EQ difference, output differences, warmth, etc when listening to what a pickup brings to a mix. Why do some people refer to some pickups as vintage?

An example is that I always hear the Custom and C-5 are fairly vintage sounding while the JB is modern. Why is this?

Did older vintage p'ups and PAFs have less mids....more airy?

[xerxes]

listen to a classic rock record for vintage, then listen to a modern rock record for modern. jb is also more powerful than most pups that say they are vintage sounding.

so to speak, vintage sounding pups are "weaker" than modern ones. this is by no means a bad thing though.....

[JumpMarine]

Originally posted by xerxes
listen to a classic rock record for vintage, then listen to a modern rock record for modern. jb is also more powerful than most pups that say they are vintage sounding.

so to speak, vintage sounding pups are "weaker" than modern ones. this is by no means a bad thing though.....

I agree....I have both a C5 and a JB they are voiced very differently. And although the C5 is "vintage" voiced, it's got balls the size of watermellons! I love the JB as well, but for diffent things. Just try them all!

[papersoul]

I guess that is my confusion.........C5 is "vintage" voiced? What does that mean? I have it in a guitar and don't get that description. I can hear the output differences and EQ voicing though....

[Simon_F]

I think it means that the EQ balance is approximately the same as a PAF. I know there was a lot of variation between PAFs, but we are talking ballparks here.

The Custom was designed to sound like a PAF on steroids and the C5 is frequently described as sounding like a "hot '59" (i.e. similar EQ as '59, extra watermelons). The JB, by contrast, has a deliberate upper midrange boost, which is what makes it "modern". I find these terms to be subjective, but that I think is the essential difference.

[papersoul]

What I hear a lot is that modern is generally hotter, more mids, and more in your face....stronger magnets I guess.

In the end, I am learning it isn't the be all end all to look at a p'up based on whether it is vintage or not.

Look at how many heavy metal guys...new and old get in your face tones from a "vintage" p'up.

[jeremy]

vintage to me means fairly bright with slightly pulled back mids and an open tone, like a 59. modern is more compressed and frequency focused, by which i mean that the tone is focused in a fairly narrow band of frequiences, like the jb for example has a big upper mid peak.

[papersoul]

I think a lot of guys get confused when they hear vintage or modern and set aside certain p'up because of that. I know I almost never bought the C-5 because I heard it was vintage.

I wold think vintage is bright as yo usaid, pulled back mids.....whicl modern would be intense mids and a hotter, in your face tone.

I was afraid the C-5 would be too vintage in my LP and kill some of our more modern sounding tones. Stupid I know!

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Originally posted by jeremy
vintage to me means fairly bright with slightly pulled back mids and an open tone, like a 59. modern is more compressed and frequency focused, by which i mean that the tone is focused in a fairly narrow band of frequiences, like the jb for example has a big upper mid peak.

I agree with this, a modern pu has more compression, upper mids.
the P.A.F is the epitome of vintage toned
what the modern models do is take a P.A.F as a reference point,and go from there
whether it be big boosted mids or bass,or
dual resonance coils, or whatever.
the dimarzio super distortion was what got the ball rolling, back in the 70's you had the gibson humbuckers and fender singles that was it
so larry dimarzio was taking around his super distortion prototype(big ceramic magnet,13K pup drove a amp like mad!) to all the local music stores and selling them there,well needless to say it took off! to say the least! i believe seymour was living in england at this time?
and the modern pickup was born

[korovamilkdud]

For me it was a simple case of figuring out what kind of cleans I was looking for (PAF), then picking a PAF-style pup that nailed it.

I don't really see the point in a lot of "modern" pups. Sure they have more output, but with an amp's gain, and the gain pedal circuitry available today, it seems like any *humbucker* can be "in your face".

I don't think in terms of vintage and modern either. More in terms of "hot" or "PAF". I mean how many "modern" bands are using vintage pups these days?

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Originally posted by korovamilkdud


I don't think in terms of vintage and modern either. More in terms of "hot" or "PAF". I mean how many "modern" bands are using vintage pups these days?

not too many, lets see, GODSMACK guy uses pearly gates,KORN uses dimarzio PAF's, i can think of any others?

[korovamilkdud]

Originally posted by WARRENLEELYNCH
not too many, lets see, GODSMACK guy uses pearly gates,KORN uses dimarzio PAF's, i can think of any others?

Flickerstick, Deep Blue Something, Magic Dirt, Snakepit...

[adrian]

For me modern means a more balanced EQ. When I was young I played jazz on a -65 Strat, and I had some problem with the somewhat sharp treble. Today I play jazz on a Strat with modern pickups and they are plain perfect. Thatīs "modern".

[papersoul]

I heard from a friend through an email that he feels one thing Duncan is missing is a modern pickup like the Anderson H3.