antiquity tele vs. alnico pro 2 tele

[dr space]

I'm talking about the bridge units btw...when reading up on reviews of these two pickups it seems like they are described very similarly. Both have a2 magnets, smooth bass, good mids and slightly warm (no icepick).

has anyone played both and can you compare them together? is the antiquity worth the extra $? or will do the ap2 do the job just as well for a traditional tele bridge tone?

 

[Curly]

Re: antiquity tele vs. alnico pro 2 tele

dr space,
I haven't tried the APII, but I'll say that my experience with the strat Antiquities, as well as the tele Antiquities is that the hand wound process does enhance the complexity of the tone

I love all the vintage type productions strat and tele pickups I've tried, but the Antiquities have a little something special

my own experience on the tele is comparing the Antiquity to a Broadcaster and JD in the same guitar

you might also check the Vault section for some further comments

 

[dr space]

Re: antiquity tele vs. alnico pro 2 tele

curly, thats interesting that you mentioned the broadcaster and jd. I've also been interested in those as well recently, but a bit less than the antiquity because of the fact that they're wound a bit hotter and have more mids than the antiquity (or atleast thats what I hear) would you say thats accurate? how would you compare those two to the antiquity? thanks.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: antiquity tele vs. alnico pro 2 tele

The Antiquity is slightly brighter and livlier than the Jerry Donahue but the JD has has a little hotter output and is stronger in the mids. Two of my favorite Tele pickups, along with the Custom Shop Tapped Tele pickup MJ wound for me after Curly told me about his set she'd wound for him.

If you have a Tele that seems to have a fairly warm or dark tone, the Antiquity would be a better choice because the JD can sound a little lacking in bite in an exceptionally lightweight swamp ash or otherwise warmer sounding guitar. (Remember that the Jerry Donahue Tele has a body with a maple cap which brightens it up) Conversely, it can sound just perfect in a heavier and brighter Tele. The JD sounded killer in my alder James Burton Tele but sounded a little dark in my super-lightweight Nocaster, where the Antiquity sounds better to me.

As for the Alnico II Pro vs the Antiquity, I've only compared the neck version of each in the same guitar...not the bridge version of each. But I thought the Antiquity had the better tone: brighter, livlier and less muffled.

Lew