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First time changing pickups

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  • First time changing pickups

    Firstly I have no knowledge of pickups and have always kept guitars as they arrived but I know I would like to improve the tone of the guitar if possible and I have always enjoyed the stuff Andy does (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KQb6egdk1g&t=255s) which is how I found out about Seymour Duncan.

    Is it worth upgrading pickups on a Player series telecaster or is it more worthwhile buying a better quality guitar?

    If I chose Antiquity pickups, are these the two I would need?
    Hand-crafted electric guitar pickups, acoustic guitar pickups, bass pickups and pedals. Helping musicians find their signature sound since 1976.

    Hand-crafted electric guitar pickups, acoustic guitar pickups, bass pickups and pedals. Helping musicians find their signature sound since 1976.


    I noticed there were Antiquity II as well. There is so much selection I wouldn't know where to start if it wasn't for the above video.

  • #2
    Re: First time changing pickups

    Welcome to the forum!

    Changing your pickups from stock to Antiquities will absolutely improve your guitar. Worth it? Do you love your guitar? If you love the way it plays, and mostly everything else about it, go for it! But pickup changes won't change the fact that you don't like the neck or it is too heavy. Keep in mind that in the video, he is going into one hell of an amp there.
    Researching pickups is a huge rabbit hole. You can make it easier by being able to identify what you want to change: more/less power? more dynamics? more mids or bass? What kind of EQ do you have and what don't you like about the current pickups? The more complete you are able to answer these, the more clear the pickup picture will be. Hoping just for 'better' usually results in a sideways step.
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    • #3
      Re: First time changing pickups

      I agree with what Mincer said, but will add that if you want to get into the pickup swapping mess, at some point you need to pick something and jump in.

      I'd recommend watching for a good deal on a used set. If they're Duncans, you'll then have a reference for how other Duncan pickups would compare. If you buy used, you'll probably be able to resell or trade without losing any money.
      “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

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      • #4
        Re: First time changing pickups

        Upgrading the pickups is always the last step in my tone. What works for me best is upgrading Amp first, then guitars, then pickups. The moment I can dial a close to perfect tone with stock pickups that's when I look into new ones, because I know the tone is there and will only change flavors. That being said, they do matter a lot. I think Fender is pretty consistent down their range so if you're not entirely satisfied with your tone you should definitely change the pickup and not the guitar.

        If this is your first time trying new pickups I wouldn't recomend Antiquity or Custom Shop if you don't already know the exact tone you want, they're pricier and kind of "cherry on top / project guitars" type of pups that are very specific to both looks and setup. Just search YouTube for Rig Rundowns of your favorite players and you'll find out what they're using. Keep it simple.
        RIFF LIFE

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        • #5
          Re: First time changing pickups

          It's worth it to change pickups because Duncans can usually improve things, it's fun, and they hold value. I've decided to just save all my pickups tho. The ants are great and are going to be low output, detailed, and tone rich. I have a mustang set incoming.
          Last edited by Clint 55; 02-23-2020, 01:54 PM.
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          • #6
            Re: First time changing pickups

            Absolutely change pickups if you have a reason to do so... the new Player Series pickups are better than the previous MIM Standard series (those were literal garbage), but they are sort of transitional between vintage and modern. Either of the Antiquities would be like putting great vintage pickups in your guitar. The nice thing is you just keep the stock pickups, and put them back in if you sell the guitar.

            That being said, I agree with the sentiment above. What amp are you using? If it’s not something that you really like the tone of, pickups can only do so much. If the amp is what you want and it seems like the pickups are just not delivering what you want, it’s an excellent upgrade.
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            • #7
              Re: First time changing pickups

              Tip: when you swap pickups. keep the originals. If you ever decide to sell the guitar, put the stock pickups back in.

