'78 vs Antiquity PAF

[ElusiveKandyDC]

Hello all tone junkies. I've been following this forum for a while and decided it was time to ask for your help

I'm currently using the '78 in my alder/rosewood Nash strat w/ a 250k and love everyting about it... the bright but round top end, the great punch it has when the Flexi is pushed and the awsome dynamics. It complements my Flexi 50 really well considering the amp can be bright at times.

But lately, mainly due to curiosity sparked from this forum, I've been wondering how an Antiquity PAF would sound. I'm thinking the lower output might be nice and aid to even greater dynamics. What can i expect in tonal differences between the '78 and the Antiquity? Has anyone compared the two?

Another thing... last year i had the privilege of barrowing an uncles 59 reissue Les Paul for a long period of time. I'm not a les paul kinda guy but it was fun to bring out once in a while and played a couple gigs with it. The best thing about the guitar was the unique tone of the pickups. They were open and bright but also had a little compressed squish thing going on when the strings were struck hard. VERY COOL! Is this a quality of a good PAF? If so, does the Antiquity share this trait?

Any insight of info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: '78 vs Antiquity PAF

Hello and welcome to the forum.

As you are probably aware, one of the things that makes an Antiquity PAF sound good on a Les Paul is the fact that it is on a Les Paul. Fit that same pickup into, say, an ES thinline and it will produce a different sound.

My point is that pickups do not exist in a vacuum. They (attempt to) transduce the acoustic sound of the instrument to which they are fitted.

Hence, an Antiquity PAF type humbucker in a custom Stratocaster type instrument is not going to result in exactly the same tone and dynamics as the Gibson. IMO, it should still be pretty good, though.

Try it.

 

[uOpt]

Re: '78 vs Antiquity PAF

Ant bridge isn't really lower output as such. It's about the same class, and the 78 is pretty sharp and slim. The Antiquity bridge humbucker is very honky and somewhat rude, compared to smooth and aggressive like the '78. Think of loudmouth big guy in Texas bar versus boot knife ninja in Tokyo bar.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: '78 vs Antiquity PAF

Read this: http://www.legendarytones.com/evh pickup.html

Now read this: the 78 is an alnico 2 pickup wound to 9K and usually used without a nickel cover. No cover = a slightly brighter, slightly more aggressive tone than the same pickup with a cover.

The Antiquity is an alnico 2 pickup usually wound to around 8.5K and always sold with a nickel cover which gives it a slightly warmer tone than an uncovered pickup.

Read this too: http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/antiquity/humbuckers/1101405_humbuck/

And this: http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/custom-shop/humbuckers/78_model_great/

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: '78 vs Antiquity PAF

A few years ago forum brother Luke Duke was her ein Atlanta and he brought with him his R8 Les Paul...it was loaded with a CS 78 that had been ordered non potted and with a nickel cover and a Seth lover n the neck position...we compared that guitar to my R8 Les Paul loaded with a set of Duncan Antiquities.

I was surprised by how similar the 2 did sound but the diference were there.

The 78 is more aggressive and slightly thicker in the mids and has maybe a slight more top end while the Ant bridge has a more complex tone, is slightly warmer, maybe more mellow and has a little more 3D depth to it as well as more of a woody tone...I gues sone of the biggest things is that the Ant sounded "older"...if you can hear age!

Some of these differences might be simply because of the guitars but both are light weight, fat neck, non chambered reissue Les Pauls that both sounded great unplugged.

FWIW, I thought the Seth made a GREAT match for the 78 in the bridge...but the Seth neck vs the Ant neck...thats a whole different story!