Re: Anyone know anything about the SD Custom Shop Tele-Gib Set?
We call it the JB & Jazz Concept set. The Antiquity is really the product for anyone searching for an aged JB/Jazz sound without having to find one on eBay. They are stripped of modern features like 4 conductor and short legs, and instead have long legs, maple spacer, single conductor, butyrate bobbins, and the dye used in the insulation coating contains red. This doesn't change the sound of the wire, just the color. So If you look though the little drain holes in the top of the bobbin you'll see reddish tinted wire instead of copper (amber). It's just another cool little detail that we went out of our way to match, even though there's really no reason for doing so. The biggest difference sonically is that aged magnet. In my opinion that's the single biggest differentiator between old and new JB's.
Sorry to spend time explaining the Antiquity, I realize you're asking about the Concept set, but I think it's best to lay the groundwork first. The Antiquity JB/Jazz represent aged pickups that you could buy from Seymour Duncan (the company) in the early days. The Concept set is a replica of the pickups that are sitting in Seymour's "telegib" right now. Those were made before we were a company, and there are subtle differences but I would say email MJ or ask Seymour during one of the "Custom Shop Live" sessions on Wednesdays. It's undoubtedly a trade secret what the differences are, but I can tell you partly that it has to do with working with the materials you have in front of you at the time, versus starting a company and ordering specific materials. For example, those pickups in Seymour's guitar are technically "rewinds" of existing pickups.
So to recap, if you're looking for that sound you got out of that old 80's superstrat or Hot Rodded Les Paul, get the Antiquities. If you want something special, that few people have, that is very close to a JB/Jazz but slightly unique, that represents a piece of Seymour Duncan history (the man, prior to the company being founded) get the Concept Set. Does that help?