              Replacement pickups are such a matter of individual taste that they won't really increase the resale value of a guitar.
              So it makes sense to take the better ones out and keep 'em yourself.
              .
              "You should know better by now than to introduce science into a discussion of voodoo."
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              • #8
                Re: First time changing pickups

                Originally posted by aceoftrons View Post
                If this is your first time trying new pickups I wouldn't recomend Antiquity or Custom Shop if you don't already know the exact tone you want, they're pricier and kind of "cherry on top / project guitars" type of pups that are very specific to both looks and setup. Just search YouTube for Rig Rundowns of your favorite players and you'll find out what they're using. Keep it simple.
                Thats basically what I did with the above video. I am only aware of the Antiquity, from that and he uses a telecaster thats as far as my knowledge has got me ha

                My amp is just a fender blues jr

                One other thing I'd been considering was getting a fender vintera 50s as another guitar as I only have the one, the pick ups in that are vintage apparently so would that be similar to these? Although whats putting me off is the neck is a Thick Soft V, I currently have a modern C and have only had guitars with that for 15 years.
                Last edited by marklcfc; 02-23-2020, 02:50 PM.

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                • #9
                  Re: First time changing pickups

                  Also 'pot' upgrades were suggested to me, what should I be looking at there to go with these Antiquity pickups or some other pickups if I did get them or is that not needed. To be honest I'm a bit out of my depth with it all

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                  • #10
                    Re: First time changing pickups

                    I changed a great playing Charvel So Cal from a firebreathing monster (Tone Zone and Evo neck humbuckers) to a delicate speaking strat that loves effects (SSL-2, SSL-2, SSL6) by only swapping pickups. I changed a great playing Epiphone Dot from being muddy sounding (stock 2000ish Epi pickups) to clear and authoritative ('59 Neck, Seth Lover bridge).


                    My thinking is that if you like the way the guitar you're playing feels you can find the right pickups to make it sound like what you want if the plugged in sound is a little off. (That said, I'd argue that amp/speaker/effects are probably at least as if not more important to your final guitar tone than pickups).
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                    • #11
                      Re: First time changing pickups

                      Originally posted by marklcfc View Post
                      Thats basically what I did with the above video. I am only aware of the Antiquity, from that and he uses a telecaster thats as far as my knowledge has got me ha
                      One thing I like doing is looking at the stats or eq of each pickup on the SD website and spot similar ones. For example, if say a bridge pup you like has very high mids you search for pickups on the website, filter only to Bridge and sort them out by output and just start adding every pickup with mids past halfway to the "Compare" feature, and just listen to the sound samples over and over.
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                      • #12
                        Re: First time changing pickups

                        Originally posted by marklcfc View Post
                        One other thing I'd been considering was getting a fender vintera 50s as another guitar as I only have the one, the pick ups in that are vintage apparently so would that be similar to these? Although whats putting me off is the neck is a Thick Soft V, I currently have a modern C and have only had guitars with that for 15 years.
                        Different neck profiles are very particular to each player, personally I tend to stay in the same ballpark. One that's foreign to you could make a great sounding guitar unplayable.
                        RIFF LIFE

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                        • #13
                          Re: First time changing pickups

                          I generally do't upgrade pots unless I don't like the taper or the smoothness of the turn. I don't take out perfectly good parts.
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                          • #14
                            Re: First time changing pickups

                            Originally posted by marklcfc View Post
                            Is it worth upgrading pickups on a Player series telecaster or is it more worthwhile buying a better quality guitar?
                            Depends, I have an MIM Fender Strat and I got a pro setup. It became one of the best Strat I ever had in my hands so it was worth a pickup swap.

                            If you live in the US, you can buy new and do some pickup swapping using SD 21-days exchange policy. If you don't live in the US, you can look on the used market (if they're some available). Where I live in Canada, there's almost nothing available in the used market, no SD policy exchange, and almost all new pickups have to be special order (nothing in the stores, not even an SSL1).

                            As other said, keep you old pickups so you can put them back if you want to sell your guitar some day. Me I removed the full pickguard, will be easier if such a day arrived. If you want to try different sets of pickups and are not a soldier expert, I highly suggest Obsidian Wire pre-fab wiring, then swapping pickups is very easy (no soldering) and it sounds fantastic (top components and assembly).

                            Pickup swapping is really a rabbit hole, but for some it's the only solution for a good sounding guitar at an affordable price (but since OP is looking for Antiquities I would suspect that money is not a show stopper in this case). Personally, I would never find a Strat playing and sounding as good as my MIM Fender Strat (pro setup, Rose pickups and Obsidian wiring) for at least twice the price. So OP do it if you really like your Player Telecaster, maybe try a Fender American Performer first to compare as swapping pickups may be on par money wise.

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