Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

[mountain2012]

I'm debating between a Seth Lover in the bridge or Antiquity Humbucker.

Are the antiquities better build quality?

Which do you think is less likely to squeal?

The Antiquity page on Seymour's site mentions little about build quality except that they're hand wound, and tonally the magnet is aged. Other than that it only mentions cosmetic treatments.

Are the Seth Lovers hand wound? If not, would hand or machine wound bobbins be wound tighter? thanks

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/antiquity/

 

[uOpt]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

Well whatever it is the difference between Seths and Ants is easily audible.

On the other hand Ants are a bit different spec, they are lighter in the neck and heavier in the bridge.

 

[marcboomer]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

There are some other aspects of the windings of the Antiquity's that are done in the Custom Shop that are proprietary as well.
The aged magnets do make a sonic difference. The picking attack of the Antiquity's is "spongy" and "blooming". The sustain is more too than a new pickup including the Seth Lover's. The cool thing about the Seth Lover's is they are wound on Gibson's old original "Green Monster" winding machine that Seymour purchased from Gibson.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

It's not just cosmetic. Aged magnets make the whole pickup "feel" different. The magnets are hand degaussed by Seymour and he has an incredible knowledge of how magnetic fields affect a pickup's tone.

Seth Lovers are great pickups but the Antiquities are certainly something a little extra special.

I think they allow a player's personality to come through a bit more... I found a pretty big difference between the regular JB and the Antiquity JB... I feel the same way about the Texas Hots.

A degaussed A5 will still sound and perform quite differently than a fully charged A2... more bite, sizzle and grain than the more balanced and sort of mid range focused A2. More extreme lows than an A2 but the girthy low mids of an A2 will always be more "full" sounding.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

OP, which antiquity are you referring to?


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[Artie]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

When a wire is laying next to another, there's a certain amount of natural capacitance. Capacitance allows higher frequencies to jump across the coil, bypassing the "system". Hand winding, as in the Antiquities, tends toward a looser, more random winding. Thus, less distributed capacitance. That leads to a richer, more harmonically complex signal. The Antiquity that I had, had a noticeably more complex sound than any other pup I've owned.

 

[mountain2012]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

So, other than the aged magnets, is there any difference in the build quality between the SLs and Antiquities?

OP, which antiquity are you referring to?

The regular Humbuckers. Not the JB model or the Golds.

Hand winding, as in the Antiquities, tends toward a looser, more random winding.

Does this mean they have more a chance to produce microphonic squeal, theoretically?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

Both pickup sets will squeal in the right (or wrong) circumstances given they are unpotted. The tension on the wire is the same, just the 'randomness' of the windings in the Ants tends to make for a more complex tone. Bth pickups are quite close in 'tone character'

 

[blueman335]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

The aged magents make a big difference by themselves. Fully-charged A2's don't have much treble or output to begin with, and when degaussed, have noticeably less of both. I found the high-end to be very rounded in an LP, and couldn't get enough bite or cut from them. They would sound different in a brighter guitar. Some of us much prefer Seths. Even some of the Duncan people on here have said their favorite PU is a Seth. I have several sets of Seths in my guitars; on the other hand I have one set of Ant's that's no longer in a guitar.

 

[lemonman]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

The humbuckers are not hand wound; the single coils are. As others have said, the magnets are the most obvious difference, and give them a different feel. With similar magnets I don't find them to sound all that different.

If you want soft and airy, get the Ants. If you want a more immediate attack & bite, with more midrange honk, get the Seths.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Antiquity difference mostly cosmetic?

I can tell the difference. Both sound great but the Ant is something special IMO. It's got a smoothness and squish to it that the Seth does not. A very pleasing pickup. Its the only humbucker that to me sounds nice and round in the bridge position clean.